Triple Monitor Arm Dilemma: Wall Mounted, Clamp Mounted. Deep desk. Nearsighted.

BLSmith2112 · October 4, 2020

Howdy. Here's the goal: Have three 27'' monitors, mounted into ether the wall, or the desk so I'm not using the standard monitor legs.

I've got a 24'' deep desk.
I'm nearsighted and the monitor can be no further than 18'' inches from my eyes.
The center monitor must be 16'' from the wall.
The 2 flanking monitors must be further than 16'' due to them being on an angle. I don't know the proper recommended angle from the center monitor to know what distance they should be from the wall.
I like having the monitor 5-6 inches off the desk.
Monitors I'd like to buy: LG 27GL850-B 27, but they're sold out everywhere so hopefully by the time I figure this monitor arm stuff out they'll be in stock again.
They can be wall mounted or desk clamp mounted, but if wall mounted they must have extra length in the event a stud is an extra inch or two away from ideal location.

What I've found while researching:

Most desk stands I've seen, such as the Ergotech 130 have an absolutely huge base stand that elevates the keyboard like a quarter of an inch which raises the height of the keyboard, making for an uncomfortable user experience, specifically because I have to have the monitor so close to me and the 15''+ deep stand gets in the way (raises my 37'' inch mouse pad too). Full discloser I own the Ergotech 130 and it's about to be returned due to this experience. If there were VESA extensions to allow me to push the stand back 8 inches while keeping the monitors 8 inches forward I'd try that but it might break the spec allowance of the stand.
Most wall arms I've seen do not extend far enough for the flanking monitors or aren't well reviewed.
Most desk clamped arms I've seen aren't strong enough to prevent wobble, or hold the lowest point of the monitor over 5-6 inches off the desk.

Any tips or suggestions on what to try? Thanks guys & gals.

LyondellBasell · October 4, 2020

4 hours ago, BLSmith2112 said:

Howdy. Here's the goal: Have three 27'' monitors, mounted into ether the wall, or the desk so I'm not using the standard monitor legs.

I've got a 24'' deep desk.

I'm nearsighted and the monitor can be no further than 18'' inches from my eyes.

The center monitor must be 16'' from the wall.

The 2 flanking monitors must be further than 16'' due to them being on an angle. I don't know the proper recommended angle from the center monitor to know what distance they should be from the wall.

I like having the monitor 5-6 inches off the desk.

Monitors I'd like to buy: LG 27GL850-B 27, but they're sold out everywhere so hopefully by the time I figure this monitor arm stuff out they'll be in stock again.

They can be wall mounted or desk clamp mounted, but if wall mounted they must have extra length in the event a stud is an extra inch or two away from ideal location.

What I've found while researching:

Most desk stands I've seen, such as the Ergotech 130 have an absolutely huge base stand that elevates the keyboard like a quarter of an inch which raises the height of the keyboard, making for an uncomfortable user experience, specifically because I have to have the monitor so close to me and the 15''+ deep stand gets in the way (raises my 37'' inch mouse pad too). Full discloser I own the Ergotech 130 and it's about to be returned due to this experience. If there were VESA extensions to allow me to push the stand back 8 inches while keeping the monitors 8 inches forward I'd try that but it might break the spec allowance of the stand.

Most wall arms I've seen do not extend far enough for the flanking monitors or aren't well reviewed.

Most desk clamped arms I've seen aren't strong enough to prevent wobble, or hold the lowest point of the monitor over 5-6 inches off the desk.

Any tips or suggestions on what to try? Thanks guys & gals.

My setup is very much like the one you describe, my mounting point is on the back of my desk and I like my monitors suspended very far forward so the they float over my keyboard and mouse.

I've got three recommendations for you depending on your mounting style preference. They're all from Chief, you can look them up either through the Legrand A/V website or through ErgoDirect.

The K1C330 is a single desk mount that spiders into three dynamically adjustable arms. The center arm doesn't look like it's adjustable for depth, so this may or may not be the right one for you, depending on how far from the mounting point you want your monitor to be. The base for this one is much smaller than your Ergotech 130 because it's a grommet mount, so it's not relying on it's size to steady itself. It's maybe 5" by 4".

The K4G310 is also a single desk mount, but on this one the monitors are attached to a bracket and then suspended by a single arm, so they are not independently adjustable. This one will allow you to position the entire array much further from the base than the K1C. They also offer it in a K4W310 if you want the wall mount version instead.

As a third alternative, if you want to stick with independently adjustable arms and not an array, you can buy three arms. Desk mount, pole mount, or wall mount, up to you. Suspend the central one and set your distance, and then just adjust the other two to match/give the best fit.

BLSmith2112 · October 5, 2020

Interesting! Thank you for these recommendations. Once I find a way to purchase the three LG monitor's I'll likely try the K4W310 wall mounted system. Having the monitors all along the same axis is essentially what I expect and don't foresee having to move the monitor's independently. Once I have everything setup I'll be sure to followup!

BLSmith2112 · November 2, 2020

On 10/4/2020 at 6:16 AM, LyondellBasell said:

They also offer it in a K4W310 if you want the wall mount version instead.

Sadly, after waiting nearly an entire month for them to ship the arm. I'll have to find another company capable of shipping a product that they sell. Any other company recommendations anyone along these lines?