ErgoTron Neo-Flex Combo Lift Stand Review

[Kevin O'Brien]

The ErgoTron Neo-Flex Combo Stand is a productivity improving notebook and monitor stand. The Neo-Flex stand just sits on top of your desk without any clamps giving you an easy to move structure that takes up a relatively small amount of desktop space. Offering easy assembly, high quality components, and claims of better multi-tasking it is easy to see why companies and individuals would be interested in this monitor stand. In this review we cover setup and installation, and let you know if it made a decent improvement in our office productivity.

Neo-Flex Combo Stand Specifications:

• Designed for use with a separate, external keyboard for proper ergonomics
• Laptop, monitor, keyboard and mouse not included
• Everything is included to neatly route cables behind the stand, out of the way
• Weight Capacity: 12–28 lbs (5.4–12.7 kg) total; notebook = 6–12 lbs (2.7–5.4 kg); monitor = 6–16 lbs (2.7–7.2 kg)
• Monitor up/down tilt = +25°/-5°
• Mounting Standards: VESA FDMI MIS-D, 100/75, C (hole pattern: 100 x 100 mm & 75 x 75 mm)
• UL compliant: Meets UL Specification 1678 Tip Test
• Shipping Dimensions: 24.4" x 16.8" x 8.8" (620 x 426 x 224 mm)
• Shipping Weight: 25 lbs (11.3 kg)
• Warranty: Three (3) years
• MSRP: $179.99

Setup

Unboxing the Neo-Flex Combo Stand introduces you to many components, including a few bags of screws. The box contains five main stand components, including the base, support column, mounting bar, and two attachment pieces for your notebook and monitor. Each of these items is held in place with a handful of allen screws and trying to get the pieces lined up correctly by yourself is a difficult task. Getting a friend to assist is the best idea, as some of the items like the support column are heavy and awkward to get in the correct position as you tighten the screws. Once those parts are connected, the rest of the process is easily done with one person.

You attach the crossbar to the lifting mount with four screws, and then slide on the two attachment pieces for the notebook and monitor. The attachment mounts are secured firmly with set screws, and the only step left is attaching your monitor to the VESA mount, and placing your notebook on the platform. Overall the entire process from the Fedex man delivering the box to having it assembled on my desk took roughly 20 minutes.

Fine Tuning

The stand allows perfect placement of the notebook screen right alongside your secondary monitor, be it a 15” LCD or a widescreen panel up to 16lbs. The large span of the support bar and the sliding ability of the mounts allows for a wide range of adjustment depending on your notebook or display size. The monitor side also has a pivoting adjustment, to allow for a tall screen display if you prefer to view long documents without the need for a lot of scrolling.

Another adjustment that may be needed if you have a large and/or heavy display and notebook on the stand is the tension for the height control. To keep the notebook at the preferred height without falling or continuing to rise, you need to fine tune the internal spring with one of the included allen wrenches. You want this strong enough to hold the heavy assembly up, but not so strong that you cant lower the display without the platform creeping back up once you release your hand.

Ease of Use

Once the stand is assembled it is very easy to use no matter if you are a tech geek or someone who knows nothing about technology. To rotate the screen around, you just pivot the entire stand. If you are in a customer service position and you need to show customers the display, the base includes small wheels to rotate it with little effort. Even with weight of my notebook and monitor on the stand, I could pivot it using only my fingertip.

Increasing productivity through multi-tasking is an interesting subject to cover for each person who hase a dual monitor setup. While I love having two displays on my desk at work, I don’t know if I am actually completing more work in a given day. Sometimes I have Hulu playing an episode of my favorite TV show fullscreen on one side, and reading my favorite online notebook forum on the other. Multi-tasking can go either way, in my case improving my slacking abilities. In other office settings having one screen open with a document you are typing and the other showing another company application, having two monitors would be great to increase productivity. You wouldn’t need to constantly minimize one window to bring up the other, instead just look at the other display with it already open.

Downsides

This type of monitor stand has an advantage of not being permanently secured to the desk, but in order to rotate on your desk surface it needs a huge amount of clean open space. You need a 25” circle of open space on your desk to do one perfect rotation. I say perfect rotation, because in reality since it is not permanently fixed to the desk, the center point changes are you move the stand around. In one circle it could shift as much as 3-4 inches off center.

Conclusion

The ErgoTron Neo-Flex Combo Stand is a good option for businesses or individuals that want to make use of their notebook display in addition to an external monitor. Setup is easy enough if you have built other products such as the latest chair or desk from IKEA. People who don’t own their desk, or don’t want to attach clamps will enjoy the base design which just sits flat on the top of your desk. The Neo-Flex stand puts the notebook and monitor side-by-side and lets you pivot it effortlessly around your desk surface. While it has a few aspects that could be improved, overall the ErgoTron Neo-Flex Combo Stand is still a great product.

Pros:

• Great build quality
• Easy to setup, few tools needed
• Compatible with a wide range of notebooks and monitors

Cons:

• Huge area of clean space needed to complete a full circle on your desk
• Limited height adjustment

[Kyle Porter]

kewl. might get one.

[Frank]

Does not seem that comfortable for a TabletPC user.
Not height adjustable, only +25°/-5° monitor up/down tilt, not portable, bulky, expensive, the second monitor will be higher than the Tablet PC when in slate mode.
I wouldn't buy this stand for a tablet PC For a notebook user which also uses a second monitor it seems great.

[schmolch]

That was a ergotron notebook-arm, now it carries my 2 X60Ts.

[Kyle Porter]

very nice!

[Frank]

Nice construction. Well build and much more useful than the original version.
But how is it to write on the tablets then? I also thought about using an Ergotron arm for my tablet PC, but I was afraid that it would sink or swing if I write or if I lie my arm on the tablet then.

Currently I use a more simple and cheap constuction, I reconverted a cheap aged paper holder my mother used in the past.
Sadly I only have my mobile phone as "photo" available, so excuse the bad quality.

But this stand is tiltable, height adjustable, foldable, portable, cheap, I can use my tablet in portrait or landscape mode, nearly pefect

[leaftye]

The arm thing seems much more useful. I'd love to have one to read in bed with. Something that's elevated an out of the way so that if I fall asleep, I don't have to worry about smothering or dropping my tablet....of course, this is only practical so long as I'm single.

[marmil]

schmolch - I like your modified version. Looks good.

off topic - Frank (or anyone that knows) what is that keyboard you have there?

[Frank]

off topic - Frank (or anyone that knows) what is that keyboard you have there?

It's a FrogPad, a one handed keyboard. There it is just the black right handed USB version and not the white left handed Bluetooth version which is shown in the review.

[marmil]

It's a FrogPad, a one handed keyboard. There it is just the black right handed USB version and not the white left handed Bluetooth version which is shown in the review.

Wow, that's wacky. And very cool! I will have to read more about that in your review. Thank you.