No one denies the increasing productivity that comes from using more than one desktop monitor. But there are times when even two or three are not enough, depending on the work that you do. For a business that is into Web design it’s tough to do your work without five or six monitors and the most logical placement for all these screens is in a so-called Hex configuration: three above the bottom row of three. Let’s have a look at the installation and use of the Hexa Arm LCD Desk Mount, courtesy of SAPPLY (or S&PPLY).
Installation
Needless to say that when you look at the finished product on a picture you can guess it doesn’t come like that in a box. There is a fair bit of assembly to do but just like with a puzzle, if you know what the end result has to look like, getting there is fairly easy. All the bits and pieces are carefully packaged and everything is very complete. There is an instruction leaflet with it that covers the assembly of three different models which makes it needlessly confusing initially. The first impression of the build quality is very reassuring and it needs to be, considering that you’re hanging all your precious but heavy screens on a bunch of VESA mounts and they are all around the 24 inch size. You probably have to allow around an hour for assembling all the bits and pieces before you come to the stage where you are ready to hang the monitors up. Needless to say that the end result will be pretty heavy and cannot be lifted up without the help of another person. If you have access to the back of your desk to finish installation then you’re lucky. In our case the wall is right behind the desk which made final installation a bit tricky. In addition, the desk is a glass one so we had to be careful how to position the assembly right above one of the table legs for proper weight distribution.
Fitting the screens is fairly easy. We bought three new Dell monitors (23 1/2 inch) for the top row. They come ready for mounting with their stands detached. These are very lightweight monitors but at the same specs or better than the old Dell 24 inch monitors we have been working with. We also have a reasonable top of the range 27 inch monitor that takes pride of place in the set up. That’s the central monitor for doing our Photoshop work. Because this set up allows for the mounting of six 24 inch monitors, clearly the 27 inch presents a problem. It’s quite okay to have it in a central position but then you have to have some smaller monitors on either side. Our interim solution is to keep the old 24 inch monitors on their own stands by swinging the arms behind them out of the way towards the wall. The overall result is very workable but aesthetically it would be better to have six similar monitors of course.
The main problem?
Keeping track of the mouse! It’s a lot of screen estate where the mouse cursor could be hiding…. I must say that having six monitors is probably the limit before people think you’re overdoing it! Unless you are you’re monitoring a nuclear power station. Most folks walking into the office are pretty impressed with the setup which can be another side benefit as it all looks very professional.
Conclusion
There is no need to make this an extensive review as the Hexa Mount is a pretty simple affair: relatively easy to assemble and once in place it is set to work for many, many years. All the individual VESA mounts can be adjusted to position your screens at the right angle and tilt.
For just 399 Aussie bucks it is an excellent investment if you have limited desk space and your work calls for multiple monitors. You don’t have to go the whole hog with six monitors but check out SAPPLY for other mounting solutions as well.
Highly recommended!
