Evaluation
EvaluationThe VT Book comes with an attractive carrying case that looks more like a box for an expensive watch, rather than something for a notebook computer. While this box may seem excessive, it is actually very important if you are traveling with the VTBook since it will keep it safe and intact thanks to a hard carrying shell.
If you plan on using the VTBook on other notebooks, you will have to take the installation CD with you since the VTBook is not plug and play.
The VTBook performs quite well as a secondary notebook display adapter. Traditional desktop applications look great and perform reasonably well on the VT Book display. When dragging windows and refreshing web pages, there is a noticeable lag, but it is tolerable. I have used USB display adapters before and the VTBook out performs those in terms of usability by a large margin.
Even though the redrawing of windows and window contents is noticeable, watching videos are perfectly fine on the VTBook. However, in order to get the video overlay to properly display in Windows Media Player, you need to select the proper output device from the Advanced Display Properties.
The VTBook thankfully supports a wide range of resolutions with VGA resoutions up to 2048×1280, and DVI up to 1920×1200. This makes the VTBook ideal for high resolution displays which are increasingly common in business environments.
Impressions & Conclusions
The VTBook is not for everyone. If the notebooks you maintain already have a second video output, it’s unlikely you will need a 3rd or 4th display. Also, the fact the VTBook uses Card Bus immediately excludes majority of newer notebooks from supporting this product.
Overall the VTBook performs pretty well and will appeal to thrifty CFOs and IT managers who are looking to stretch the value of their current computer assets. At home, it could serve as a decent video solution for movies if the video on your notebook is really old and does not perform well with multimedia.
The VTBook is a useful accessory for older notebooks that require additional video output. Since the VT Book uses the older Card Bus interface, it’s perfect for organizations or home business users who are looking to stretch the usefulness of their equipment instead of sinking more money in a brand new notebook. For the $250 USD price tag, that’s considerably cheaper than buying a new computer.
The VTBook can be found at Buy.com and also on our PriceGrabber search engine.
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