Adapter, dvi, monitors, sewell, usb, usb to dvi

USB to DVI Adapter Expands Screen Space Without Adding Video Cards

The idea of driving a DVI or VGA display with a USB adapter isn't new, but Sewell's latest adapter seems to be fairly cheap and useful. Their adapter costs $119 and has 128MB RAM on board, which is then powered by USB ports from your computer to drive a 1600x1200 resolution monitor at the same time as your standard monitors. Sewell claims that these USB-driven monitors have the same quality as standard DVI monitors at displays of up to 20-inches. If you're trying to power anything bigger, like a 22 or a 24-inch, you're better off getting a new video card anyway. Unless you're on a laptop, in which case you're boned. [Sewell via Sewell]

5:40 PM on Tue Oct 30 2007
By Jason Chen
8,147 views
16 comments

Comments

vermifuge at 06:00 PM on 10/30/07
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Man (mini) support?
ddfall at 06:01 PM on 10/30/07
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Alas, there is no Mac support for this product yet. Hopefully soon to add a few monitors to my MacBook Pro. :)
vermifuge at 06:01 PM on 10/30/07
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Mac support that is.
ddfall at 06:02 PM on 10/30/07
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@vermifuge: Did you mean Mac? Or am I lost? lol
vermifuge at 06:02 PM on 10/30/07
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@ddfall:

dang!
ddfall at 06:02 PM on 10/30/07
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@ddfall: Haha. Sorry. I just saw your reply. :) It posted after I clicked submit commetn. OOPS!
Jason Chen at 06:07 PM on 10/30/07
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Connectedness Index: 250
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GET A ROOM!
oldmanstan at 06:14 PM on 10/30/07
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so wait, why can't it drive a 22 inch wide screen panel? 1600x1200 > 1680x1050 and isn't that what matters in the end, the number of pixels it has to handle?
prestor at 07:05 PM on 10/30/07
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Hi - I work for sewell in marketing.

Vermifuge and DDFall - Mac support is on its way.

Oldmanstan - we haven't tested it on a 22" yet. It definitely will work, we just weren't sure whether it would run at the ideal resolution. We are trying to find one laying around so we can give it a shot. We'll let you know.
prestor at 07:08 PM on 10/30/07
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Clarification: The $119 adapter can't drive 1600X1200 - it does 1280X1024. The higher resolution adapter is $149. The high res model also supports multiple USB to DVI adapters, which the low res model does not.

Sorry about the confusion.
chrisaroz at 08:31 PM on 10/30/07
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I love how they tout the extensive testing:

Tested In-House

The USB to DVI has been tested personally by our skilled tech support team.
mart_o_rama at 08:39 AM on 10/31/07
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As reported on the Giz a while ago, Matrox dualhead2Go will get you more monitors on a Mac laptop. Not sure if it's personally tested though, maybe they use skilled robots instead.
kc2idf at 08:44 AM on 10/31/07
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Does it support wide screen modes?
drdiesel at 01:24 PM on 10/31/07
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How is the refresh on these things? Would they work for gaming? I thought I remember reading that the prior VGA version woked well enough, unless you were a gamer.
CaptainKodak at 09:58 AM on 11/02/07
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Oooh - that exclusive in-house testing...

If this winds up being vaporware like the ASUS XG Station that I had such a hard-on for earlier this year, I'm going to take out somebody's kneecaps!!!!
lesseffective at 11:46 AM on 11/08/07
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@Cap'nKodak:
Vaporware it is not.

FYI - Mac support isn't just "in the works" in the sense that it may or may not come out before your pet parakeet* dies. Should be out by the end of Jan '08, so Mac users need not hold their breath.

*provided you have a relatively young and healthy parakeet.