Converting a Dell E-View into a VESA Stand

2025-11-03

LAK132

A while ago I bought a second hand Dell Precision 7520 in order to investigate a GPU driver crash we were running into at work. Not only did this laptop reproduce the issue perfectly, it just to happens that it did so because the original NVIDIA M1200 GPU in it was completely fried. I eventually opted to replace it with an NVIDIA M2200 and it has worked flawlessly since (thanks MXM!).

Much like my various ThinkPads, this Dell has one particularly cool feature: a docking port! So of course, I just had to get my hands on one (a PR03X in particular).

As of writing this I have decided I’d like to be able to use this laptop for streaming, and have gone as far as setting up an entire desk just for the task. Unfortunately the desk is quite small, and this Dell Precision is quite large, so I went looking to see what options were available for mounting laptops to monitor arms. It was during this research that I came across something that caught my eye:

This is the Dell E-View, a stand designed to work with Dell’s E-Port compatible docks and laptops, allowing the laptop to be lifted off a desk.

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After seeing a low angle photo of it online, I had a hunch that maybe the bolt pattern holding the top plate to the arm might be VESA.

As it just so happens, I was right!

The E-View top plate attaches to my monitor arm perfectly!

There’s just one problem, the Precision 7520 doesn’t fit!

I know it wasn’t listed as a supported laptop, but c’mon, it said it supported up to 17" laptops!

The issue likely lies in the fact that this laptop is a later generation of E-Port compatibles, particularly the battery has been moved to the front of the laptop and the E-Port connector moved all the way to the back. In order to compensate for this, you can get a spacer that clips into the dock to better align the laptop with the dock.

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PR03X with and without the spacer.

Nevertheless, this means some modifications are going to need to be made in order to make use of this stand plate as a monitor arm mount for my laptop.

So here goes, a 3D printed adapter plate to push the dock back far enough to allow the Precision 7520 to fit:

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Just don’t look at it too closely... I may have messed up the design a bit.

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Reassembling the stand with the spacer.
It fits!
The spacer could probably be made a little thinner so the laptop doesn’t sit so high off the stand.

Now to just move it back to the monitor arm...

A resounding success!

And now I can play video games while riding on my trainer, on those days when riding outside really just isn’t worth it.

I’ll update this post with a link to the model of the spacer if I ever get around to fixing it.