I believe many people overestimate their need for an articulating arm. Most people probably just need a fixed pole mount that allows for adjustable height and maybe pivoting into portrait mode. Bonus: Cable management is super easy with a fixed pole mount.
I've found that a fixed pole with a single horizontal arm (not vertically articulated, just a single piece swing arm) tends to work great as long as you don't need to adjust it frequently. It allows it to be adjusted in depth (forward/back) unlike a simple pole with the mount directly attached. Once it's locked in even the cheapest ones tend to be quite solid.
@@rainmannoodles do you have any recommendations? I'm getting another monitor, and that sounds like just what I need. If possible, also with pivoting to portrait, but it isn't a requirement
@@IwrsTheKing007 I’ve been using the VIVO arms, specifically the V001E model. About $30 right now on Amazon. It does pivot… but keep in mind clearance while pivoting might be tricky unless you have it high enough. Again, these types are best if you’re not going to be adjusting it once it’s set where you want it.
Wall mounting onto stud walls I use a wide piece of wood spanning several studs. If you choose a decorative piece or paint it it looks great. Then just screw the mounts directly onto the wood or change whenever. This solution works great for large tvs, monitor arms or even radiators
Scoffed at the title but gave the video a watch and It's a good generalized 'food for thought' piece. It has many notes on things you should consider with the different monitor arms, use cases, positives and negatives. There are many styles someone might consider and it all depends on your usable desk space and how close it needs to be to the wall.
This is a perfect video, covers every base. I can never remove my arm, it's got 40 lbs on it, year 5 and the base is cracking and caved into the tabletop.
I had a dual monitor arm with a C-clamp mount holding two 19" monitors on an Ikea desktop. After about a year, I noticed my monitors seemed to be persistently leaning forward. I thought the tension of the articulating arms had weakened due to the weight of the two monitors. Nope. It turned out the Ikea desktop was a hollow core design and the C-clamp had started to break through its surface.
One of my gaming monitors has a recessed VESA mounting location, I actually had to modify the bracket to get it to fit into it right. You definitely want to check that out before getting one, good tip! Thumbs up!
Getting the monitors far enough away on a standard IKEA desk is surprisingly difficult w/monitor arms. It sounds nice having the monitors too close but I end up moving farther back, so I end up reaching for mouse and keyboard. Yes I have shoulder problems now, which is nice. Having the ability to move the monitors around is overrated, the monitors needs to stay in a fixed place 99% of the time. So much fiddling with aligning the monitors. The articulating arms do clean up the desk space tho.
Are there any arms with REALLY generous hight adjustment? I would like to have two normal screens on arms ABOVE an ultra wide screen on its standard stand on the desk. Most arms do nbot have enough "lift" for this configuration.... any sugestions?
Tbh for most of europe wall mounts are one of the best options as nearly all walls here are brick or concreat so preety much no matter where you mount it itll be stable af
@@Menon9767 yea the thermal isolatoin minimum constantly increasing can cause that (and less money/prioritazation of space) Most likely its eather styrophone behind wich you have something sturdire or American style (but filled with mineral wool or other thermal isolatoin material)
I'm planning to down the line pick up a duel arm setup as I have a new monitor coming and my current one will be collecting dust till I get an arm so this vid was very insightful and will aid in my eventual purchase.
In your experience, are non-spring arms more stable with a wobbly desk or do spring mechanisms actually absorb some of the movement transferred from a wobbly desk?
My new desk has a deep undercarriage which REALLY limits my options for monitor arms. I also like to have a desk pad which makes it hard to find a standing monitor arm mount that fits on my desk.
GREG! Please tell me you are using some sort of blue light filter for your OLED TV?!?! Holy Blue light Batman! 6:07 Other than that, great video! The Velcro trick is genius!!! What brand was that silver one with the single horizontal arm?
what speaker are those? and im planning to buy dual monitor next week but a wall mount one cause my desk is build within the wall 😅 any recommendations sir?
3:50 So you automatically assume that every single viewer has stud walls... My walls are solid (LECA), and the only limitation is electric wires. And those are easy to find, as they go vertically up from the outlets...
He is making the video for US market and, even if he wasn't, he'd be right half the time. Electrical wires don't go vertically everywhere too(even if it might be a standard in your region). In fact, in EU you can find wires go down into the floor, up into the ceiling and, in some particularly old buildings, wires can go across the wall to the junction box just below the ceiling(diagonally). I am assuming your building is fairly new since it's made from Fibo blocks, then there's no need to guess where the wires are if you use a wire detector, wiring diagram and photos(required for all new buildings) or just common sense based on your regions building codes.
After seeing all the hassles that come with mounting monitors, I have decided to use a freaking projector. Or maybe I should install a 3 axis gantry system, that way I can place the monitor anywhere I want.
So.. most arms are more difficult to adjust, less stable, have worst cable management and have a limited weight range to avoid falling/rising compared to a simple pole mount ? And that dual monitor arms are even more limited in compatible monitors ? Right.. So you're saying simple pole mounts are just way better, they have plenty of angle and height adjustment, and can very simply just be moved forward or side to side if you need a distance adjustment. And sure, some pole mounts have very large feets that take up a lot of desk space, but there are plenty of options with thin flat bases that while they do still take room, they allow things to be placed on top of the base just fine, thus not actually blocking that space. ho and they are a way cheaper if you do want an aftermarket pole mount, since it's true that many cheaper monitors come with crappy poles. And lets be honest, for monitor arm owners reading this, how often do you actually adjust your monitor ? not counting re-aligning if they move due to poor stability. One common adjustment could be switching from horizontal to vertical for productivity, but plenty of after market poles can do that just fine.
@@ledocteur7701 I use my arm constantly. When playing games I like to pull the monitor closer to me. When relaxing and watching things I put it back towards the wall. When building PCs I swing my monitor off to the side to give me more of a work space.
@@OhhTheHorrah Okay if the desk is multi-purpose and you often need the full surface that's a good reason to have an arm. Usually when you're watching something you don't need to interact with the keyboard and mouse so just moving the chair back should be enough for most people, tho if you have an arm I guess that's a viable use case, I don't think that use case alone is enough to justify the downsides tho. Like almost all products, there are specific use cases where it makes sense, but monitor arms are perhaps a bit over-hyped so most users don't actually fit within those specific use cases and would likely be better of with a pole.
@@ledocteur7701 My arm is a heavy duty and my desk is solid so I don't have monitor shake. My ultra wide monitors stand it came with is the size of a dinner plate and round with a slope. So it was not possible to use. With my arm there is basically no direction I can't move it. When the screws are adjusted properly it moves with minimal effort. I had a pole arm before but after using an arm I could never go back.
Sounds like you could solve many of these problems by simply using the stand that came with the product. You can even put shims under the stands to make precise height adjustments. Many of the problems here are inherent to the physics of an arm so it's hard to avoid. If you don't need to adjust the position during normal use then consider a stand instead of an arm.
The problem lies in the flimsy stands that some manufacturers love giving. With a slight bump of the desk, the monitor shakes like it's a bobblehead on a car's dashboard
My ultra wide monitors stand is bigger then a dinner plate on the base. Takes up literally all the space in front of me. So this is why. Maybe with some smaller monitors this would be fine but not for all.
The main point of monitor arms is the free space below your monitor as well as being able to move monitors without sweeping the whole content of the desk onto the ground
@@paradoxx_4221 Yeah, but at the cost of never able to truly get rid of wobbliness because of the inherent physics of an arm. If you want the space below the monitor I think building a custom stand is the right solution for that job. If you move the monitor often, then sure, you have to use an arm. Then you're making a trade off between stability vs adjustability.
Also if you plan to wall mount your monitors, don't cheap out on tools. Buy a damn masonry bit if nothing else, drilling into walls with a bit intended for wood is a nightmare for the simple reason that bricks aren't wooden.
@@Humdinger69 Ah yes, let's use a multiarmed monstrosity, that forces you to pull the desk further away from the wall and waste room space instead. What a brilliant idea! 🤡
Did this guy really just go through a slew of monitor mounts to tell you the problems with each one and not offer a solution? You would think there was a solution somewhere considering this would be "the last video we'll need before buying a monitor arm."....2 thumbs down for this one.👎👎
dont listen to this advice i have two not heavy monitors and they use a 40 bucks 1 pole 2 articulated arms monitor stand and it works fine the wobble is just like normal monitor stands and it wasnt hard to build cable management is not too bad either
@@apolloxiii5574 That might work for you but not for everyone. When I play games I prefer to pull my monitor closer to me. When watching things I push it back flat against the wall. When building PCs I swing my monitor off to the side so I have more surface in front of me. I like the flexibility of being able to place my monitor exactly where I need it.
I really don't understand why you would buy an expensive third-party monitor arm when most monitors come with decent stands of their own. With a bit of careful choosing the monitor, it will travel up and down a fair bit and also pivot. Sure, the footprint of third-party ones is usually less, but that doesn't justify a couple of hundred dollars extra.
One reason I've generally used monitor arms is for a cleaner look and more desk space: a monitor arm generally clamps to the desk, taking up much less space than one, or more, monitor stands each which will have a much larger footprint.
The monitor stand my ultra wide came with takes a massive chunk of desk space. The base is bigger then a dinner plate. So as others stated that is why.
*57% OFF Steelcase Chairs & MORE* Sale Ends 10/7 www.btod.com/refurbished/
*Monitor Arm Tier List Cheat Sheet* - www.btod.com/bmabg/
cant believe you lock the tier list behind an email subscription..
I believe many people overestimate their need for an articulating arm. Most people probably just need a fixed pole mount that allows for adjustable height and maybe pivoting into portrait mode. Bonus: Cable management is super easy with a fixed pole mount.
I've found that a fixed pole with a single horizontal arm (not vertically articulated, just a single piece swing arm) tends to work great as long as you don't need to adjust it frequently. It allows it to be adjusted in depth (forward/back) unlike a simple pole with the mount directly attached. Once it's locked in even the cheapest ones tend to be quite solid.
@@rainmannoodles do you have any recommendations? I'm getting another monitor, and that sounds like just what I need. If possible, also with pivoting to portrait, but it isn't a requirement
@@IwrsTheKing007 I’ve been using the VIVO arms, specifically the V001E model. About $30 right now on Amazon.
It does pivot… but keep in mind clearance while pivoting might be tricky unless you have it high enough. Again, these types are best if you’re not going to be adjusting it once it’s set where you want it.
Wall mounting onto stud walls I use a wide piece of wood spanning several studs. If you choose a decorative piece or paint it it looks great. Then just screw the mounts directly onto the wood or change whenever. This solution works great for large tvs, monitor arms or even radiators
Scoffed at the title but gave the video a watch and It's a good generalized 'food for thought' piece. It has many notes on things you should consider with the different monitor arms, use cases, positives and negatives. There are many styles someone might consider and it all depends on your usable desk space and how close it needs to be to the wall.
This is a perfect video, covers every base.
I can never remove my arm, it's got 40 lbs on it, year 5 and the base is cracking and caved into the tabletop.
I afraid something like this would happen so i kinda like padded top and bottom with some durable thin alloy and hope it doesn't ruin my table
I had a dual monitor arm with a C-clamp mount holding two 19" monitors on an Ikea desktop. After about a year, I noticed my monitors seemed to be persistently leaning forward. I thought the tension of the articulating arms had weakened due to the weight of the two monitors. Nope. It turned out the Ikea desktop was a hollow core design and the C-clamp had started to break through its surface.
One of my gaming monitors has a recessed VESA mounting location, I actually had to modify the bracket to get it to fit into it right. You definitely want to check that out before getting one, good tip! Thumbs up!
Many monitor arms come with spacers to fill the gap. But always check!
I like the velcro idea - I usually just use some gaff tape behind the monitors to hold them in place and prevent light seepage
I got a maxmount 3 monitor fixed mount and it's super stable and fits all my cables nicely inside the pillar
Any recommendations for a desk mounted monitor arm that can put the monitor so far back that it's not over the desk?
Why are you giving more videos to watch in the description of this is supposed to be the last one to watch?
Getting the monitors far enough away on a standard IKEA desk is surprisingly difficult w/monitor arms. It sounds nice having the monitors too close but I end up moving farther back, so I end up reaching for mouse and keyboard.
Yes I have shoulder problems now, which is nice.
Having the ability to move the monitors around is overrated, the monitors needs to stay in a fixed place 99% of the time. So much fiddling with aligning the monitors.
The articulating arms do clean up the desk space tho.
Are there any arms with REALLY generous hight adjustment? I would like to have two normal screens on arms ABOVE an ultra wide screen on its standard stand on the desk. Most arms do nbot have enough "lift" for this configuration.... any sugestions?
Tbh for most of europe wall mounts are one of the best options as nearly all walls here are brick or concreat so preety much no matter where you mount it itll be stable af
Yeah I had that experience too. Just know that lots of new houses or upper floors are more likely to be made out of "paper" like in America
@@Menon9767 yea the thermal isolatoin minimum constantly increasing can cause that (and less money/prioritazation of space)
Most likely its eather styrophone behind wich you have something sturdire or American style (but filled with mineral wool or other thermal isolatoin material)
You should have included reviewing the LG Ergo Arm. It’s spectacular.
Good video. Very concise and full of info some might not have considered.
I'm planning to down the line pick up a duel arm setup as I have a new monitor coming and my current one will be collecting dust till I get an arm so this vid was very insightful and will aid in my eventual purchase.
In your experience, are non-spring arms more stable with a wobbly desk or do spring mechanisms actually absorb some of the movement transferred from a wobbly desk?
My new desk has a deep undercarriage which REALLY limits my options for monitor arms. I also like to have a desk pad which makes it hard to find a standing monitor arm mount that fits on my desk.
This is a very underrated channel. The quality of the production, length of video and detail in the information is on point.
GREG! Please tell me you are using some sort of blue light filter for your OLED TV?!?! Holy Blue light Batman! 6:07 Other than that, great video! The Velcro trick is genius!!! What brand was that silver one with the single horizontal arm?
Might be the camera angle to the tv as some tv's look funny when viewed from the side.
what speaker are those? and im planning to buy dual monitor next week but a wall mount one cause my desk is build within the wall 😅 any recommendations sir?
3:50 So you automatically assume that every single viewer has stud walls...
My walls are solid (LECA), and the only limitation is electric wires. And those are easy to find, as they go vertically up from the outlets...
He is making the video for US market and, even if he wasn't, he'd be right half the time. Electrical wires don't go vertically everywhere too(even if it might be a standard in your region). In fact, in EU you can find wires go down into the floor, up into the ceiling and, in some particularly old buildings, wires can go across the wall to the junction box just below the ceiling(diagonally). I am assuming your building is fairly new since it's made from Fibo blocks, then there's no need to guess where the wires are if you use a wire detector, wiring diagram and photos(required for all new buildings) or just common sense based on your regions building codes.
Yeah, my walls are rebar supported solid concrete
Insanely good video that would get anyone set to understand what they need. hell yeah
What is the name of the arm that has the single horizontal arm at around 7:37?
After seeing all the hassles that come with mounting monitors, I have decided to use a freaking projector. Or maybe I should install a 3 axis gantry system, that way I can place the monitor anywhere I want.
I’ve given up on these. Desk shelves are my goto solution. Easy and impossible to get wrong
@@andresvaldevit3692 Yeah great if you don't need to really move your monitor.
Very informative guide. Thanks!
So.. most arms are more difficult to adjust, less stable, have worst cable management and have a limited weight range to avoid falling/rising compared to a simple pole mount ? And that dual monitor arms are even more limited in compatible monitors ?
Right.. So you're saying simple pole mounts are just way better, they have plenty of angle and height adjustment, and can very simply just be moved forward or side to side if you need a distance adjustment.
And sure, some pole mounts have very large feets that take up a lot of desk space, but there are plenty of options with thin flat bases that while they do still take room, they allow things to be placed on top of the base just fine, thus not actually blocking that space.
ho and they are a way cheaper if you do want an aftermarket pole mount, since it's true that many cheaper monitors come with crappy poles.
And lets be honest, for monitor arm owners reading this, how often do you actually adjust your monitor ? not counting re-aligning if they move due to poor stability.
One common adjustment could be switching from horizontal to vertical for productivity, but plenty of after market poles can do that just fine.
@@ledocteur7701 I use my arm constantly. When playing games I like to pull the monitor closer to me. When relaxing and watching things I put it back towards the wall. When building PCs I swing my monitor off to the side to give me more of a work space.
@@OhhTheHorrah Okay if the desk is multi-purpose and you often need the full surface that's a good reason to have an arm.
Usually when you're watching something you don't need to interact with the keyboard and mouse so just moving the chair back should be enough for most people, tho if you have an arm I guess that's a viable use case, I don't think that use case alone is enough to justify the downsides tho.
Like almost all products, there are specific use cases where it makes sense, but monitor arms are perhaps a bit over-hyped so most users don't actually fit within those specific use cases and would likely be better of with a pole.
@@ledocteur7701 My arm is a heavy duty and my desk is solid so I don't have monitor shake. My ultra wide monitors stand it came with is the size of a dinner plate and round with a slope. So it was not possible to use. With my arm there is basically no direction I can't move it. When the screws are adjusted properly it moves with minimal effort.
I had a pole arm before but after using an arm I could never go back.
Hi, I signed up for the Monitor Arm Comfort tier list Cheat Sheet but I was sent the Best Office Chairs Ranked For Comfort guide
Sorry, it should be fixed now -Greg
@@btodtv
Another good fix that could work better is to not lock it behind email marketing gimmicks at all! 😁
-Bob
I do prefer the wall mounted ones.
1:00 Also, drilling a hole in the desk close to the center and tightening the mount there.
I'm honestly never needed a monitor arm until I got a 42-in LG C4. 😅
Nah. This is the first video I watched. I will watch another video.
Sounds like you could solve many of these problems by simply using the stand that came with the product. You can even put shims under the stands to make precise height adjustments. Many of the problems here are inherent to the physics of an arm so it's hard to avoid. If you don't need to adjust the position during normal use then consider a stand instead of an arm.
To me it is true with Dell. Other brands especially LG has bizarre stand that both flimsy and takes a lot of space.
The problem lies in the flimsy stands that some manufacturers love giving. With a slight bump of the desk, the monitor shakes like it's a bobblehead on a car's dashboard
My ultra wide monitors stand is bigger then a dinner plate on the base. Takes up literally all the space in front of me. So this is why. Maybe with some smaller monitors this would be fine but not for all.
The main point of monitor arms is the free space below your monitor as well as being able to move monitors without sweeping the whole content of the desk onto the ground
@@paradoxx_4221 Yeah, but at the cost of never able to truly get rid of wobbliness because of the inherent physics of an arm.
If you want the space below the monitor I think building a custom stand is the right solution for that job.
If you move the monitor often, then sure, you have to use an arm. Then you're making a trade off between stability vs adjustability.
This is such a good Secret Labs ad 😃
I think we’ll need another video about monitor arms.
I like your video just because we're using the same mx keys and mx master combo
Really useful 👍🏼. Thanks!
why did I find this channel just now?! daaaaaamn
glue on your monitor is diabolical work
Also if you plan to wall mount your monitors, don't cheap out on tools. Buy a damn masonry bit if nothing else, drilling into walls with a bit intended for wood is a nightmare for the simple reason that bricks aren't wooden.
I avoided all of those issues by simply using the stand that came with the monitor and you can do too.
The monitor's stand being on top of the desk taking up desk space is the whole issue to begin with
@@Humdinger69 Ah yes, let's use a multiarmed monstrosity, that forces you to pull the desk further away from the wall and waste room space instead. What a brilliant idea! 🤡
just put some padding where your monitor arm hits the wall
What about 6 monitor arms? [:
"There has been a critical error on this website" - but the link to the guide came through.
The best cable management monitor arm is from secret lab tbh
What is the monitor arm ay 7:45?
i don't have this problem because i never have my setup facing the wall.
Why am i watching this?
I don't have a pc let alone have a plan on buying a monitor arm
5:32 This hurt to watch.
Did this guy really just go through a slew of monitor mounts to tell you the problems with each one and not offer a solution? You would think there was a solution somewhere considering this would be "the last video we'll need before buying a monitor arm."....2 thumbs down for this one.👎👎
Hey, i ve tryed to enter the cheat sheet but aparently i am banned, how can i fix this? Thanks
I have the same issue!
I think it's not because of us, but they have a problem with the website
Yes, my apologies it has been resolved. Thank you for letting us know! -Greg
3:52 laughs in europian
🔥
Ya right...try n find one fir the ktc oled.138hz 48 in..too heavy..I think there's one arm that may be able to handle it for 300 idk man
5:35 top 10 moments before disaster
Hey your cheat sheet still doesnt work
Sorry had the double opt in set and it was not functioning. All good again. Bit of a hiccup as we changed providers. Thanks for the heads up! -Greg
laughs in AR for AVP
Hi Greg, I am blocked from the cheat sheet.
Holy shit that all white room is giving migraine. jesus. 2:15 that's should be a criminal offence.
tf glued???
Bro you make the same video over and over
dont listen to this advice i have two not heavy monitors and they use a 40 bucks 1 pole 2 articulated arms monitor stand and it works fine the wobble is just like normal monitor stands and it wasnt hard to build cable management is not too bad either
Why even use these things, just place the monitor on the correct place and leave is there, stop fiddling with it.
@@apolloxiii5574 That might work for you but not for everyone. When I play games I prefer to pull my monitor closer to me. When watching things I push it back flat against the wall. When building PCs I swing my monitor off to the side so I have more surface in front of me. I like the flexibility of being able to place my monitor exactly where I need it.
I really don't understand why you would buy an expensive third-party monitor arm when most monitors come with decent stands of their own. With a bit of careful choosing the monitor, it will travel up and down a fair bit and also pivot. Sure, the footprint of third-party ones is usually less, but that doesn't justify a couple of hundred dollars extra.
Stands take too much space. Simple as that😊
A monitor arm is like 75 USD. You don't need to buy those ergotron stuff. I'm not gonna buy 300 USD mounts when I set and forget it, seems stupid.
I promise you would change your mind if you had a good monitor arm setup with multiple displays.
One reason I've generally used monitor arms is for a cleaner look and more desk space: a monitor arm generally clamps to the desk, taking up much less space than one, or more, monitor stands each which will have a much larger footprint.
The monitor stand my ultra wide came with takes a massive chunk of desk space. The base is bigger then a dinner plate. So as others stated that is why.