Logitech ships a multitouch Touchpad Lapdesk by PKILLERH

If you’ve ever tried to use a laptop while sitting on a sofa you realize the benefit of having a proper lapdesk peripheral. It keeps the laptop steady while giving a solid base on which to type. It also stops your lap from getting red hot, or your laptop from overheating as the pillow you were using as a makeshift desk is covering the air vent.
Logitech has been offering lapdesk solutions for a while now, but today it introduced a brand new one called the Touchpad Lapdesk N600. As the name implies, this is more than just a platform on which your laptop sits. Logitech has built in a retractable, wireless touchpad on the right hand side freeing you from the confines of the small touch area on your laptop.
The touchpad is 5-inches and allows for one, two, or three-finger input. One finger controls the mouse pointer, two fingers scrolls, and three fingers turns pages/navigates albums in the correct applications. There’s also a bank of four buttons for controlling the volume, launching your web browser, and switching off the Lapdesk.

Connection to your laptop is wireless using Logitech’s unifying receiver. That means if you already have a compatible external unifying mouse it will work from the same USB dongle. Battery life for the Lapdesk is rated at 6 months under normal usage.
The Touchpad Lapdesk N600 is avaialble now direct from Logitech for $69.99 with free shipping. Unfortunately, it’s not suitable for people with large laptops as the Lapdesk can only handle up to 16-inch devices.
Read more at Blog.Logitech and the N600 product page
Matthew’s Opinion
For someone who prefers an external mouse when using a laptop the Touchpad Lapdesk looks to be a decent compromise. You get a much larger, multi-function touch area without a rodent rolling aroound on your lap. Combine that with the lack of heat directly on your lap and this could work for a lot of people. The icing on the cake has to be the fact that it is wireless.
Paying $70 for a peripheral like this is a bit on the high side, but then if you spend a lot of time surfing while relaxing away from a desk it might just be worth it.