North Bayou H80 Monitor Mount Review

Since building my Ryzen-based Windows desktop, I have had a bad case of G.A.S. or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. This time I wanted an adjustable monitor mount to fit my old-fashioned computer table. I couldn’t find well written reviews nor a comparison with a similar model, so here is my opinion of the H80 and F80 monitor mounts / arms by North Bayou.

It was a toss up between the North Bayou H80 (or newer H100) v.s. F80 (or F100A). I got the North Bayou H80. Update: I also now have the F80!

The H80:

The F80:

• The H80 has one vertical pole, and a horizontal segment , that is connected to the “gas strut” monitor arm. The pole provides additional height compared the the other model, but is adjustment is difficult and requires tools. However, I found this design to look cleaner, and provides sufficient clearance over the junk on my desk.
• The F80 has two sections, the lower is sloped at a fix angle and the upper is the “gas strut” monitor arm. The swivelling lower half meant I risk knocking over things on my desk when swivelling. This model has less pieces and may be easier to adjust, as one does not have to set the height first. There is no holder for Allen keys, but cable management is easier as there is no need to unscrew a cover like with the H80.

Pros:

• Good price! Sure it is not as pretty as say the Ergotron... but it’s budget!
• All the ergonomic adjustments one would need and a good height range (as mentioned, the H80 positioning on the horizontal pole is pretty much fixed but the arm provides sufficient 260mm height range).
• Easy to build and pretty easy to adjust.
• Excellent construction, solid well machined parts with no sharp edges. Even the screw threads are well machined and it’s easy to tighten screws.
• Two mounting options (C-clamp or bolt-through), all the required Allen keys and two sets of screws for different monitor mount sizes are provided. Aside: To my utter surprise and delight, once I took my monitor off its stand, the VESA mounting already had screws provided. It would’ve been easy for Lenovo to skimp on these but they didn’t!
• Cable management, velco and the H80 even has slots to keep the Allen keys handy! The plastic cage under the main arm isn’t so pretty, but cables are hidden in the horizontal segment. Still I am amazed at the level of design! Seriously, more expensive alternatives may be nothing but metal pipe.
• Clear Ikea-style instructions. Well written and illustrated. Plus, there are setup videos on YouTube too.

Speaking of instructions, the H80 manual (extract shown below) is missing a few measurements which I wanted to plan my desk (so O.C.D. I know). So, for anyone interested:

• the entire base pate is 10 cm wide and 10.5 cm long.
• the horizontal segment is 19 cm long edge-to-edge and about 4 cm thick at maximum.
• the monitor arm itself about 35 cm and including the cable management holder, about 7cm thick.

Image from the North Bayou Installation Instructions PDF found online

A few tips:

• Initially I couldn’t figure out the tensioner adjustment - I rotated it the screw, but the monitor arm would not stay at the level I wanted it at. Here’s the thing - keep rotating! Many, many rotations later, it will. Plus the manual says not to adjust without the monitor mounted. Duh!
• The H80’s horizontal segment and monitor arm are initially bound with a loop of velco. Keep it on, as you can use it to help with cable management. I took it off, and had to remove my monitor to put it back once I realized this.
• The yellow North Bayou logos are stickers on plastic and can be easily peeled off.

Updated 17 Oct 2021: I have both the F80 and H80, I prefer the H80.