Matrox dualhead or eVGA UV Plus+ ?

[obey908]

I have been looking into solutions to have two external monitors hooked up to my mbpro and found these two. Both get the job done, but with a huge difference in price. I was wondering if anyone has experience using both? The matrox seems better, but I think the eVGA will do well enough for what I will be using it for (light photoshopping). There is about $130 price difference

Thanks

[CerberusLA]

I recently bought a MBP 15" running Parallels 5 and Windows 7 64bit, and have arrived at the same conclusion that these two devices are the only ones available that may be capable of providing dual external displays. The Matrox came out with a DP (displayport) version of their product a few months ago but it doesn't seem to be in-stock anywhere and there are no reviews. The EVGA UV16 seems to have consistently pretty good reviews and is not only in-stock but also about 70% less than the Matrox (Matrox runs around $220 while EVGA runs around $65). However, I'd be just as happy to buy the Matrox if it performed better than the EVGA, except there are no comparisons available and no Matrox reviews.

Does anyone out there know which would be better to provide a MBP with dual external monitor capabilities? I'll mainly be using this to run Office 2010 applications (primarily Excel) and Firefox in the two displays.

http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=100-U2-UV16-A1&pwindow=support&family=USB

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/dh2go/

Am thinking I'll probably just get the EVGA and see how it performs and once the Matrox DP starts shipping I'll test it out to see if it is better. But at least there are two options.

[obey908]

i have been using the evga uv16 since shortly after I made this thread almost a year ago. I like it a lot.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/ObeyHK/desk1.jpg

[CerberusLA]

Thanks for the info. Does EVGA support 64bit yet? And what types of monitors are those (and would you recommend them)? Right now I'm trying to decide on which 24" monitors to buy.

Thanks again!

[johnnj]

I don't know about the Matrox thing, but if you want to run 1920x1200 via USB, then you'll need a device built on the Displaylink DL-195 chip. The EVGA UV-16+ is built on a DL-165 and will only give you up to 1600x1200. Not enough if you're running 24" monitors.

DiamondMM has a 195-based device which is readily available (I walked in to J&R Music World and walked out with one).

http://www.diamondmm.com/BVU195.php

As for 64 bit drivers, they aren't available yet. I wish they were. It's the only think holding me back from switching to the 64 bit kernel.

You can check here for Displaylink driver news:

http://displaylink.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7


John

[elfxmilhouse]

im running dual displays on my mbp. one with the minidisplay port and one on this http://sewelldirect.com/Sewell-Minideck-USB-to-DVI-Display-Adapter.asp

my monitors are both 23 inches at 2048x1152 resolution

[johnnj]

im running dual displays on my mbp. one with the minidisplay port and one on this http://sewelldirect.com/Sewell-Minideck-USB-to-DVI-Display-Adapter.asp

my monitors are both 23 inches at 2048x1152 resolution

The Diamond one is identical under the hood and is $17 cheaper.

http://www.jr.com/diamond-multimedia/pe/DDD_BVU195/

[elfxmilhouse]

The Diamond one is identical under the hood and is $17 cheaper.

http://www.jr.com/diamond-multimedia/pe/DDD_BVU195/

oh wow!
when was the diamond one released?

i was waiting for a usb displaylink adapter that did 2048 by 1152 for a while and when i saw the sewell one i bought it right away.

[johnnj]

oh wow!
when was the diamond one released?

i was waiting for a usb displaylink adapter that did 2048 by 1152 for a while and when i saw the sewell one i bought it right away.

Not exactly sure. I got mine a little over a month ago and they had a pile of them in the store.

[CerberusLA]

im running dual displays on my mbp. one with the minidisplay port and one on this http://sewelldirect.com/Sewell-Minideck-USB-to-DVI-Display-Adapter.asp

my monitors are both 23 inches at 2048x1152 resolution

From their product descriptions and the Sewell demonstration of the product, it appears that they aren't the same product. Sewell's appears to utilize some of your processor so that it is able to display video accurately, while the Diamond doesn't do this (people have noted its good for text but not for video). Since you have the Sewell (and it isn't sold or reviewed on Amazon or any other site), can you please confirm this? Does your Sewell play video smoothly and have you had any issues with it?

Thanks!

[CerberusLA]

Also, does anyone know if the EVGA, Sewell, or Diamond supports 64-bit?

[elfxmilhouse]

From their product descriptions and the Sewell demonstration of the product, it appears that they aren't the same product. Sewell's appears to utilize some of your processor so that it is able to display video accurately, while the Diamond doesn't do this (people have noted its good for text but not for video). Since you have the Sewell (and it isn't sold or reviewed on Amazon or any other site), can you please confirm this? Does your Sewell play video smoothly and have you had any issues with it?

Thanks!

I have used youtube on it and it looked fine. Ill do some more testing later and update you guys.

the minimize/maximize animations arent as smooth though. probably because quartz extreme is not supported. everything else looks fine so far.

[CerberusLA]

The Diamond one is identical under the hood and is $17 cheaper.

http://www.jr.com/diamond-multimedia/pe/DDD_BVU195/

How is video through your diamond? Is it entirely smooth?

Thanks!