Matrox TripleHead2Go
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There are four slots you can load from the available and supported sizes and once you have any choices loaded you will need to restart your computer in order to switch to those resolution sizes. Once you have the screen size you want you can enter the other program areas like bezel management which controls aspects of the bezels of your screen and how they appear. There are a few choices like reducing the amount of overlay from one screen to the next but I found it really didn’t matter all that much for my gaming.
Using the bezel management you reduce the offset between monitors by taking the extra space on one side of the monitor at the spot where two monitors join for the complete image and move it to the far side of the screen. This only moves the blank spots that are part of any screen to the far edge of the outside screens so the gaming is matched more in the two edges where the outside and center screens are.
The bezels once you’re gaming are not that noticeable and really not that much of an annoyance but it is nice to have some adjustments. There is also some firmware updates that include being able to use the center screen as your opening page for programs so that when you open something it does not by default open in the left monitor. The software for PowerDesk SE is nice but pretty basic and there are a few more parts to it like monitor adjustment and the default of which monitor you want programs and pop ups to open on.
Overall the setup and getting things working was very simple, as I said the biggest problem here is just finding enough desk real estate for all that screen real estate. The TripleHead2Go is definitely an expense that some would find hard to justify but for many applications in business I can surely see a benefit if more screen area without going to very expensive monitors or even TV’s as monitors.
The TripleHead2Go costs about $330 from the Matrox internet store and is available from several other internet shops such as Buy.com and Amazon.com. I did a little quick cost checking and this is a great solution in terms of cost to get more screen resolution instead of getting a larger monitor or using an HDTV for a monitor in business or productivity applications.
A Matrox TripleHead2Go costs $320, three 1280x1024 resolution monitors from Newegg.com, Acer AL1716 17”, costs about $160 and for three and the Matrox TripleHead2Go the total would be $800. A 30” monitor from either HP or Samsung is around $1300 and adding the $320 that comes out well above the cost for three monitors. The three Acer monitors add up to a total of 3.9 megapixels and the 30” monitor ends up being 4 megapixels for the cost difference of $820.
For a business or person wanting or needing more screen size without sacrificing the fact of being on one system you could surely save some money going with a TripleHead2Go or even a DualHead2Go, also available from Matrox. Of course keeping employees from the surround gaming would be an expense you should add in as the main enjoyment I could see in the TripleHead2Go is surround gaming.
The TripleHead2Go adds width to your games that are just not possible for first person shooters as well as real time sims and others. The benefits in gaming are great as it adds a great deal to your peripheral vision so you can actually see more of what’s going on around you. In games like Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and Attack on Pearl Harbor you get the benefit of seeing more on screen than you would normally with a smaller screen resolution.
You can actually see things people with smaller screens cannot because you have more of the game onscreen whether it’s a first person shooter or a flight sim like Microsoft’s Flight Sim X. Gaming just never will be the same and you can see the benefits for real time simulation and tactical games like Company of Heroes and World in Conflict where you actually have more on screen than your opponents.
The TripleHead2Go from Matrox is truly a unique way to get more screen resolution for less than buying one big monitor and the setup is not all that difficult. I highly recommend the TripleHead2Go for gaming enthusiasts who want the most in depth game immersion possible for their entertainment value. The TripleHead2Go is a great way for business and professionals to get more screen real estate from one computer without the expense of one costly large monitor or television.