Filed under: Hardware, Video, Macbook Pro
ViDock Gfx brings multiple external monitors to MacBook Pro
If you have MacBook Pro your external screen options just got a lot better. The ViDock Gfx from Village Tronic connects via the ExpressCard/34 slot and provides two DVI/VGA ports for driving two external monitors. So you can now hook up three external monitors: one to the built-in DVI port and then two to the ViDock for a display setup that'll rival Al's.
The ViDock Gfx is only available for pre-order though no pricing information had been released (apparently you submit the form and they'll get back to you with pricing).
[via Gizmodo]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael LaFramboise said 4:53PM on 3-08-2008
Minus the fact that the unit itself is ugly as sin, pretty cool...
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sam said 5:21PM on 3-08-2008
matrox (www.matrox.com) already produces a box that cleverly splits the signal from one DVI or VGA port into two or three to drive multiple monitors. very impressive.
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Michael LaFramboise said 5:50PM on 3-08-2008
except that matrox tops out at 1600x1200 and all the screens act as a single monitor...
Danny Zumwalt said 11:24PM on 3-08-2008
Check again.. you can do 3840 x 1080 (2 x 1920 x 1080) or 3840 x 1024 (3 x 1280 x 1024) with the Matrox box. And the drivers allow the screens to act like separate monitors (but that's really only an issue anyway with Windows' use of maximize more than anything else)
Jason said 10:08AM on 4-04-2008
Check again again: 1280x1024 only at 58Hz...
Jon Cotton said 6:41PM on 3-08-2008
It's probably also worth mentioning that displaylink (technology that allows multiple displays via usb 2.0) will have mac drivers out very soon
http://www.displaylink.com/setup_faqs.html#mac
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Rick said 8:21PM on 3-08-2008
will that work on a MacMini?
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Jacques Lema said 7:48AM on 3-09-2008
Hm, well it seems to require an Express/34 port, which is only available on the macbook pro.
Ben Englert said 10:51PM on 3-08-2008
So what happens when you combine this with a TripleHead2Go? (http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/th2go/digital/home.php) Five monitors?
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Jacques Lema said 7:51AM on 3-09-2008
If you combine them, you need to add surgery expenses. I mean in order to get enough eyes.
Sam said 11:23PM on 3-08-2008
Nice! This is the one feature my work-issued Dell has over the MacBook... it can dock and give me two 19" external monitors for developing. (Actually, I count docking as a second feature the MacBook lacks for true pick-up-and-go portability...)
Hopefully this thing will come out soon and be reasonably priced. If so, I might finally be able to justify buying a new MacBook to replace my old PowerPC tower.
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Jacques Lema said 7:52AM on 3-09-2008
Am I stupid or does the page say you have to fill the preorder form in order to know the price? Not that I am paranoid but I don't feel like (pre-)ordering with a random price. If it's 5000 dollars I might not want it..
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Jacques Lema said 7:52AM on 3-09-2008
Am I stupid or does the page say you have to fill the preorder form in order to know the price? Not that I am paranoid but I don't feel like (pre-)ordering with a random price. If it's 5000 dollars I might not want it..
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John.B said 1:01PM on 3-09-2008
Those monitors pivoted vertically look cool -- from a distance.
Unfortunately, anti-aliasing only works from one orientation, its pretty worthless at 90°...
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frogbat said 4:17PM on 3-09-2008
wow - i was trying to place that name and then i recalled they used to make gfx products for the amiga
quite amazed they've survived so long - kudos to them
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crazyj said 5:17PM on 3-09-2008
This is VAPORWARE.
That page has been up since November of 2007. They used to have a countdown of the "number of days until the next announcement." It would often count down from 20 or so days and when it reached 0 no announcement would come and it would go back up to some other (seemingly) random number. Lather. Rise. Repeat for 4 months.
I filled out the "Pre-Order" form months ago and have heard back NOTHING.
I will say, that I currently use their VTBook product that is a similar product for connecting another display via a PCMCIA card on a G4 PowerBook. I have been waiting since the days the MacBook Pros were released with an ExpressCard34 slot for them to come out with some sort of product. Unfortunately I am still waiting.
As other have pointed out if the VIDock is ever released it will be a superior solution to the TripleHead2Go or any of the USB displaylink-based solutions because the resolution will be better as well the fact it will genuinely be 2 (or 3) monitors as opposed to one "desktop" stretched across multiple monitors.
You can see the difference by looking at screenshots of these types of products. If the MenuBar (Or Windows TaskBar) spans all monitors it is basically one bug desktop spread across multiple monitors. (Hit the maximize button on a window and it will span all monitors.) The VillageTronic solutions make the OS see actual separate monitors. (Hit the maximize button on a window and it will fill only 1 monitor.
That said, as soon as it is released I'll be buying it. I've seen similar devices advertised for round $1000 but I am confident that VIDock will be priced less than that.
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Rboyett said 4:44PM on 3-09-2008
This product is a good step in the right direction but I'm really wanting a Mac Compatible docking station that takes advantage of the ExpressCard port. Belkin already makes a product like that for Windows but they won't make any Mac drivers (Belkin sucks balls anyways)
Just make it so I can put my MacBook Pro down on the desk, plug in an expresscard and have USB/DVI/Firewire/Networking all through one device. I'd be ok if the only other thing I have to plug in is the power cable.
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larry said 9:03AM on 3-11-2008
does anyone know how to span video on 8 monitors? I have a four videocard mac pro and I just can't find a way to use even two monitors for fullscreen video. VLC crashes when I try to enter full screen on more than one monitor and quicktime just blacks all except the main...
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dmac said 1:38PM on 4-04-2008
VAPORWARE - I Agree!!
I too have been watching this since last year and checking every week or so to only see the counter be reset - or sometimes go into negative...
The product looks promising, but they need a lesson in marketing and how not to turn off prospective customers.
Hopefully they can stick to the 'April 2008' date thats been mentioned in a few articles around.
And hopefully they can keep the price down.
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JRelyea said 12:43PM on 5-08-2008
I spoke with Josh in their Kansas City office a few times. It was supposed to be released in April, and got pushed back to late May.
The really interesting part is Village Tronic is (supposedly) testing the VIDock with Matrox Triple/Double Head2Gos. I confirmed with Matrox already that multiple H2Gs can be used concurrently. That'd leave a laptop with a 1920x1200 running an insane resolution of seven 1920x1200 displays (1650x1080 is my limit though). 7 would be: the laptop LCD, 1 DoubleHead2Go on the laptop video out, and 4 more displays on the VIDock with a DoubleHeadToGo on each video out port.
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