THG takes a look the Matrox DualHead2Go adapter which uses a special graphics driver that doubles the horizontal resolution of the secondary or auxiliary graphics output. The small DualHead2Go box processes the signal from the VGA output and divides these signals up so that the image output stretches across two displays. Output resolutions of 1024 x 765 or 1280 x 1024 thus translate into 2048 x 768 or 2560 x 1024. One half of the screen image shows up on the first external monitor, and the DualHead2Go sends the other half to the second external monitor.

The Matrox DualHead2Go works flawlessly and is definitely worth its price for those who need lots of screen real estate to get things done. Unlike other external solutions, the virtualization of an auxiliary monitor is fast and doesn't suffer from resolution quality problems.

You also have to give some thought as to how to arrange your workspace with the extra monitors. After a short while, we switched our monitor arrangement from three displays in a row and placed both external monitors side-by-side behind the laptop. This was as much a function of our test bay layout as it was a matter of what worked best for our needs.

It's sad that Matrox didn't take its software technology the extra step by delivering multiple virtual monitors on individual displays (as far as this is possible). This would enable users to place monitors both to the right and left of the internal notebook display. But perhaps Microsoft isn't yet ready to permit aftermarket vendors to dig this deep into the innards of its display subsystem.