As a road warrior,
often in different settings, I am interested in a 2nd, portable monitor for my
Surface Pro 3. So here was my thought process.
I tried to use
TwoMonUSB to make my iPad the second monitor. At first it worked quite well.
Great idea, a backup device with some apps I don't have on the surface and I
can use it as a second screen. But then my Surface Pro 3 was rebooting randomly
during idle times or the screen wouldn't light up after an idle timeout and
then I would have to hard boot it. I was getting a bugcheck almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day. So after Refreshing the PC I decided that
the $10 app approach wasn't going to work. I am not certain that it was TwoMonUSB but it seems the likely candidate.
But I need a second
screen so here are the attributes that are important to me::
Weight:
Not weigh me down -> less than 4 lbs
Screen
Resolution: Work well with surface -> 1440 x 1080 (if possible)
Power:
hopefully it will be able to work without AC available -> less than 5W
typical energy consumption
Size:
Big enough to see the screen >12
inches but not so big I can't fit it in my bag <18 inches="" p="">18>
Price:
less than $300 USD
This
means that I need a DisplayLink
Monitor that weighs less than 4 lbs, use USB for power and transmission of
data, is at least 12 inches
Candidates
|
Weight (lbs)
|
USB
|
Screen Res
|
Power (Max) W
|
Power Typical (W)
|
Size
|
Response Time (ms)
|
Price (USD)
|
Comments from
reviews
|
ASUS MB168B+
|
1.76
|
3.0
|
1920x1080
|
<5 p="">
5>
|
15.6"
|
11
|
299
|
The Surface Pro 3
will not power the monitor on its own. The USB3 port does not have enough
power.
|
|
ASUS MB168B
|
1.76
|
3.0
|
1366x768
|
<5 p="">
5>
|
15.6"
|
11
|
158
|
||
2.76
|
3.0
|
1600x900
|
7
|
4
|
14"
|
8
|
179
|
||
3.39
|
2.0
|
1366x768
|
5
|
15.6"
|
12
|
?
|
|||
AOC E1649FWU
|
2.34
|
2.0
|
1366x768
|
15.6"
|
16
|
90
|
Works off of
Surface Pro 3 battery power
One usb
Andrew Nov 28,
2011 "Uncontrollable brightness… I contacted AOC and they confirmed that
you cannot control the brightness"
|
||
AOC E1659FWU
|
3.0
|
1366x768
|
15.6"
|
8
|
124
|
Includes carry
case, auto pivot
|
|||
AOC E1759FWU
|
3.0
|
1600x900
|
17.3"
|
10
|
200
|
"The Surface
Pro 3 … USB port doesn't put out enough power for the screen. "
|
|||
Lenovo Think
Vision LT1421
|
2.25
|
2.0
|
1366x768
|
14"
|
Bulky in back not
flat
|
The ASUS MB168B+
(don't forget the plus) has a great screen resolution but per reviews I won't
be able to use it without external power. I was torn -- maybe there would be a
way to monkey with brightness settings and get it to work. But the carrying
case for it was also not good and lots of folks complain about the stand and it
is the most expensive of the items.
I considered the 17
inch AOC E1759FWU that has pretty good screen resolution (1600x900) but again
reviews identified the issue with power.
I also considered
HP's S140u but I am also concerned that the 7 W maximum power won't work and I
could find many reviews, and certainly none where it was paired with the
Surface Pro 3.
So I decided that I
would try the 16 inch AOC E1659FWU -- I can get a second screen with pretty
decent response rate that should (most reviews have said it worked) for my
power constraints with the Surface Pro 3. It includes a good case and great
stand and is only a little more expensive than its predecessor the AOC
E1649FWU.
When all is said and
done I may decide that the external power isn't as much of a constraint and go
for the ASUS MB168B+ (also need to get a better stand, but that means yet more
stuff to carry).
So for now I am
looking forward to the arrival of the 16 inch AOC E1659FWU.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/17/15 update: Well the AOC E1659FWU is working well, my surface pro 3 can indeed drive the power requirements, which according to the manual is 8 W, whether plugged in or on battery. However, when I plug it in through my Belkin USB hub/Ethernet adapter it won't power up without getting extra power from the USB outlet on my surface charger. Whereas plugging into two of the ports on the Belkin USB hub doesn't do it. (the screen keeps flickering on and off)
Conclusion: If I need to plug in for Ethernet or any other USB device then I must plug in for external power. But the other day I got two good hours of using the surface and the AOC on battery power and still had battery to spare.
Update 8/17/2015
-----------------------------------------
The AOC monitor is very fragile-- despite having it in the provided case inside a padded bag it fell 1.5 feet and the screen cracked. So I have switched back to using my iPad as second display when I am not at the office. But instead of TwoMonUSB I use DuetDisplay.
So how does it compare against my original specs:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/17/15 update: Well the AOC E1659FWU is working well, my surface pro 3 can indeed drive the power requirements, which according to the manual is 8 W, whether plugged in or on battery. However, when I plug it in through my Belkin USB hub/Ethernet adapter it won't power up without getting extra power from the USB outlet on my surface charger. Whereas plugging into two of the ports on the Belkin USB hub doesn't do it. (the screen keeps flickering on and off)
Conclusion: If I need to plug in for Ethernet or any other USB device then I must plug in for external power. But the other day I got two good hours of using the surface and the AOC on battery power and still had battery to spare.
Update 8/17/2015
-----------------------------------------
The AOC monitor is very fragile-- despite having it in the provided case inside a padded bag it fell 1.5 feet and the screen cracked. So I have switched back to using my iPad as second display when I am not at the office. But instead of TwoMonUSB I use DuetDisplay.
So how does it compare against my original specs:
Weight: Not weigh me down -- less than 4 lbs -- Check 1.3 lbs
Screen Resolution: Work well with surface -> 1440 x 1080 (if possible) Check I have 3 choices 1024x768, 1532x1152 or 2048x1532. (of course the last one gets hard to read)
Power: hopefully it will be able to work without AC available -> less than 5W typical energy consumption Check of course the iPad of course has its own battery
Size: Big enough to see the screen >12 inches but not so big I can't fit it in my bag <18 inches="" p="">not quite the iPad 2 has 9.7 inch display18>
Price: less than $300 USD check -- since I already had it -- otherwise no because it cost over $500 but today you could get a used one for less than $300.
Finally the iPad as you all know is an independent device so if I have some problem with the surface then I can use it to do something.
Finally the iPad as you all know is an independent device so if I have some problem with the surface then I can use it to do something.
4 comments:
Thanks for the awesome post and the specifications.
AOC Portable Monitor
Hi thanlks for a great review. I have bought same AOC monitor but can not get it to work from the USB port on the SP3? It works OK off the MS hub but just flashes with the USB port on the actual SP3 itself. Did you have to install the DisplayLink software and if so which version? Thanks
I did not have to install DisplayLink.
Hope I can help someone a year later, but with the AOC E1659FWUX, I purchased it to use with my surface pro before I knew my tablet was not strong enough to power it. A great work around is using the additional USB cord that is attached with the main cord, along with a cellphone USB (I used a Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging, it also works with an external battery pack if you're not near an outlet.
Cheers!
Eric
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