The MD103 will come with two plates to fit different sized displays. After you find the one you need, attach it to the swivel accessory from the VESA arm and then mount that whole apparatus onto the back of your monitor. This is a pretty crucial step and you don't want to forget anything. Remember to orient the swivel so that the adjustment screw will be pointing towards the top of the monitor.

     As we saw from the image with all the included hardware, Sanus included 4 different sizes of screws for the mount. One of them will be a sure match for your installation. Here, we can see that the short spacers with the longer screws are just what was needed to overcome the beveled base mount that Dell molded into the back shell of the monitor.

     Here we have final assembly. The pillar has a channel along the back which can be used to neatly tuck away any wires running to the monitor. So as you can see, we can swivel the monitor from side to side with an almost limitless degree of motion. The thumb screw on the top of the tension assembly controls how much pressure you have to apply to tilt and rotate the monitor.  Even with the additional 2 inches of height that the Sanus MD103 gives me over the stock Dell base, there still isn't enough clearance to rotate the monitor from Landscape to Portrait.

     Conclusion........

      Does everybody need a VESA mount? Of course not.... Using this VESA mount means that the monitor will pretty much loose portability unless you feel like disassembling mount. While that is totally possible, you'll have to hope that the place you're going has a clean edged desk in order to mount your monitor. Frequent LAN party players would certainly not befit from a VESA system.

     What the MD103 does provide is a cleaner and more versatile base for your monitor. I instantly had more height and a much deeper tilt angle options than what the stock Dell base provides.  The Stability of the base is unquestionable. Even before I had the monitor installed, I had complete confidence in the mounting clamp on the pillar. Once the monitor was installed, I don't feel the least bit skittish when it comes time to make tilt or swivel adjustments. To put it simply, if you have an above average size display, say greater than  > 20", and it supports a VESA mount, it is worth the additional cost of replacing your monitors stock base. 

Note: Club Overclocker is now using a new rating system based on a score of 1 to 5.
Please go to our rating system page for more information.

Performance:	4 out of 5
Innovation:	4 out of 5
Quality:	5 out of 5
Stability:	5 out of 5
Aesthetics:	4 out of 5
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Overclocking:	N/A
Value:	4 out of 5
Project Skill Level (5 being most difficult)	3 out of 5