Screen real estate is always at a premium when you're dealing with a significant amount of information. The smaller screen of a laptop can be a hindrance when you're traveling, especially if you're used to a multi-head setup in your office; the ability to stretch multiple windows across multiple screens can greatly aid productivity. Toshiba thinks you should never have to be locked to a single screen, and with the company's $200 Mobile LCD Monitor, you'll never have to suffer from the claustrophobia of your laptop's screen again.

I've had one of the 1366x768 mobile screens in my office for the past few days, and I've used it extensively. While videophiles will find a number of easily picked nits, this is a wonderful product for travel and convenience.

This is easy to carry

The screen is only 2.8 pounds, less than an inch thick, and comes complete with a carrying case that protects the screen's surface and creates a stand when opened. Using an optional power cable—sold separately—will increase the brightness of the screen, but it looks fine drawing power via a simple USB connection.

Setup couldn't be simpler. After you install the driver on your Windows PC, you open the case, plug one end of the USB cable into the monitor, plug the other end into your laptop, and the screen begins to work as a second monitor. The USB cable offers two normal-size USB connections for your computer in case the screen can't draw enough power from a single connection, but you can't beat the convenience of a single cable to get things running. It's something of a joy to use when traveling due to its light weight and well-designed case.

The 14" screen runs at 1366x768 resolution, and the rest of the specs are pedestrian: 16ms response rate, 400:1 contrast ratio, and a maximum brightness of 220 nits (cd/m2) available if you're using the power cable. If you're using the USB connection the brightness will be dimmer, but in almost all lighting conditions it's more than adequate. Besides, in this product we're looking for portability and affordability way more than something that can run games at a high frame rate. For most uses, the display is adequate.

Update: I had originally reported that this product doesn't work on Apple systems, as that was what the documentation and press materials indicated. Based on the comments to the story I went directly to the Display Link website and downloaded the latest drivers for OSX, and was able to get the monitor to work fine on my 27" iMac. Sadly, the new Macbook Air laptop have one USB port on either side, making it impossible to plug in the Y-shaped USB cable to give the screen enough power.

This is a business product

My wife is an accountant at a Big Four firm, and it's common for her to see coworkers lugging around multiple monitors to work sites or while traveling. This is one of the few products I've ever reviewed that she wanted to grab in order to make her friends jealous. There is nothing better than a second screen that doesn't add much weight or bulk to the laptop bag you're already carrying with you. The ability to set it up using a single cable and use it comfortably with only the case? Absolute bliss.

So we could wish for a brighter screen, but that would require more power. We could wish for a higher performance panel, but that would bring the price up. Any larger and it would be harder to carry. Toshiba wanted to create a monitor that was relatively inexpensive and easy to carry, set up, and use. It succeeded in all these areas.

Just in case this review comes off as fawning, I have one weird complaint: the unit sent to us came in what looked to be retail packaging, and I removed the plastic protective wrap from the screen. Based on everything I could see, this was a new unit we were looking at... and the case smelled bad. Not just "new product" smell, but something else. It wasn't dirty, and the smell dissipated overnight, but it was weird. If you buy one and find the same issue, simply keep it in another room out of its box for a night. Problem solved.

For $200, this product has a specific purpose and fulfills it very well. If you are often on the road or have a home office and are always wishing for extra screen space, this is for you.

Verdict: Buy