Are there any monitor stands that fold flat? Digital Nomad

Perhaps something like this would work for you. -https://www.legrandav.com/products/chief/mounts/monitor/desk_mounts/k3_arrays

Yes, if the base detaches from the vertical support easily. But I suspect its bolted. Not that that’s bad but its just another tool I’ll have to lug around. I would want something that just folds flat. I’ll have to try to dig up that IBM monitor stand online to see how they did it. Its just not a feature that the manufacturer talks about generally. What kind of nutcase packs their monitor around with them? :) Not many! Also very few manufacturers show their monitor stand ready for packing! You definitely want VESA so you can use a monitor arm if available. Not sure if most monitors today of 27″ and larger, have VESA mounting holes. Surely they must. Otherwise you’ve got to use those gangly VESA adapter clamps which look very poorly designed. They should hold the monitor by the corners but they never seem to. All the ones I’ve seen look like this: https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB15v4WRVXXXXadXFXXq6xXFXXXr/Whole-Set-VESA-Adapter-Mount-Bracket-Kit-for-Non-VESA-HP-ACER-Samsung-Dell-Asus-LCD.jpg

In my research, I’ve found a very cool monitor option for digital nomads. It’s called the Espresso Display https://espres.so/ It’s definitely not the cheapest option (around $800 CAD for display and stand) but is the only monitor I can find that is specifically designed to be transported.

$800? I was thinking of maybe 5 or 10 bucks. Thrift store prices. Where I saw the IBM one. I’m pretty sure it collapsed. Looked like this but I can’t see the back.

https://www.stikc.com/media/catalog/product/cache/3c0b007dccf18e844028da18b7ef4f42/m/o/monitor-lcd-19inch-hp.jpg

I don’t want a monitor. I want a 4×100 VESA mount stand that I can use with a myriad of monitors. Buy a specialized monitor and it breaks in transit or is stolen (easily possible) and then I’m out $800. Break a $50 – $80 22″ – 27″ monitor and I’m out $50 – $80. Stands rarely “break”. Though of course if your monitor gets stolen they probably won’t take apart the stand and leave it there!

I remember Dell also had an ingenious system where the stand had a squarish shaped plate with a notch in it. You place the back of the monitor on to the plate and it just clips in. It was very solid. Very well engineered. Now it doesn’t fold flat but all you’d need to do is unscrew the bolt(s) holding the spine of the stand to the base. Then you’d have 2 pieces, both flat. Problem solved. Takes a minute to setup but not the end of the world. And it could be used without the stand just leaning the monitor against something or on a box if you’re at the airport or stuck in transit somewhere for a few hours (or days!). This may be a much better solution than the IBM monitor above as that requires 4 bolts to be anchored in each time its set up. Both types have height adjustment which should be the first requirement as well if you value your back/ergonomics at all.

One problem is if your hotel doesn’t have any WiFi or if you want to find faster WiFi at the local coffee shop. You’re not going to be lugging this equipment around to coffee shops. But I bet that is occurring less and less these days. Though the people in Puerto Escondido may disagree with that! Or just have a tablet for mobile locations. I wouldn’t want to work very long on a laptop anyways though if you had an external keyboard you could raise the laptop up so the monitor is at a comfortable height.