Hi Guys,
Hoping you can help me find a reasonable good quality (High Res) Portable Monitor.
Size is no Matter this time :)
I need something slim to take around with my Surface Pro 4 and have a couple games of Fifa COD on the go lol.
Maximum I am willing to spend is around $300-$350.
Anything Slim light weight is a Bonus!!!
Based in Melbourne if need be….
Thanks Yo all
AOC and ASUS are popular with tech reviewers but GAEMS and GeChic are also reliable brands.
Main considerations are generally screen quality (720p or 1080p? TN or IPS?) and connectivity (USB 2.0/3.0 or HDMI?).
The newest portable monitor is the ASUS MB169+ being released next month in Australia. It's 1080p, IPS, connected by USB 3.0, 8.5mm slim and weighs 800g.
CPL has it for $328, Scorptec has it for $339. Recent reviews are mixed on Amazon US but there is one review specific to the Surface Pro 4 here.
Thanks Guys
Well detailed reply by both of you :)
The Surface Pro 4 is my main baby considering I will be plugging in one of these portable monitors. Am inclined towards the ASUS 169+ for the 1080i output and usb 3. Also size and weight is perfect.
The Gaems ones are appealing too but paying around $298 for 720p output id rather dish out a few dollars more and go the ASUS!!!
The 169B+ it is!!!
Thanks again guys
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-MB169B-Screen-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/…
ASUS MB169+ $260AUD delivered from Amazon (at current exchange rates).
Bear in mind that you may need to add a source of power like a power bank depending on how the Surface 4 works. I'm sure you can find out using Google.
There is also this which is a special USB-C only "driverless" version but I cannot see that this is worth the extra 20USD.
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-MB169C-15-6-1920x1080-Type-C%C2%A…
There is also a previous model: ASUS MB168+ which has a TN screen which is significantly brighter and is 11ms (vs 14ms) so it may well be better for gaming.
http://www.amazon.com/MB168B-15-6-Inch-Screen-LED-Lit-Monito…
However it's been discontinued and prices seem to be significantly higher than the current IPS model.
I've been continuously researching portable monitors all weeks and I'm getting close to pulling the trigger. Here's what I've established for myself, do your own research if your gonna criticise mine and inform me that I'm incorrect - thanks! ;)
I would avoid all DisplayLink only monitors which unfortunately includes the ASUS MB169B+ because a significant amount of lag is introduced to the signal such that sometimes using a mouse normally is difficult AND a significant amounnt of CPU power is required in order to drive any USB DisplayLink display.
As far as I can see this just leaves use with Gechic and Gaems however I want 1080p IPS performance minimum and this leaves use with 3 Gechic models only:
1303H 13"
2501H 15.6"
On-lap 1502I 15.6
I'm eliminating On-lap 1502I because it has weak brightness (224 nits), is almost twice as heavy, is the size of a 17" laptop and I don't require a touchscreen. If you do require this model with touchscreen then I found a great price:
https://www.amazon.ca/Projected-Capacitive-Touchscreen-Compa…
$444 AUD delivered - cheaper than the non-touch version! ONE ONLY!
So of the 1303H and 2501H …
TL;DR: 1303H has much better image quality, 2501H has 25% larger screen.
Best price for 2501H:
https://www.amazon.ca/GeChic-2501H-1920x1080-Portable-Monito…
$448 AUD Delivered
Best price for 1303H:
http://www.amazon.com/GeChic-1303H-Portable-Monitor-MiniDisp…
$378 AUD not incl. delivery.
Long version:
Going from 13.3" to 15.6" means over 25% increase in viewable screen area - this is massive and you do not pay much more - relatively - to get that additional area.
HOWEVER
1303H has true 24 bit colour (16.7M colours) just like a desktop whereas the 2501H has 18bit colour (262K colours) with dithering that "pretends" to be 24bit. Dithering and signal processing is all a bit beyond me but my educamacated guess is basically it does a passable job of imitating 24bit without the battery usage and that is OK for gaming but not suitable at all for professional work like Photoshop and so on. Apparently this is a pretty common colour mode for laptops so it will look like you are used to with many laptops.
The 1303H also offers 300 nits brightness vs. the 2501H 250nits. 250 nits is above average - just - for desktop monitors indoors however 300nits is better and will provide for increased image quality to complement true 24bit colour.
As usual with mobile computing it's a balancing act and you can't have it all. If you're happy to drop to 1366x768 you can knock a ton of money off but you really pay a lot for what is a niche product.
Don't forget to add an adapter for the output your device has - HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort or MHL - and a battery pack or power bank if you cannot power the monitor from your device.
Recommended minimum power bank size is 7800mAH. You can use 2 USB cables to provide power hence I would suggest a 16000mAH power bank with 2 x USB power out.
Another avenue of enquiry I'm looking it is using an entire device for it's screen.
This is only possible through a wired ethernet network and a remote desktop solution such as MS RDP or Teamviewer - yet to test this but apparently gaming is fine provided you have a solid network.
If you want a 12.2" screen (with the same Samsung PLS as MS Surface Pro 3) then the Chuwi Hi12 is the obvious choice: not only are you getting a kickarse screen you're also getting an entire Win10 + Android 5.1 dual booting additional laptop.
For $338 delivered (geekbuying) it's hard not to like that.
After that I've had a lot of trouble finding anything in the 13 - 17 inch mark - they're just too expensive compared to buying the Gechic monitors.
However what I did find is the 18.4" Samsung Galaxy View, a device which I encourage you to research if you're interested. I found this massive device for $511 (refurbished not incl. delivery) at Amazon - when you add batteries on top of the Gechic cost it's pretty close in price. However understand that this isn't really in the realms of portability anymore :|
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Tablet-Wi-Fi-Black/dp/B…
FFS why is that stand not removable and why does it not have HDMI in FFS … mixed reviews but dat 18.4" screen is impressive in size.
Then whatever device you bought you need to buy a usb powered router:
Tiny, 100Mbit only:
http://www.amazon.com/DualComm-5-Port-Ethernet-Switch-Powere…
Large, gigabit:
http://www.amazon.com/ZyXEL-Gigabit-Ethernet-Switch-GS105SV2…
It's surprisingly difficult to find a very small gigabit usb powered router :| …
And you will need RJ45 network adapters and cables if required to connect the two devices. This will vary depending on your input device etc.
BTW, if anyone knows any 15" - 17" 1080p+ IPS convertibles or tablets under $450 or so to use as a portable monitor I'd love to hear suggestions.
Jesus Christ!!!
You have written a whole book on here mate :)
I returned the asus 169mb+ as my sp4 could not power it!!!
What a waste!!!
Do u know of any other portable monitor I could use with the mini vga port? I don't want too many wires and avoiding monitors that need an external power source?!!
What abt the gaems one?
Thanks man
Hey Diji1, just looking at that Chuwi Hi12 you are talking about there. That cettainly got my interest. How are you making it act as a monitor and not a pc. Im having no end of troubles trying to figure it out and am not finding an answer. Are you using the Hi12 for this purpose?
Best i can come up with is some terrible apps that gives massive lag between the source laptop and the second screen.
I have been on the look out for a portable monitor as well, this one looks really good especially for gaming
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GAEMS-M155-15-5-HD-LED-Portable-G…
Gaems are well known for making great monitors with really low input lag for gaming