My first few months with a portable laptop monitor
A portable monitor is useful: just one cable, and presto, you’ve added a second screen to your laptop. Bear in mind the following points.
The 14-inch screen on my notebook is fine for a few hours. But when I’m not in the office or at home for longer periods, I want a bigger workspace. To get a feel for when a portable monitor makes sense and when it doesn’t, I borrowed the ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 from Lenovo before the summer. However, this is less about the specific model and more about portable screens in general. It’s why I took the M14t with me to the IFA, also bringing it along when I worked from my in-laws’ for a few days.
The extra weight doesn’t bother me
The ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 weighs 672 grammes. With the USB-C cable and its fabric cover, it’s roughly the same as a 0.75-litre drinking bottle. When travelling to visit relatives, the extra weight and space requirements don’t matter to me. Even at the IFA, I didn’t mind carrying the monitor around in my backpack all day.
Source: Jan Johannsen
When I need the M14t, it’s quick to set up. I simply take it out of the case, fold out the integrated stand and connect it to my notebook with the USB-C cable. My laptop automatically recognises the external screen, I only have to select whether the display should be extended or duplicated in the display settings. My laptop remembers these settings.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The portable monitor will stay dark without a power socket
The laptop, or more precisely its battery, doesn’t have enough power to supply the portable monitor with electricity. To switch on the display, your set-up has to be connected to a power socket. That’s understandable, but I’d have preferred completely autonomous operation.
The table you’re using has to be large enough
A second monitor needs some space. Sounds obvious, but I only fully realised it at the IFA. The table in my hotel room was too small, and I could only set up the monitor in the press centre if the space next to me was free. My in-laws’ dining table, on the other hand, was big enough.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The monitor can transmit data
The M14t has USB-C ports on both sides. I can connect the display cable to the notebook from both the right and left. The external monitor is even able to transmit data. If all the ports on my notebook are in use, I can connect an external hard disk to it, for example. Windows will recognise it without any problems. However, not every model can do this, and transmission speeds will vary.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Make sure to bring along a keyboard
To work well with my portable monitor, I also need a keyboard. When I only have the one on my notebook available, looking at the second screen becomes uncomfortable. To work comfortably using the two displays for hours on end, I have to sit in the middle between them. In this case, comfortable typing is only possible with an external keyboard.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Not too large and the right resolution
Like my notebook, the ThinkVision has a 14-inch display. It’s enough to take advantage of a second screen when working. A larger screen would be nice, but usually doesn’t fit the «portable» requirement. It’d be heavier and, if it’s more than 15.6 inches, wouldn’t fit into a standard backpack.
The M14t Gen 2 has a resolution of 2240 × 1400 pixels. This ensures sharp image reproduction, not that this is really necessary for a 14-inch screen. If I were to buy a portable screen, Full HD resolution at 1920 × 1080 pixels would be enough for me. At this display size, it’s still good enough and generally cheaper.
(No) anti-reflective coating and superfluous touchscreen option
I specifically noticed two things about the ThinkVision M14t Gen 2: it has a touchscreen, but no anti-glare. The latter is particularly noticeable in comparison to my anti-glare notebook display. On my main device, I have to pay much less attention to alignment in order to avoid annoying reflections.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The touchscreen is superfluous in my set-up using an external keyboard. It’s too far away for me to reach it, so I wouldn’t spend the extra money on this.
My requirements for a portable monitor
I’m still unsure whether I should get a portable monitor. If there’s enough space in my mobile office, it definitely makes sense. Maybe one of our models under 100 euros/francs will work best. But even 150 isn’t a big investment – I’ll use it often enough.
If I decide to buy one, I’ll be guided by the following key points:
- Same display size as my notebook.
- Full HD resolution.
- No touchscreen.
Plugging this into our filters points to these models:
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.