Beware of your mount! Not your horse…your VESA mount.

There was a time just over a year ago when a pair of Asus VE247 LCD monitors graced my desk. I liked them a lot, but eventually decided that two 24” monitors was not exactly what I needed. I appreciated the screen real-estate, but didn’t enjoy how they completely consumed my desktop. So for the past while I’ve had just one monitor on my desk, the other being gifted to my wife.

Very recently I thought I might give a dual-monitor setup another try. This time I might be more creative about positioning one of the monitors in portrait mode. The dual-arm monitor mount that I use would easily accommodate this.

This isn’t a high-priority task, but I’ve been keeping watch for a good deal on a nice monitor for Stella. That would allow me to reclaim the other Asus monitor and return to a matched pair on my desktop.

Yesterday’s email from Logic Buy contained an interesting offer from Dell. They list a Dell S2440L for $197 with a coupon. On the surface it seems like a decent price on a suitable monitor. Looking a little further at the details of the device I found no reference to VESA mounting capability.

Curious about this, I poked through all of the various pictures that Dell has online to sell the thing. None showed a standard VESA mounting arrangement.

In fact, they have a pseudo-3d spin of the monitor. Rotating it around to look at the back side it becomes clear that there are no holes present to receive the VESA mount.

The image above shows the Dell monitor (left) and my existing Asus (right.) Notice the four little grey dots surrounding the logo on the Asus monitor? Those are the little rubber plugs that fill the VESA mounting holes when not in use. There are no such hole on the back of the Dell.

Of course, the 3D presentation on the Dell site could be derived from a model of the monitor and not actual photography. It could be anatomically incorrect. However, since the product description doesn’t mention mounting options I’m sure that it simply lacks that capability.

I have used VESA mounts at trade shows to mount monitors to floor stands or walls. If you want to mount the monitor in any manner other than the built-in stand a VESA mount is basically essential.

Since this new monitor would be on Stella’s desk there’s no pressing need for anything beyond the desk mount. However, she has been making noises about a new desk. In her perfect world it would have a monitor that could be swung, slid or rotated out of view when not required. That implies that some kind of sophisticated, potentially even custom monitor mount could be in her future.

The moral of the story is this; when you’re shopping for monitors at discount prices be mindful of exactly how the manufacturer might have shaved a few pennies off their cost structure. You might initially get a great deal, but then find that you cannot mount the monitor in the manner that you require.