[GTALUG] Success: On-Lap Ext Display, Mint 17, Acer Aspire E 15

[phiscock at ee.ryerson.ca]

Some times you get lucky.

Today at Canada Computers I purchased an On-Lap 2501C external video
display to increase the screen area of my Acer E 15 laptop, which is
running Linux Mint 17. (Price: $200).

The display is powered from the laptop USB (so an external power brick is
not necessary) and can accept HDMI or VGA signals. This laptop has an HDMI
output and the HDMI cable comes with the display, so I used that.

It worked immediately without incident. The cables are too short and stiff
to locate the display to the right of the laptop, it has to locate at the
left. But the external monitor configuration wizard makes that a
drag-and-drop operation.

Working immediately may be somewhat due to the fact that the external
monitor has the same resolution and display size as the laptop, I don't
know how this would play out with a larger resolution monitor.

The display colour rendition has been slanged in some reviews, but it
looks fine to me, and certainly good enough for routine work.

The display stand acts also as a cover for the display screen, which is
convenient, but it puts the display at the wrong angle. You'll have to
prop it up with a book or something.

The whole thing fits nicely in a laptop case with the laptop.

Now I can do Serious Work when I'm on the road...

I remember when adding a monitor required some serious tinkering with
configuration files, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Peter


-- 
Peter Hiscocks
Syscomp Electronic Design Limited, Toronto
http://www.syscompdesign.com
USB Oscilloscope and Waveform Generator
647-839-0325