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Matrox DualHead2Go Digital Edition

Written by Lee

Sunday, 14 October 2007

When I first got my macbook, I fell in love with it from the get go. I loved how you could have such a powerful computer and it be completely portable. But oh how I was wrong.. Hah, jk.. It is a great computer, but sometimes I do need some extra screen realestate.

My first solution was buying a mini dvi to vga adapter and using an old 17 inch Samsung monitor. Which all in all, is great for some people, but I needed more! Too many times have I been watching a dvd on one screen, and been left with only one to use dreamweaver, photoshop and parallels on the other. But not anymore thanks to Matrox’s DualHead2Go.

Ok here is the skinny on Matrox DualHead2Go multi-display upgrade. It actually works really well for you if you have a graphics card that will support the needed resolutions. And that is the key, the resolutions. With normal splitters you see at office depot or where ever, they will either take one input stream and output the same stream to multiple monitors, or they will take one input stream and split it in half and feed a side to the left and the other side to the right monitor. So with the later solution, it sorta does what most people want, but ends up providing a horrible pixilated result.

Matrox Dualhead2Go represents an entirely new way of adding multi-display support to your notebook or desktop computer… They realize that if you split the stream in half (left side to left monitor, right side to right monitor), you will actually be using 2 monitors, where each display can be used to view different information... Pretty obvious to most of us, right? So what matrox does is installs a special resolution altering software when you prep your system for their gear. So essentially, your dvi output will be outputting 2 times the normal width, but only 1 times the normal height.. This new resolution aspect ratio fixes our problems.. Ok, now on to actual results.

Once I unboxed the DualHead2Go Digital Edition I noticed even though it said ‘digital’ it still inputted vga; however, it outputted dvi. Pssh, like I cared. I just needed an extra monitor and really didn’t care about the extra benefits of full dvi anyways.

Installing the needed software was a breeze. You could even elect to go w/ a 3rd party app “SwitchResX” if your graphics card isn’t supported by Matrox’s software.

Now with the software installed, I hooked up my monitors to the DualHead2Go, and then hooked up my computer to the DualHead2Go via a vga cable and USB cable (Secret note: USB cable is used for power.. Hah, ok maybe only I wondered why I had to have that cable).

And that is really it. Not a hard addition to your system.

Additional Notes:
Be careful making sure your graphics card will give you a desired resolution. My macbook max resolution for this setup is: 2048x768, which leaves most LCDs looking a tad bit fuzzy. However, a macbook pro will output 3840x1200 resolution. This resolution will give you nice results.

Inside the box
• DualHead2Go connector box
• 2-foot HD15-to-HD15 (analog) monitor cable
• One USB cable
• Quickstart paper and CD, which includes the following

Compatibility Matrox:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/support/dh2go/compatibility.php

The Good: The easiest way to add multiple monitors to a laptop or mac mini

The Bad: Make sure your graphics card is supported. And even if it is (like a macbook), you might be left with pixilated results.

The Skinny: For the price and results, it is a great solution.

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