IOGEAR USB HD Video Adapter Review

For a small but very important portion of the consumer marketplace, the need for multiple monitors on their systems is a must have option. While this small niche is willing to pay good money for a laptop with multiple output options, their choices are extremely limited. This is why something like the USB video cards exist in the first place. A long while ago, there's a VGA version of this adapter powered by DisplayLink's older video core. Today, the IOGEAR USB HD Video Adapter - the new and improved version which boasts 1080p, 32-bit color depth resolution - will be tested to see if there is any noticeable improvement given the USB 2.0's limited bandwidth.

Lightweight
Plug and play
Inexpensive
Supports up to 1080p, 32-bit resolution
DisplayLink certified

USB 2.0 bottleneck results in less than perfect images in all scenarios
Does not support 1920 x 1200 resolution
Will result in mouse lag when watching video
When using it, Windows will default to pushing audio out over HDMI even if your monitor does not have speakers!

Multi-monitor Setup & Productivity
No matter how big a monitor you are using there is still only so much information which can be displayed on it at any one time. This is for the simple fact that multi-tasking is second nature to many professionals and having a full size window for Macromedia Dreamweaver, another for Adobe Photoshop and a third for miscellaneous things is just impossible on one big screen. With a properly setup 3 monitor system, the amount of work you can get done in a single day is simple astounding.

This is a secret that many professionals learn early on in their careers. While this works great on any desktop PCs, there isn't anyway to add a third monitor on a laptop. While most notebooks either come with HDMI or DisplayPort but getting that force multiplier third monitor is near impossible. This is where the USB video adapter comes in.

After all, my laptop has multiple USB ports and even when you add in a keyboard and mouse there is always a free USB port, but there is never a free video port! It is for this reason I was so excited when the new and improved adapter crossed my desk. I had used previous models in the past and while they get you out of a jam, their lacklustre maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050 and less than sterling output options left a lot to be desired. Large screen monitors have gotten down right dirt cheap, yet using any monitor at anything besides its native resolution is a recipe for failure (or at least headache) when you need to get work done.

The fact IOGEAR took the time to rectify this issue and make their new version 1080p capable is very impressive to say the least. While 1920 x 1080 is a good start, I really wish they had gone for the real gold standard of 1920 x 1200. I say this as while A 16:9 monitor is good for working on, a 16:10 monitor is better; however, I can live with using three high definition 16:9 monitors if the only other option is using only two monitors. To be fair this is more a limitation of DisplayLink DL-165 than this device, maybe at some future point IOGEAR will opt for the DL-195 which supports 1920 x 1200 (2048 x 1152 wide).

I was also very impressed when I realized it no longer relied on a VGA out, but rather has HDMI. HDMI really is the de facto standard for large resolution monitors and more to the point digital connections are always preferable to analog. It is a shame that IOGEAR did not also upgrade this HD version to USB 3.0, as that larger bus really would have given this device a lot more freedom when it comes to bit-rate. With that being said, USB 2.0 is still ubiquitous and the same can not be said of USB 3.0. It wouldn't make much sense to make it compatible with darn near any modern monitor, while at the same time making it incompatible with most laptops. Hopefully, the next generation will be USB 3.0 enabled, as by that time SuperSpeed USB should be standard on darn near all laptops.

While the all new HD video adapter has gotten a beefy upgrade in the resolution department and the output department, the same can not be said about its overall dimensions. This USB display adapter is still darn small with dimensions not that much bigger than a pack of cards or a pack of cigarettes. It really is tiny yet packed with power. I was also happy to see that IOGEAR added a touch of pizzazz to this model; unlike the previous version which looked like a small bland box, this new model has a more rounded and almost organic look and feel to it.