Put Your Tablet to Work with a Desk-Mount Arm

Ergotron’s Neo-Flex Desk Mount Tablet Arm attaches to a desk or other surface and holds your tablet PC in place. And it’s flexible, so you can adjust the tablet’s viewing angle.  Neo-Flex is known for its desktop-monitor arms, and the Tablet Arm mounts your iPad, PlayBook or other tablet alongside a monitor or on a desk for use with a Bluetooth keyboard.

Installing the Ergotron Neo-Flex Tablet Arm

Setting up the Neo-Flex Tablet Arm is a relatively straight-forward affair. Some assembly is required, but it’s fairly simple. And because it has few separate parts the installation took less time than the Ergotron WorkFit-S Workstation arm I reviewed in March. Two installation methods exist: 1) You can use the default clamp mount to attach the arm to the edge of your desk; or 2) you can swap the clamp out for the included grommet mount.

Alll of the required screws and allen keys come individually packed inside sealed plastic compartments, which makes it simple to sort them. And the Neo-Flex Tablet Arm comes with well-written and clearly-illustrated assembly instructions.

Ergotron Neo-Flex Tablet Arm: My Experience

Ergotron says the Neo-Flex Desk Mount Tablet Arm is compatible with many tablets and e-readers, including Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Amazon’s Kindle. But my 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is too small to be properly secured by the spring-loaded top clip. My iPad fit well, though, and eight-to-ten-inch tablets should also fit snuggly.

The Neo-Flex Tablet Arm is sturdily designed, which makes it simple and comfortable to use your tablets’ touch screens. The cradle that holds the tablet can be rotated 360 degrees into landscape or portrait positions or tilted up until it’s almost horizontal. Detachable clips hold any audio, video or power cables that might run to your tablet, and the middle portion of the Neo-Flex Tablet Arm can be detached to save space.

The Neo-Flex Tablet Arm has flexible clasps and grippers made of soft plastic material to reduce the risk of scratches. The sliding brackets for the top and bottom contact points don’t block any of your tablet’s ports. And the Neo-Flex Tablet Arm works with tablets that have cases; I used mine with the Griffin IntelliCase.

Ergotron Neo-Flex Tablet Arm: Room for Improvement

All of the gadget’s screws are completely hidden or at least recessed, but I’d feel more comfortable it it had some sort of soft-rubber back for protection instead of just bare plastic.

I was also a bit disappointed that the lowest position that the Arm would take with my iPad was only slightly below eye level; the mechanism only lets you bring the iPad higher, not lower. On a positive note, you can use the Neo-Flex Tablet Arm when you’re standing up.

The Ergotron Neo-Flex Desk Mount Tablet Arm will set you back $119.00. Considering that some higher-end tablet stands costs the same amount and have far less functionality, this is a reasonable price for a well thought-out and well-built product.

The Neo-Flex Tablet Arm holding my BlackBerry PlayBook.

The cradle in landscape mode.

A couple of clips on the arm help hold cables in place. The clips can be removed and replaced with a cable tie or your preferred means of securing your tablet.

Close-up of the cradle that holds your tablet in place.

Screws and components sealed in plastic wrap.