Working with multiple screens is a near-must for me — while a lot of people happily jot on a single-screened device in cafes and parks — for some situations, like browsing, this is well enough — for any serious productivity work I couldn’t imagine alt-tabbing all the time. With the exception of browsing or maybe writing fiction there’s always at least two active tasks going on (code / code output / writing / chats / researching, etc.). 2+ screens start to become the default in most home and office environments.

That’s why it is such a mystery to me that along with the rise of laptops, portable secondary screens are almost nowhere to be found. Sure, they require a desk and around double the surface area (except the tackle-to-your-laptop constructions mentioned below) but I presume that’s not a biggie for people not keen for lakeside/starbucks scenarios anyway.

As my current one died, I set out on the quest again to get a new portable display for myself. Since I didn’t find many resources on this topic, I wanted to detail what I learned about the current landscape for this strangely forsaken breed of devices.

As a preliminary, I’ll be concentrating on desktop-sized (13"+) screens, otherwise almost all recent models are IPS displays with 1080p resolution. Connectivity and size seem to be the differentiating features. No large color spaces, or — other than a lone example below — high refresh rates for gamers in this segment yet. There are two breeds of these devices: ones using a single USB cable for power and display output — using the DisplayLink protocol, and actual stand-less monitor panels that have also HDMI input, but they always need an additional power cable. You have to choose between one-cable simpicity but less compatibility (DisplayLink is experimental on Linux, and forget game consoles or non-PC devices) or second cable + power brick and wide support.

Large manufacturers

- I had an Asus MB168B+ — I guess the most known and widely sold such display. 15.6" 1080p (there was a lower res 1366x768 version without the +), weighing 800 grams — a nice piece of hardware that is way too expensive and has some quirks: it uses a single USB3 cable (the weird Micro-B variant (although the device functions well with USB2) — which is convenient, but has compatibility issues as it has to use the DisplayLink standard to transfer video over usb. The bigger problem is that the display is super prone to dying due to the bad construction — usually loosening internal connections, and the “yellow light of death” that my device also had. Needless to say the screen is all glued and you’re out of luck with any service centers outside the warranty period (within warranty, Asus just shipped you a new device). No service center will take it as prying them open mostly destroys the display panel.