These contemporary vertical laptop stands are really great but they can be quite pricey like famous BookArc stands. Although you can turn an ordinary household object from IKEA into such stand. FANTASTISK napkin holder is such object. You can get one or two of such holders and your vertical laptop stand will be cheap anyway. You can also use some cork pads to keep laptop covers from scratching. The result is stylish, sturdy and very very cheap.
Images by blackfeathers, csixty4, SGWoot, blackfeathers.