Last January at CES one of the hottest new product genre’s was the USB-powered monitor. They were everywhere! These little guys (I saw them in 4”, 7” and 9” flavors) are stupid-simple and can be quite valuable on a desktop, I just got a 9” USB Smart Monitor from DoubleSight --- big hit here!
The guys at DoubleSight have been providing darn good products to our profession for years so that this product was so solid was certainly no surprise. It ships with a cable, a stand,and DisplayLink software. A quick install – plug it in (my 7 port USB hub in now full!) and it was ready to go. Now at 9” (there’s a 7” little sister, too) you’re probably not going to run tax compliance on it --- but it can be a real help by handling a couple of little apps. [It’s never too early to start leaving hints ---- Christmas is coming!!]
Strong points:
Sells for $149, portrait or landscape, no external power required, no video card required, nice stand and cover makes it very portable, less than 1 lb., and DisplayLink software is great.
Objections:
Well none, really ---- except there’s no Windows 7 driver and no Mac OS 10 Snow Leopard driver. My guess is those will be added any day.
My use:
In the office I am using it for iTunes and a browser pointed to my www.weather.com. Perfect!!! And it goes in my briefcase on the road, too ---- finally, a workable solution to a second monitor while traveling. I can’t WAIT to fire it up on a plane sometime!
gll
PS:
GOOD NEWS: DoubleSight has agreed do provide a 9” Smart USB Monitor as a raffle prize at each of the webcasts I am hosting fall and winter. Watch for more information on ACCOUNTING TECH ONLINE WEBCASTS --- registration will be open soon for the November 18th session on SaaS. Come and join us and you might be the lucky winner!
