Dual External Monitor Setup

[Meitou]

Hey everyone. I've been using my macbook pro mid 2012 for programming iOS apps. I was wondering if anyone has connected 2 monitors to their macbooks and how they did it. I've heard of using a USB 2.0 to DVI/VGA/HDMI to connect the second monitor, but was wondering if there were any other options, maybe a splitter? If you use the USB option, could you recommend a good cable brand? I want a reliable brand of cable, I use to buy cheap MiniDisplay to DVI/HDMI cables, but those broke within 2 months, I went through 3 of these cables before I finally bought the official Apple cable.

 

[mominsky]

I have a 2013 rMBP and use as you stated, the cheap thunderbolt-->dvi, thunderbolt-->vga cables off amazon. I think i spent roughly $10-15 on each cable, and have been running them 24 hours a day for the past few months with no issues. I have the rMBP running lid open, plus a 19" dell ultrasharp (a 5-6 year old monitor), plus an old 17 inch acer monitor, all with no problems.

One of these days i will upgrade to a single 27" or something similar, but for now just running these 3.

I also am a developer, and i work on remote desktop to the development server, so i enjoy being able to have the remote desktop across one or two screens, and then have specs, or google up on the third - incredibly handy.

 

[Meitou]

Mine isnt a rMBP, so I dont have a Thunderbolt + HDMI, only thunderbolt.

 

[Freyqq]

Since 2012 mbp have USB 3, I'd get a USB adapter that is USB 3. There is a splitter from Matrox, but I think the USB 3 solution would be cheaper and easier.

 

[Meitou]

Do you know how much the splitter would cost? I was looking through amazon and found a couple usb 3.0 display adapters but those either didn't support the newest version of mavericks or there were a lot of bugs. I guess this is a downside to having a MBP instead of a rMBP.