Inexpensive and impressive option for a "pop-up" office
About a year ago, a customer support rep from a company I work with was raving about the "portable monitors" her team had acquired. I remember being intrigued by the concept but I'd yet to encounter an application for such a thing -- both my home and on-site offices were already equipped with full-sized, dual screens. However, since then, my wife and I acquired a travel trailer, out of which I plan to work remotely on occasion. I started thinking about using the trailer's onboard HD TV as a second monitor but it's really too far away from my workspace to serve as a 2nd monitor. I then thought of hauling and extra, full-sized monitor along but the work to set it up, tear it down and find storage space seemed to outweigh the benefit. Then I remembered that conversation last year about portable monitors .... The ZenScreen seemed to garner good reviews, and I've been happy with other Asus products I've purchased in the past. Mine arrived yesterday and I gotta' say that I'm rightly impressed. I'm not sure why you'd want to consider the larger models as those seem to fly in the face of portability. But the 16" model (15.6" viewable) is lightweight and small enough to coexist with a laptop in most computer bags. Setup is fast and easy – a quick-connect kickstand allows you to place the display right next to your laptop at the perfect angle. Power and video are simultaneously delivered via a single USB C connection. And brightness, contrast and image quality really exceeded my expectations. My local Target store has a similar Asus 16" ZenScreen for twice the price. The performance specs seem identical to this one. The only difference seems to be that it has an integrated folding stand verses the screw-on "kickstand." While the integrated stand seemed a bit more convenient, it didn't look as sturdy (especially when propping up the display in portrait mode) and I couldn't justify twice the price. Obviously, I have not yet had enough time to speak to the long-term reliability of this product. I'll be sure to edit this review in the future if I encounter any issues. However, this Asus backs the ZenScreen with a 3-year warranty and, as I said, the company has a good reputation for quality. So far, I enthusiastically recommend the ZenDesk portable display for those who travel with a laptop and have the need for dual displays. Read more
















