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Product Review forThe Matrox TripleHead2Go
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So I was fighting bad guys with a buddy the other day and he said “Hey, you know what would be cool? If I could have 3 monitors hooked up to my laptop.” And I said “Doooooooooode! Then, you’re in for a treat! Because Matrox has a really cool product called the TripleHead2Go that will allow up to 3 additional monitors from a single output!” Then Batman came in and danced the Batusi. It was a great day for everyone.
But more about that Matrox TripleHead2Go system…
It does exactly what it claims to do. We thought that since many video cards have resolution limitations, that the Triplehead2Go would simply take the max resolution of the card, and then stretch the picture causing a blurry low resolution image. But instead, it gave a full 3840 x 1024 resolution just like the card claimed. No blur. No pixel stretching. Just pure true resolution. So now, we’re all a bit baffled at how Matrox can take a standard resolution video card and enhance it so perfectly as to make it exceed its specified limits and achieve such a pristine picture. However they do it, it looks great.
The only drawbacks I had was losing the mouse cursor in the vast sea of desktop, and finding a desk big enough for 3 monitors and a laptop. On some applications, you’ll probably never use 3 or 4 monitors. But on many applications, I could see the advantage of stretching your project across 2 monitors, and then place all your palettes on the 3rd monitor, leaving your primary laptop monitor for windows browsing or non project related applications. Or even just a monitor for each application related to your project. Having so much room to breathe and work with was an amazingly liberating feeling.
While Matrox says that it works with Windows 2000 and XP, we also tested it with Windows Vista, and it works great. Matrox also says that it only works with certain NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards, which we couldn’t disprove since we only had higher end workstations with those chipsets. More compatibility information is available at Matrox’s website.
The TripleHead2Go comes with a power supply, the “3 output/1 input” monitor box, a software driver CD, a VGA to VGA cable and DVI to VGA cable for hooking up the Graphics eXpansion Module to your computer. You will need to install the software before the TripleHead2Go will function properly, but it won’t destroy your installation chances if you’re impatient like I am and hook everything up before reading the instructions. The instructions are tucked in the envelope with the CD. Although they’re a bit language cluttered, they are very simple and easy to understand once you figure out what to read and what to skip over.
From what I could tell, performance wasn’t compromised in any way after the installation of the TripleHead2go. Video across all monitors had good response time and all the monitors worked very well together.
The only thing I wanted to test but haven’t yet, was if a computer could handle having two TripleHead2Go systems hooked up at the same time. Not that I can ever imagine why a person would want six monitors, but as a gear-head those are the sort of inane questions that pop into my head. Matrox doesn’t mention anything about it that I could find, and probably because they would agree with my assumption that six monitors is a bit much for anyone to use. But still, wouldn’t it be fun to try? So I did the next best thing. I hooked up a DualHead2Go and a TripleHead2Go to the same computer, and was able to get 5 unique monitor outputs. It was a bit scary, but fun none the less.
Why go TripleHead2Go?
For more desktop workspace, the TripleHead2Go makes a lot of sense. Sure, tabs are nice. But they often add clutter to a person’s already cluttered job-filled mind. Being able to have each application in its own monitor and being able to see those applications at the same time may solve a lot of headache. For data entry, when needing to view one document and type into another, this makes sense. For applications with myriads of palettes, more desktop is better. It really does increase workflow and productivity to have multiple monitors. Filing cabinets are nice, but so are big desks. When you need to work with many documents or programs at once, having a bigger desktop helps your workflow increase.
And of course, GAMES! The Gaming market is HUGE. And acording to Matrox, there are currently over 150 games that optimize the extreme wide-screen features of the TripleHead2Go. Flight simulators, Racing Games, World of Warcraft... all GREAT reasons to expand your gaming world to 3 monitors.
Another reason I could see the desire for multiple monitors is in training purposes, presentations, or even in businesses and storefronts where you’d want the same computer output signal going to multiple displays. But as far as I could tell, the Matrox TripleHead2Go doesn’t have the capability at this time to enable a cloned signal to be sent to each monitor like the DualHead2Go can do. If you try to clone your primary monitor and send that cloned signal to the TripleHead2Go Graphics eXpansion Module, it will only send the signal to your center monitor, leaving the other ones blank. However, if you plug a DualHead2Go into a TripleHead2Go it will send a cloned signal out whatever port you plug it into through the DualHead2Go giving you 3 unique monitor signals with up to 3 clones. As cool as this is, be aware that this is not the recommended set up for any of the Graphics Xpansion Modules. The Matrox GXM products were designed with a 1 unit per system configuration support model. We, as well as Matrox, do not recommend operating under these settings or conditions.
As far as I could tell, there wasn’t any extra control panel to work with the settings of the TripleHead2Go like there are with the DualHead2Go. In the installation, it did say it was installing the Matrox Powerdesk control application, but I could never find it after the installation. All changes were made in the standard display control panel, leaving customization limited. Although, because of this simplistic set up, the software suite installation was an incredibly smooth processes without too many bells and whistles snagging along the way.
Summary
If you’re feeling a bit cramped on your desktop and dual monitors won’t cut it, go for the TripleHead2Go. I loved that it was a standalone system that could be quickly installed and transported from computer to computer, rather than an internal PCI type card that would require time and work to remove and install. It functions well with a laptop or desktop and would quickly add the needed functionality for a person who travels with their work. I can see this product quickly replacing more clunky and expensive docking stations in business environments, and allow a laptop user to present their work in a more visually pleasing environment. Priced at under $300, it’s a very logical addition to anyone’s workstation.
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