Amazon Basics Dual Monitor Stand, Lift Engine Arm Mount, Black

I've tried several different brands ranging from the $80 range to $200+ per arm, and this product easily matches the best qualities of the competitors—and puts them all in one. It sets the golden standard for the product, and that's even before considering how cheap it is relative to its high-end competition.— Set Up —I had this on my desk with my monitors wired and powered on within 10 minutes of opening the box. No directions needed (though the in-box instructions were also very thorough). This product has very few moving parts and none of them are confusing or counter-intuitive to put together.Another nice touch is that it also comes with a bracket for mounting anywhere on your desk, so you're not just limited to the very edge of whatever surface you're working with. You just drill a ~1/4" hole, drop the mounting screw through, and tighten the base from below.— Functionality and Quality —The machining of the individual parts is so exact that tightening the joints isn't to prevent wobble, it's to adjust to your preference of swing resistance. The arms feel very secure as soon as they're slid onto their posts. Their construction is very solid metal, except for the accents (post caps and the under-arm wire guide).I have mine set up with two 24" Asus VG248QE monitors (12.12lbs each, pretty standard screen weight), and the arms have no trouble with the weight. No sagging, no creaking, no leaning of the post from the vertical axis, and very little effort required to swing or raise the screens. The tension springs in the up/down arm are very well calibrated and don't get weak or tighten up at either extreme (fully raised/lowered). I'm not sure how it would handle excessively heavy screens, but I will attempt to mount my 21lb Apple Cinema display to one of the arms and update this review accordingly.— Appearance and Design —This also happens to be my favorite looking of any of the monitor arm brands that I've tried. It's simple, attractive, and doesn't go out of its way to try to visually signal how futuristic or sleek it is or isn't (*cough* Ergotron). The design fits the function without trying to stand out, and that's exactly what I need when it comes to my office.If you're one of those people who have issues with the "Amazon Basics" logo plaques (3 total, on the arms and base), know that they can be popped off easily with a knife edge (just be careful not to scratch the paint). The arm plaques come off to reveal the same black paint underneath so are virtually unnoticeable when removed, but the base plaque reveals unpainted metal. Honestly, I left mine on after discovering this—AmazonBasics has earned enough happy customer credit with me to warrant the free advertising.— Overall —For the money I spent I couldn't have asked for more. Yes, if you are buying your first monitor arm this might seem an expensive, but it is not, and the cheaper alternatives are not worth the drop in quality. This is not the ultra-premium, this is the standard of quality and it is worth every penny. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a monitor arm. And of course, you can't beat Amazon's return policy and 1-year included warranty.

I was expecting to be disappointed for a few reasons. I ordered a "used" unit, although in like new condition. I used to be an "open box" deal kinda guy but have since decided that it's usually not worth it and prefer to pay a few extra dollars to get new. Based on the reviews I read, especially those referencing the "bad" screw - I anticipated there would be a selection of returned units. Since this arm was a bit on the expensive side I figured I needed to justify my purchase by saving a few bucks buying used. As soon as I ordered a "used" unit I began my buyers remorse dance but ended up biting the bullet and let it go. When my package arrived it was in decent shape, I opened it and noted that there were two bags that had been opened containing some hardware. That was the extent of being "used". I inventoried the parts, everything was accounted for. I checked for mars, dents, scratches, mangled screws, etc.. I was as advertised, like new, I could not tell the difference. The unit and parts were well packed and all documentation was included. First hurdle and a great relief! Now for the infamous "bad" screw that seems to have haunted a few. I read a number of reviews and noted that the "bad" screw issue was addressed in a few of these an this is noted clearly in the instructions, that there is a screw behind the monitor mounting plates - someone included photos of this. This screw needs to be loosened or tightened for these arms to work well, and finally, tightened at the end to be sure the arms hold their position and can be adjusted without them slowly falling/drooping. I had to make a number of adjustments but expected this. These arms are well made, solid and offer a ton a versatility. I wound up drilling a hole in my desk for this mount since I was worried about the distance from my desk to the wall. The back edge of the base for this mount sits about 4"" forward from the back of my desk and is slightly (5" - 6") to the left of center - this works well for me as my desk is fairly deep (32") and long (36"). I have no regrets purchasing this dual mounting arm. It is solid, clearly of good quality and adjusts easily - very smooth. I would not have been disappointed had I paid full price for this item, it is worth it - a good value. With that said, I would not hesitate to buy a used Amazon item again based on this experience, I saved quite a few $$ doing so.

Update: After having the problem described below, I resorted to buying the Ergotron version of this same product, hoping for better luck. What I ordered was the ERG45245026 - Ergotron Inc LX Dual Side-by-Side Arm for WorkFit-D Sit-Stand Desk. It really is the same product and I had the same problem. So I made use of Ergotron's chat support and got a solution. Here's the product: ERG45245026 - Ergotron Inc LX Dual Side-by-Side Arm for WorkFit-D Sit-Stand Desk.The chat rep told me to simply hold the base with my feet and then rotate the mounting plate (without the monitor attached.) That worked! So I could have kept this AmazonBasics version if I had known the trick.So now I've changed my review here from one star to four stars. It's not five stars because I couldn't figure out how to fix the position of the monitor plate and did return it. I only found out how to fix the problem after I bought the pricier Ergotron. However, I am confident this is a great product, now that I know what happened.Here's my original one-star review:I returned the first one with a defect, and got a second defective one. Apparently, there's a quality control issue here. I really want this product, but I struck out twice. The problem is the same as that of all the one-star reviews: the plate that holds the monitor doesn't turn at all, leaving the monitor facing the ceiling.Also I was not able to install the product on the edge of the desk because the desk has a modesty panel which makes the edge too shallow. I actually was able to avoid the more complicated method and simply inserted the base into the hole in the desktop and screwed the bottom back on by crawling beneath the desk.