Home : Hardware : Reviews : TripleHead2Go
The ultimate in widescreen displays...without the display
Gamers, professionals, and just about everyone who uses computers have one important thing in common when it comes to computers: more monitors are better. By all means, studies have shown that both larger and more monitors (to a certain point) improve productivity. Who doesn't love more monitors?
Of course, most people don't use more than one video card, so if you have three monitors but only two video ports, you're stuck. Just the same, it may not be worth it to buy another GPU just to plug a third or fourth monitor in, or possibly buy a whole new motherboard that supports more than one GPU. That could cost quite a bit, especially if it's an older gaming rig or workhorse being used. Those parts do not come cheap. And if it's a laptop, then forget it. 
That's where Matrox comes in. With the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition, as well as their other expansion modules, there's no need to upgrade or dream of a laptop that comes with three video ports, or buy an extra video card that you probably won’t need and be forced to worry about the drivers playing nice. Just plug whatever monitors you have into your one video port, install the software and you're good to go. It's that simple.
The bundled software is a simple install that just makes Windows (XP and Vista compatible, and a nice good luck with any previous OS's) and Leopard (OSX 10.5) read the two or three monitors as one. Because the system works as an external peripheral, it has some serious limitations that must be taken into consideration before purchasing the TripleHead2Go DE or its other incarnations.
Resolution differences is the most significant. If you are a serious gamer or professional, chances are that you are working with identical monitors, so you'll be fine. However, if you're an amateur or just like saving money and don’t mind using that old CRT with that newer LCD, chances are you’re working with different sized displays at different resolutions, which is bad news. Especially if you're working with LCD monitors since they are all optimized for one resolution.
