The Scoop
OK, my fellow
long arm questers, I have some definitive answers at long last.
The market for long (
over 40") fully articulated arms that can carry the 27" iMac is really down to ONE option. Yes, you read it right - in a nation that has managed to land a man on the moon, there is only one consumer articulated arm that can carry over 30lbs over 40" of horizontal travel. There are some industrial solutions, but unless you want your room to look like a factory, it's down to only one option that
I could find. Perhaps somebody can find another option, but in a month long search I have only turned up one.
The one option, is the
Innovative 9102-2000. It is rated by Innovative as having a 42" horizontal reach, with 28" vertical travel (when mounted on a wall, or 14" when mounted on a table - or somewhat more with a 6" vertical extention to about 20"), and weight capacity of 35lbs.
This arm is distributed by Ergomart, under the part number of
SAA4229. Ergomart rates it at a more modest 33lbs.
First let me discuss of one other option: the
Innovative 7601-14-2000. This arm is really a new version of the Innovative 9102-2000 mentioned above. Yet, the specifications for this arm are different in one respect. The reach is still the same, but the weight capacity drops to 30lbs or right at the edge of the the 27" iMac weight of 30.5lbs. Now, if you mount the iMac, you remove the stand which is 2 lbs 10.2 oz, but you add the Apple VESA adapter, as well as a 100mm VESA adapter at the other end, which again gets you close to the initial weight of a hair over 30lbs. So as can be seen, this is right at the edge of the weight capacity of the 7601-14-2000. An Innovative rep pointed out that all gas cylinders lose potency over time and have to be tightened to keep functioning, and "if you are already at the edge of the capacity, you don't have any room to tighten". And the cylinder in the 7601-14-2000 is the largest cylinder on the market. Other posters have been in communication with Innovative, and
Innovative does not recommend the 7601-14-2000 for the 27" iMac.
However, the plot thickens. If the 7601-14-2000 is rated at 30lbs, then why is the 9102-2000 rated at 35lbs by Innovative? The horizontal reach is the same (42"), and they use the same (allegedly largest on the market) gas cylinder. Well, I decided to investigate. I called Innovative, and the answer I got from them was that it is in fact - contrary to what the other Innovative person said - not a problem with the cylinder. The cylinder can carry 35lbs. The difference is down to the construction of the two arms. The newer arm, the 7600-14-2000 is constructed with lighter materials for lower overall weight, and is not constructed as robustly as the 9102-2000. I was not fully satisfied with this explanation, so I called Ergomart (one of Innovative's distributors).
At Ergomart, I spoke to a very nice and knowledgeable gentleman, Mike. He claims that the 7601-14-2000 uses a weaker elbow joint than the 9201-2000, and that is the reason why it can carry only 30lbs - and frankly he would not recommend the 7601 for that weight, because according to him, it will be very difficult to move that arm unless it is at full extension. The reason for the different elbow joint is down to a different cable management solution. With the 9201, the cables go along the arm on the outside, and are hidden by a plastic cap that's taped to the arm. The 7601 uses a much more aesthetically pleasing solution - you thread the cables inside the arm for a much less chunky and more neat solution, but you pay a price for that, because now you must use a smaller and weaker elbow joint to accommodate all those cables. According to Mike, they have not had problems with the gas cylinder, and he does not believe that will be a problem - over time you do lose potency, but at such a tiny rate (fraction of 1% per year), that it has no practical consequence for a long time. In any case, the cylinder is warranted for 2 years by the cylinder manufacturer, and should it fail outside of the warranty period, you can always have it swapped out (by sending the arm to Innovative, in Pennsylvania). Anyhow, he does not believe the cylinder will be a problem at all. In their experience, they've had other problems with various arms (they carry a lot), but it's almost never been the cylinder. Incidentally, he finds the 7601 series more problem prone than others, and the 9201 is quite solid. Ergomart in fact does not carry the 2000 series of the 7601, but rather the 1500 and the 1000, and for heavy duty stuff, the 9102. The difference of rating between Innovative's 9102 (35lbs) and Ergomart's SAA4229 33lbs (same arm) Mike claims is because Ergomart is more conservative.
Bottom line, the Innovative 7601-14-2000 arm is not suitable for the 27" iMac. Now, watch out, because various distributors re-badge and have different part numbers for this product, so you may buy it not knowing that.
So, does that mean the 9201-2000 is all heaven. No. Apart from the aesthetic issue of cable management, there is one serious flaw in this arm. It is the tilt mechanism on the head of the arm (where it attaches to the monitor). This tilt mechanism is quite big and robust, but unfortunately, it is hard to operate - it is hard to do on the fly, and you may need to use tools to alter the tilt (up or down) position. If you set the tilt and don't change it, or if you don't mind using tools to change it, then it's not an issue, but for others it may be. Innovative recognized that, and changed the tilt mechanism to a spring loaded one that can be changed on the fly with a lot of weight, and they put the new head on the 7600 and 7500 series arms - but not on the 9102-2000 which is stuck with the old tilt mechanism. What to do? A partial solution is to adapt the newer spring-loaded tilt mechanism from the 7600/7500 series to the 9201-2000. This demands machining a longer pin, but unfortunately, that limits the tilt degree you can get out of it on the 9201-2000. Mike estimates that you can get about a 25 degree movement in this scenario, which is obviously vastly less than you can natively on the 7600/7500 series. If you can live with this, it can be a solution - I can, because I'll only tilt it (up or down) by a few degrees to get rid of the reflections, but for others this is a deal-breaker (as has been communicated to me privately by other posters).
The bottom line is that there is no 100% solution. If you want an articulated arm with both vertical and horizontal movement, and full panning, with horizontal reach of over 40" that can comfortably carry the 27" iMac, there is only one game in town - the Innovative 9201-2000. The limitation is the tilt mechanism. A partial solution is to swap out the mechanism with a special pin -
and Ergomart is willing to do this for you. The constriction here is that this narrows your tilting ability to about 25 degrees. This is good enough for me. It may not be for you. This arm comes in a variety of colors, but for some color choices they need a lead time to special order (though as the color becomes widely available and in stock, the lead time normalizes). Ergomart calls this arm the SAA4229. The cost is not trivial, especially that in addition, you will need to buy not only Apple's VESA adapter for $29, but also a 100mm VESA adapter for the arm ($40) and a mounting solution (~$40 depending on what you choose). If you buy a track (not necessary) for your wall mounting, then that can run you depending on the length anywhere from $80 to $180 (again, this is optional - you don't have to buy this). Lowest shipping is $29. Since I also bought a 31" track, my total cost including the Apple adapter is close to $700.
Because I ordered the white color option, the lead time is some 3 weeks (once the color is widely in stock, the lead time will normalize). Once I receive the arm and install it, I will give an update to this thread. So far, dealing with Ergomart has been a good experience - they have been accommodating and informative. I have dealt with Mike and Paula, and both were great. Of course, the ultimate test is how this will all shake out, and I won't know this for quite some time - if the arm does not arrive in time before I leave for my Xmas vacation, I won't have the answer until January.
So this is the fruit of my research - if anyone else has more options, they can chime in.
