The box was HUGE. I didn't expect it to be that big. (Behind the box is a 3 person couch).
Shipped weight on this thing was 39.4lbs.
I dug into the box like a little kid a Christmas and neatly laid out all the parts.
Here is a quick shot of my setup before the Ergotron. You can see that 3 bases take up a lot of room. I also had to add a 2nd shelf to my table in order to raise my monitors to the correct height. I have 2x Chimei monitors (left and right) and one Samsung (middle).
More pics of my original setup are posted here: http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/9188
Here is the base and the lift stand connected. At first I was surprised that the base (the part that sits on the desk) was made of plastic. But once I examined it more closely I could see that it was heavy duty industrial type of plastic, with re-enforcement on the underside. The lift stand is the heaviest portion of the whole setup. This portion of the stand also houses the part that can tilt the monitors and move the monitors up and down.
Here is a side shot of the base and lift stand. Notice the lift stand is at an angle. This is by design and the instructions make it very clear not to attempt to straighten this piece.
I've now attached the monitor arm to the lift stand.
I moved the monitors off my desk and took down the 2nd shelf (I hated it because I couldn't see my keyboard LCD). I put the assembled product on my desk and noticed that it would hit my wireless router if I moved it all the way to the back. This was no good. So I spent the next 30 minutes moving the router and modem to another portion of the room. This turned out to be a good thing for the computer at the far side of the house, which went from a "low" signal to "very good". Things look a little cluttered right now.
Here is a side shot of the mounting for one of my Chimei monitors. This pic shows a recessed monitor mount with the bracket and longer screws. Ergotron provided more then enough options for mounting monitors. You can mount 75MM and 100MM, recessed and non recessed monitor mounting options. The "bag o' parts" has screws for all these options and even has included a set of thumb screws for easy on/off of the plate. The only compliant I have is that the thumb screws will only work with non-recessed back panels. It would have been nice if they included a set of thumb screws that were longer for the recessed monitors. The Ergotron bracket will then attach to the Ergotron monitor arm with a C Clamp.
Here I show all 3 monitors set up. Initially I had a concern about all 3x 22" monitors fitting on the Ergotron arm. The product supports "up to 3x 21" monitor’s measure diagonally". My 3x 22" setup fit, but BARELY fit. Also you'll notice that the side monitors are slightly higher then the middle monitor. This has NOTHING to do with the Ergotron product; rather the placement of the backside mounting plate on the Chimei monitors is not the same height as the Samsung. So here is one of those common sense things you don't realize until after you are done... If you plan on setting up 3 monitors, get 3 of the same monitors if at all possible. For me, there is only a 1/2" offset from middle to sides, which is not noticeable once you are immersed in a game.
Here we are up and running!
Another shot up and running. As you can see, there is only a single set of cables running from the monitors to behind the desk. The monitor cables are easily hidden, however at this point it was almost bedtime and I was too tired to do some cable management.
Ergotron provides clips that can help address the cable management. The next two screenshots show what I'm talking about; I just need to move those clips a bit inward and my monitor cables will be all but invisible. I really like the fact they thought to include this feature. The one thing I would change would be to ship the product with 2 extra clips.
So going from 3 monitors with bases to 3 monitors with a single base, you can see that the base is not even as wide as my Logitech G15 keyboard. It does stick out pretty far from the wall (back of the table), so you want to be sure to have a desk that is fairly deep. My "desk" is actually one of those folding tables that you find at fairs and yard sales and is approximately 30" deep. I also found that I could collapse the feet on my keyboard and move the keyboard so it is resting on the feet of the monitor stand. This gives me a few extra inches of desk space.
Final Thoughts:
I really love this stand. It has allowed me to reclaim much of my desk and I can now see/hear my speakers again. It is sturdy enough that I don't have to worry about my monitors falling, It is very adjustable (up, down and tilt). It provides cable management features and looks great. The product comes with enough parts so that you have options when mounting your monitors and are not required to go purchase any additional parts. The tilt/up/down adjustment can be tension adjusted based on the weight of the monitors you are attaching. This feature is a MUST HAVE if you are looking for a 3 to 1 monitor stand such as this product.
The instructions are very clear, however the one thing that I personally did not get (until I really thought about it), was the tensioning process. For adjusting the tension of the up/down adjustment, the screw is on top of the lift stand (hidden nicely) and the instructions clearly tell you clockwise to increase tension, counter clockwise to decrease tension. For adjusting the tension of the tilt, there are two screws underneath the lift stand head that are also adjusted the same way, clockwise to increase tension, counter clockwise to decrease tension. Well here is the common sense part; clockwise is not the same directly when the screws that are facing up as the screw that is facing down. I didn't get this right away, probably because I am not very mechanically inclined. I actually had to put my head on the desk, face upwards (underneath the lift stand head) and picture counter clockwise so my brain would get it. Now this is not a defect in the product, rather it is a defect in my head, but it would have been nice to have this mentioned in the instructions for people like me.
My only real reservation would be price. It is a bit pricey for your average user ($329.00 MSRP) but if you are a professional gamer or work in music/video, needed as much desk space as possible, and was working with 3 monitors, then this product is a must have.
If I was rating this on a 10 point system, I’d give the Ergotron LX Triple Display Lift Stand (LX3) an 8.5 out of 10.
