Home > Consumer Reviews > Ergotron LX Desk Mount Arm - mounting kit ( 45-179-195 )

I'm using this Ergotron LX Desk Mount Arm to hold up my Sony SDM-X82 18.1" LCD monitor. It works very well. I don't have any problems with it, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

- Make no assumptions about where you will mount this arm. For both this and my nearly identical notebook arm, I glanced at the desks where they'd be used, saw they had edges, and assumed all was well. Well, I was wrong. There were supporting panels below the desk that interfered with proper mounting. With some finagling, I managed to get both arms mounted. But, I highly recommend you crawl under your desk and make some measurements before buying this. If you intend to clamp it to an edge, it looks like you'll need (optimally) about 3-1/2" of lip (the desktop should be between 1/2" and 1-7/8" thick). If you intend to mount it through a hole on the desk, make sure you have access to the underside of the desk where that hole is (or will be -- I ended up drilling a 1/2" hole through my desktop for this option).
- You WILL have to adjust the various tensioning screws. If you don't, the thing will probably droop down to your desktop at the first opportunity.
- Before buying, go to Ergotron's site, look up the product, and then go to Support Center | Display Compatibility. There, you'll be able to see if the arm can support your monitor. Most LCDs less than 24" are probably good out of the box. But, bigger LCDs will probably require an additional 200x200 VESA mount (or maybe even a higher capacity arm).

I'm very happy with this arm. Outside of what I noted (and those are my problems and not problems with the product), it works well and looks good. I rate it a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.

I teach college courses, and I occasionally have students in my office and I want to show them something on the computer. I looked at a bunch of monitor arms that would let me swing my monitor around so that others could see it. This is the most sturdy, easy to use monitor arm I've seen. The monitor moves smoothly, and the range of movement is amazing. Just remember to tighten the adjustment screw to match the weight of your monitor--I forgot and initially thought my monitor was too heavy because it kept sinking. However, after I adjusted the screw, it was perfect.
____

Update: I've had the monitor arm for about a year now and it has been well worth the investment. One thing to note: The capacity of the arm (20lbs) is the weight of the monitor without its built-in stand. I have a 24" monitor that is 21 lbs, but the stand itself weighed 6 lbs, leaving my monitor a lean 15 lbs that was well within the capacity of this arm.

I bought this to support a heavy 24" Acer monitor. I have clients that come to my office and I was thinking that it would be nice to easily rotate the screen so that they could also see it. Since then, though, I've found that the real benefit of the Ergotron LX is the ability to exactly position my screen where I can see it the best....about a foot above my desk and at the exact focal point of my reading glasses. No more leaning forward and end-of-day neck aches!

The quality of construction is excellent...this thing is almost completely metal. Although it's at the very edge of the specs, it has no problem supporting a 20lb monitor (and I suspect that the weight limit is more due to the strength of the internal springs than anything else). The arm shipped with two different mounting systems. One, a heavy duty desk-edge clamp, would probably have worked fine, but I opted to use the other one - a 5/16" bolt passing through a hole drilled in the desktop. Using the bolt allows the screen to be moved to any position without worrying about the clamp coming loose...there's a lot of rotational force exerted by a heavy monitor hanging out on a long arm.

Long and short of it...the Ergotron LX is terrific. I should have bought one years ago.

I'd give the arm itself a 5 star rating. Not disappointed in it at all.

I just want to warn people that if they have a large monitor that they may need an adapter plate (bracket) that is NOT included with the arm.

I have a Samsung SyncMaster 245bw that needs the wide bracket. The Ergotron company's suggested retail price is $50. Amazon charges $43 (if this is even the correct part) "Wall Mount Bracket Kit" found at the link "Other products by Ergotron"

...or if you have a few tools, you can do what I did and make your own out of a piece of scrap metal for $1.

This thing is STRONG. I was unable to find any confirmaton that it would hold up a 22" widescreen before I purchased it, but I dove in and got one. There is absoluutely no question about it working w/ a 22" monitor. The spring only had to be slightly adjusted from where it came set at. I would by surprised if it didn't support a 30" widescreen. I have the same complaints as most of the reviews I saw, the fact that it doesn't "lock" in a 0 and 90 deg position (not that tough to deal with) and the cable retainers are definitely not up to the quality of the rest of the piece (seems like an afterthought). With proper zip-tying, cables can be tucked in there w/o it popping out though. I have a vga, usb, audio and power cable all zip tied and it is still held in by the cable retainers.

Only con I could really find, in certain configurations, it can get bound up (I have it mounted close to the wall, and the arm can bang into the wall at times). At the moment, because of the way I have it set I can't push it up against the wall.

Other than that, I LOVE the neatness it provides, you get to use 100% of your desk top and you can sit in just about any manner and still move the monitor into a comfortable view. I like being able to tuck it up towards the top of my hutch when I'm not using my monitor.