VillageTronics ViBook
Posted by Jon Peddie on January 9th 2009 | Comments Closed |
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Hardware Review
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These past couple of weeks, we have had the opportunity to catch up on some of the testing that we put off. And yet, we still ran out of time—Parkinson’s law in action.
But what we did get time with was very satisfying. Today’s products are getting better and better.
But drivers are still the weak link.
What we have tested, and continue to test, is the Nehalem, with a variety of AIBs, and are currently watching the door for the UPS guy who is bringing us a GTX 295.
VillageTronics ViBook.
(Source: VillageTronics)
We’ve tested almost every product VillageTronics has made since their first PCMCIA card with an embedded Trident graphics chip in it, back in late 2001.
The company has maintained its product position and evolved it, as the company itself has evolved. The newest product, the ViBook, designed and manufactured in Italy, is extremely small at only 4.3cm by 7cm by 2.4cm (1.7 in by 2.8 in by 0.9in). It has a three-year warrantee, and it’s a pretty complete USB Graphics System.
The ViBook model has an USB 2.0 cable on one end, and a female DVI connector on the other end. The kit comes with a male-to-male DVI dongle and a DVI to VGA cable for analog output. And there’s a VESA mounting cradle (complete with sticky backing and screws) and VillageTronic’s multi-screen software—VT MultiDisplay for Windows and VT Voilà for Mac.
Where the hell is Matt in HD?
(Source: Jon Peddie Research)
Mr. Klaatu comes to Washington in 1600x1200 resolution.
(Source: Jon Peddie Research)
The drivers work with Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5, as well as Windows 2000, Windows XP (32-bit), Windows Vista (32 and 64-bit). It can support displays up to 22 inches in size, with a resolution of 1680x1050 (widescreen) and 1600x1200 (standard) in 16- and 32-bit color.
The module is powered by the USB, so no little brick is needed, and it can even work via a USB hub. It can be used with or independently of the graphics AIB already installed in the computer and can even drive projectors and HDTV displays. You can get one these little puppies for $129.
How did it work?
Perfectly. Plugged it in (after removing the beta DisplayLink unit, and unloading the beta software), installed the drivers, rebooted (had a cup of coffee, and a sandwich, Vista was almost finished when I got back) and set up the screens. As most of you may remember, I run two external 20-inch screens at 1680 x 1050 off my laptop, and a third 20-inch 1600 x 1200. The ViBook got assigned to the 1600 x 1200 monitor. As soon as it was set up, I went to YouTube, downloaded an HD video, and ran it.
In December 2008 YouTube introduced the “watch in HD” option below any HD-enabled video. The video will automatically play in widescreen—so you can find out where the hell Matt is in glorious HD.
The video quality is great, but bandwidth is still an issue and so there was a lot of frame drop. I loaded one of the SD videos I transcoded from VHS to MPEG2—The Day the Earth Stood Still (the original)—and played it full-screen, making the scalers in the monitor really work.
The lip synch was off and there was some frame drop and tarring, but when reduced to SD it ran smoothly, although the lip synch was still off—that’s a USB stack issue that will be tough to fix—maybe with some additional buffers.
What do we think?
Well, with a little over a year and half testing this stuff, we’re about as sold on it as anyone can get. It simply works, it’s cheap, easy to install, and improves your productivity through the use of multiple monitors—The more you can see the more you can do—Jon Peddie 1989. And monitors, big high-resolution monitors, are ridiculously inexpensive, so go out and buy a couple now—you’ll thank me.
Next entry: Double your refresh, double your fun
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Commenting is not available in this section entry.Jon Peddie
Dr. Jon Peddie is a pioneer of the graphics industry, starting his career in computer graphics in 1962. After the successful launch of several graphics manufacturing companies, Peddie began Jon Peddie Associates in 1984 to provide comprehensive data, information and management expertise to the computer graphics industry. With those same goals in mind, he left JPA to form Jon Peddie Research in 2001 to provide a more customer intimate environment for clients, and to further explore the business of multimedia. Peddie lectures at numerous conferences on topics pertaining to graphics technology and the emerging trends in digital media technology. Recently named one of the most influential industry analysts, he is frequently quoted in trade and business publications, and contributes articles to numerous publications including as well as appearing on CNN and TechTV, and a contributor to Advances in Modeling, Animation, and Rendering. Peddie is also the author of several books including Graphics User Interfaces and Graphics Standards, High Resolution Graphics Display Systems, and Multimedia and Graphics Controllers. Jon Peddie is recognized as one of the leading analysts in the country by AdWeek Magazine.
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