The Baltasar Desk by Latitude Run® is attractive and has a flexible design. It has reasonable quality for the price, although I would strongly advise using a table cloth or other cover because the white surface is easily damaged.
I do find it awkward pulling out the table supports (with the casters on them) to support the drop down table leafs - there should be a little knob attached to them.
The reason for the low score is the very poor assembly instructions and the lack of proper preparation of the product for assembly by the user.
Assembly preparation was lacking in that none of the screw positions were properly drilled out. The majority were simply dimpled, requiring the user to use the screw to act as a drill. Even worse, 20 of the screw positions were not even dimpled or marked, requiring the use of an electric drill to bore the holes.
Do yourself a favour (and prevent blisters on your hands) and drill out all the screw positions before you start (except for the holes for the latches, Part G, they are fine). A 1/16" drill bit is appropriate but be very careful not to drill too deep so that the hole goes all the way through! (preferably use a "drill depth stop")
Also the positions for the nail on feet were not marked at all.
As for the instructions, apart from a page on how to use the cam lock fasteners, all instructions were diagrammatic only. My mode of learning is verbal, with diagrams as a useful supplement. This led to false starts and unnecessary awkwardness - and although I am career technologist with lots of hands-on experience, assembly took me five hours!
To start with, there is no tool list, which would immediately help focus the mind on the nature of the assembly process. You will need a Philips screwdriver, a hammer, and an electric drill with a 1/16" drill bit.
In Part #1, they show you placing 7 cam lock assemblies. Actually 8 are required (that is noted in small print, but I thought that was a mistake because there was no indication where that assembly would go). This required quite a bit of disassembly to correct - much later in the process.
In Part #4, attach all the hinges to Components #5 (the sides that hinge out to support the drop down table leafs) before assembly, its much easier at this point. Also do Part #7 at this point: attach the table locks, Components #G - much easier before assembly. The red button release on Component #G is positioned furthest from the top edge.
If I remember correctly, Part #4 is more easily accomplished with the whole assembly placed on its side - rather than upright as shown.
In Part #5, attach all the hinges to Component #2 (the centre table top) before assembly (luckily I foresaw this one).
Part #6 correctly suggests turning the whole assembly upside down - but only in English! There should have been an additional drawing showing the table in the upside down condition.
Hopefully these instructions will be helpful if you buy this product. If the original instructions were better and the user did not need to drill out holes, I would have rated the desk at 4 out of 5.
