Ergotron LX desk monitor arm

What it is good at

• Freeing the desktop under the screen for a keyboard and papers
• Being adjustable in height, depth and tilt after it is installed
• Routing the display cable along the arm instead of across the desk

Check before you buy

• The weight range the gas spring is rated for, and whether your panel is inside it
• The VESA pattern on your screen, and whether the desk edge is thick and solid enough to clamp
• Clearance behind the desk, since the arm sweeps backwards when the screen comes forward

Who it is not for

Anyone with a glass desk, a desk with a bevelled frame, or a very heavy panel outside the arm rating.

A monitor arm is a lever problem. The gas spring has to balance a specific weight range, so an arm chosen for a heavy panel will not hold a light one steady, and the reverse can sag under its own load. That range, not the look of the arm, is the specification to match.

The second limit is the desk. The clamp needs a flat edge with something solid behind it, and the arm swings backwards when the screen is pulled forward, so the wall behind the desk matters as much as the desk itself.