I had been using a 3 monitor set up for some time but recently decided to go down to just one monitor. I was already largely using just my large Dell curved monitor. It was 32 inches and everything I needed open was able to fit. It also helped that at home I use sway so the tiling and multiple workspaces was more than adequte.
When one of my side monitors failed, I didn't bother ordering a new monitor and so the arm was simply empty. I then took down the second monitor and used my triple monitor arm with just one monitor.
The final reason to get a new monitor arm was that the old one wasn't actually specced to handle the weight of my large 32 inch monitor. There was quite a bit of tilt no matter how hard I tightened things. I had to jam a book underneath to get my monitor to stay level.
I saw a nice monitor arm on IG and figured I'd give it a shot. I wanted something that could hold my monitor easiy and let me move it around and tilt it without fear.
I got the North Bay L50 for 99$. It is a bit expensive but it would be worth it if it was stable.
First of all, the box that the monitor came in was well packaged and huge. Opening it was nice and the black padding is great. It definitely felt premium. Unlike my triple arm set up, this single arm was much sleeker and felt solid.
There was the arm in one piece, and then the clamp mechanism. This was 2 plate pieces and 2 clamps. Screwing these in and clamping the arm down was relatively straightforward.
The plates use notches to hold the clamps in place. This means that between notches and depending on the size of the table, the clamps could not reach properly. This was my problem and I had to jam a book in the clamp to get everything lined up. This is a bit of a pain as putting a book in works but it is hokey. I could use a block of wood but it's the same idea.
Once the arm is clamped, the monitor can be put on the arm and then its straightforward to play with the screw to tighten and loosen different parts of it.
I'm pretty happy with the monitor arm, it's basically hidden by monitor so the design doesn't really matter. The tilt and swivel are great and I feel confident in pulling it out and pushing it back in. These were things my old monitor arm wasn't really capable of.
One drawback is that with the way I've set it up the monitor and the base of the arm are centered. The base is a bit to the right. It is a bit weird and I put something underneath the monitor to make it feel cohesive. I can see this bothering others.
Overall, it's only been a day but I like the arm and it was easy to set up. This is something I would probably recommend. I wonder if they make a 3 monitor arm that feels just as good. It would be cool to be able to manipulate three monitors without fear.