I am not sure how many of my readers would need something like this or didn’t know about it, but my experience tells me that some less IT-savvy ones may find this useful.
What if you have a laptop and would like to extend it to two more screens so that you can be more productive?
Most of our laptops are equipped with an external HDMI port to help you to connect and extend to one external monitor. Some may think if we can do it for one, we should be able to do it to two or three.
If so, what is the lowest cost that we can do this?
I found this USB-C HDMI and VGA hub on Shopee.
This is the sweet spot because:
- It is not too expensive. With delivery, you could probably get it at $24.
- Works with a VGA and HDMI, or two HDMI
- Allows you to extend to two screens.
- Allows you to plug in power as well.
- HDMI: 4K resolution at 30hz
- VGA: 1080P resolution at 60hz
- Power Charging: 100W
I bought this for a few of my colleagues at the office so at least I kind of know the reliability. With this, you can work with a couple of older 1080p or full HD monitors, which may be cheaper if you get second hand. You can also close the lid on your laptop and just rely on the two display.
We tested this for Lenovo, Dell laptops mainly. The ones that might have problems getting both the display and power to work in one hub are the older Microsoft Surface laptop.
Also, do note that this only works on Windows Environment. If you have a Mac, this does not work aside from extending to one monitor.
I bought 4-5 and only one of them is faulty.
If you want an alternative, then it will be the more expensive one.
Another more expensive one that I bought is this 12-in-1 Leorele USB hub from AliExpress:
The price is not fixed and depends on whether there is a sale at AliExpress. I got one to replace the faulty one above for $37 and another one for the office for $30 during the AliExpress anniversary sale. Black Friday is also a good time to buy where the discount recently have been more meaningful.
I found this to be more reliable but also you can connect more stuff.
That is it for my recommendation. Do let me know if you have something that works better.
I frequently share some of these life hacks and tips for living a very value-driven life on this blog. You can read them under Living a Value-Driven Life.
Kyith is the Owner and Sole Writer behind Investment Moats. Readers tune in to Investment Moats to learn and build stronger, firmer wealth foundations, how to have a Passive investment strategy, know more about investing in REITs and the nuts and bolts of Active Investing.
Readers also follow Kyith to learn how to plan well for Financial Security and Financial Independence.
Kyith worked as an IT operations engineer from 2004 to 2019. Currently, he works as a Senior Solutions Specialist in Insurance Start-up Havend. All opinions on Investment Moats are his own and does not represent the views of Providend.
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