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Hungary, Budapest
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Review on ASUS ZenScreen MB166C: 15.6" Portable Monitor with Anti Glare Screen, Flicker-Free & Blue Light Filter - Ideal for Productivity and Entertainment by David Judex

Revainrating 4 out of 5

It should protect well from minor impacts, maybe even a short fall.

Hmmm. Three stars or four? First I read all the reviews and questions I could find about how thin it is and it really is. But it never occurred to me to really perceive other dimensions. At 15 inches, this doesn't fit in any of my three computer bags, and one is quite wide. So I have to carry it separately. I wish they could at least put a fingertip grip on it considering it's probably too wide for most laptop cases. Giving zero stars for this because it's my own fucking fault. The info was there for me, but I was so lasered to the thickness and just assumed it would be generally "laptop sized". Maybe if you have one of those huge laptops that can be end tables, if you add legs to the corners. Now that's the case, that's a bigger problem. It should hold up well from small bumps, maybe even a brief fall. But Asus tells us it doubles as a kickstand, which to me means that it should also double as a stand.I think technically it does, but it's difficult to set up and very wobbly, especially in portrait mode.I just set it up in portrait mode, but please don't breathe while reading or it might tip over. When using a case lying on its side the stand takes up a HUGE amount of desk space I prefer the AOC (AOS?) design where the stand slides out the back of the monitor like a photo frame So will i I am now thinking about what convenience I have to do without. Do I need a separate sturdy stand that doesn't take up most of the desk but is something else to take with me? Or I'm limping with this one, which is thin and bulky but goes where the monitor goes with no extra stuff. The time will show. The installation was also an eyesore. Big. back pain. My laptop doesn't have a CD drive (it was made after 2008, well, Asus!) but as soon as I plugged it in - Windows 7 btw - the drivers started loading. Hallelujah! Until I got a little pop up saying the drivers are incompatible, something blah blah blah and directed me to the Displaylink site for more drivers. It took over an hour. Between downloading and installing, which I finally had to close from task manager and restart, it stalled, stopped, mysteriously doing nothing, then shifted a bit, but basically it was a small processing circuit that got going turned and turned endlessly. It slowed my computer to a crawl and eventually just froze the whole damn thing. I had to turn it off with the power button and restart in safe mode. At startup I get a message that the DisplayLink driver is still incompatible, and then WHAT? The monitor suddenly lit up and is now working. I don't know what the hell happened, but here we are. Setup was tricky too - I'm a mediocre techie and bad at once-in-a-lifetime things with a device. For example, set the monitor. All this history with landscape/portrait auto-detection? Where does the screen elegantly rotate with the device? No not at all. I had to go into windows display settings and set it up as a second extended monitor in portrait mode. Not a huge deal, but enough to take up another 25 minutes of my day and bring with it a slight burnt smell from having to think so much. So I'm deducting a star for the monitor and case combination. Honestly I'd rather give 3.5 stars because four seems a lot. But I didn't downgrade to 3 stars because the monitor does its job well. These are just side issues that aren't very good. But the screen is really sharp - better than my native laptop screen, and it's big enough to make a significant difference in portrait mode as a second monitor. I've seen people use iPad-sized secondary monitors (they could be a real iPad, as far as I know) and while they look handy, I've never been sure I could really easily and conveniently use such a small screen for one few hours. hours at a time. It'll be easy once I get used to having it right in front of me, with the laptop keyboard pushed to the side. However, it's really clear that there might be a better quality (resolution) monitor out there that's even good enough for me to get through the technical obstacle course by using it as a video monitor when I don't need a second monitor. for work (aka never, but it might still be cool to try). It feels rock solid and looks great. Overall, the monitor itself would have earned five stars, but the cumbersome cabling/installation/configuration process plus a really shoddy "stand" is enough degradation to deduct a star. Measure your laptop bag before buying!

img 1 attached to ASUS ZenScreen MB166C: 15.6" Portable Monitor with Anti Glare Screen, Flicker-Free & Blue Light Filter - Ideal for Productivity and Entertainment review by David Judex



Pros
  • no flicker
Cons
  • Mostly ok but...

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