Best way to run 2 monitors from laptop with single vga/hdmi out

Hi all,

So I've got an Asus laptop with an i5 processor and 310M nVidia graphics, a vga out, 3 usb 2.0 outs, and an hdmi out.

My main activities are simply browsing the web, reading online, and research. Some statistical software programs are run, but hardly any gaming.

I've just decided to hook two monitors up to the laptop (one using the built-in VGA out) by hooking the second monitor up via usb 2.0 using a USB to VGA converter...specifically, this one:
Tritton See2 Extreme from Best Buy


After hooking things up and doing a proper amount of troubleshooting, I'm still having problems with fluidity even when dragging webpages from one screen to another....

So i rechecked other reviews, found out this thing isn't the best of its kind, and my solution may not be the best solution out there for running 2 monitors from a laptop....


Any brilliant ideas or alternative setups i could benefit from available for under $100?


Any ideas are appreciated, thanks!

 

Unfortunately you're not going to find a solution for under $100 that gives Desktop-like performance. I had to buy a gadget for my Macbook to do the same thing and it works GREAT. The product is called TripleHead2Go and it's awesome. It's not too too expensive. Here is a link to the site:

TripleHead2Go Connectivity Requirements

You can pick an adapter that uses either your VGA or HDMI port to hook up to 3 monitors at full resolution. I'd highly recommend it!

 

Looks very good....and i suppose i could budge a bit on the price... but unfortunately $200 is toooo much for me (what i paid for the 2nd monitor practically)........ even if it's only for the dual head version (triple head is $270)


Thanks for the advice though, i know you get what you pay for, but i'd be interested to hear of any other solutions/suggestions....

cheers!!

 

This is one of the best ones you can buy:

For only $48.10 each when QTY 50+ purchased - USB 2.0 to DVI Display Adapter - (QWXGA) | USB to Video Converters

It uses the best displaylink chipset avalbile inside, it does have a very slight delay sometimes when refreshing an image or dragging onto it but its for office work and stuff and it does not really bother me.

Also I am using it on a work pc with very low system specs, I imagine it may perform better on a higher performance machine.

I had the DualHead2Go (same as the TripleHead2Go but for only 2 monitors) before I got this and resold it a few days later because for office work it was much worse having one combined monitor than it was 2 seperate monitors.

Remember that all the Matrox does is just connect 2 or 3 monitors together and show them to your computer as a single monitor. That means if you maximise a window it will go across all monitors.

To fix this you have to rely on software to define 'grids' on the monitor and I found this to be more problems than what it was worth because many of my office programs are programed at the code level to have popups or windows in the center of the monitor and so they would constantly appear right between the two monitors where I could not read them no matter what software solution I tried.

Not to mention the DH2G was very expensive.

Tell you what, I happen to have a MView Box right now for review, its the same product as the Matrox TripleHead2Go from a competing company. After I do my review I am willing to sell it cheap to somebody so just keep tabs with me if your interested.

 

thanks this is exactly what I'm looking for... I checked out the site but was unable to find the chipset version... how does it compare to what i will be testing this week (and keeping if there's not a big difference between it and what you've suggested)....

it is the plugable tech adapter using the displaylink DL-195 chip...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038P1TP4/ref=oss_product


Noticeable difference?


Thanks again for your help!

 

Its also the DL-195, remember its not for gaming or videos, there is a slight delay for some things but it gets the job done.

 

Does anyone know where to get a version of the display link USB adapters with LVDS panel output?
Do you think some of them have connectors hidden inside the enclosure?

Imagine how awesome a plug and play USB LCD would be...

 

There are plug & play usb LCD's I think Asus makes one. Expensive for what it is though, better off just buying a monitor and adapter.

 

Yeah, exactly.

It seems as though over 50% of the cost of a lcd monitor is due to the standardization of the signal.
We need some kind of an expresscard, mPCI-E or USB basic graphics card that will just output to LCD signals. then we can use surplus XGA laptop lcds.

 

Tell me if I'm missing something, but if you have an unoccupied HDMI port and $100 why don't you look for a (used) monitor with DVI and an HDMI->DVI adapter?

 

Your missing the part where a laptop shares one display channel with two outputs, thus you can only run one monitor at a time on one port or the other.

There are a few laptops out there with more than one display channel but its pretty darn rare.

 

Is that the case here?
My Dell can run two external monitors in parallel and I don't know the Asus laptop we're talking about in this thread.