Handy? Second screen that is attached to your laptop with magnets
DUO is a Kickstarter campaign to give people with a laptop something traditionally reserved for people with a desktop: a second screen. To see the popularity of the campaign (at the moment three quarters of a million were collected while the goal was only $ 30,000), there are a lot of people who do. But how does it work?
If you hang a DUO on your computer, you get four magnetic stickers to stick to the back of your laptop. This allows you to attach the loose screen to the back of your laptop and then slide it out to the side where you want a second screen. Smart enough you can also rotate the screen back so that it is at the back of your own screen. That’s nice for presentations, because then you can look at your own screen and the people you want to show something do not have to lean over you to watch.
Simple to use
DUO should above all be easy to use, according to the makers, so it is not complicated after securing the screen on your laptop. The 1080p 12.5 inch display can be connected to your laptop with a USB cable, with USB-C being the standard, but also a USB-A (the current standard) adapter is included. The whole addition weighs all together one and a half kilos, which is not much, but enough to not just put in your bag when you go somewhere.
Because of the size of the screen it is only suitable for smaller laptops, but those are the ones who often can use some extra resolution and space to park windows. According to research that the creators in the campaign quotes, your productivity can go up by 50 percent if you use a second monitor to work. That is very positive, but it certainly helps if you are working to not have to switch between certain windows all the time.
Not expensive, but waiting
The price of DUO is relatively high, as is often the case with Kickstarter campaigns. The whole package costs a total of 160 euros (by the time you read this probably 185 by the way). A separate second monitor can of course be given for less, but the whole idea of a second screen that is just as portable as your laptop is also worth something.
If all goes well – here the usual warning: it is Kickstarter and for the same money you never get a product or it is not as promised – the backers of the project should get their DUO early next year. The start of production is already scheduled for August this year, so the makers (who have already received MIT Sandbox Funding for their prototypes) seem ready for it at least.