Now most of you know that I got a new computer recently (A Dell). However, I hate video games so I didn't need a high performance video card. I mainly use my computer for web browsing, e-mail, office applications, and maintaining my web sites but I still wanted to use a second monitor without buying an expensive video card with two outputs on it. So after searching Newegg, I found the StarTech USB VGA External Video Adapter.



Upon first opening the box, I found that not surprisingly it came with a driver disc and documentation. So when I plugged it into a spare USB port on my desktop, a plug and play message showed up and asked for a driver. I installed the driver, however, once the device was installed and operational, it would not keep the resolution setting that I wanted. So I decided to completely install the software that came with the device and it placed an icon on my taskbar's notification area with resolution settings. Problem solved.

When I read the reviews on Newegg regarding this product, they were mixed. One reviewer thought that this product was slicker than snot on a doorknob. One other reviewer complained about picture quality. I decided to take the chance when I bought this. Now keep in mind that this VGA adapter does not support widescreen resolutions, but that didn't bother me because my victim was a 17" square monitor.

Picture quality is decent, no noticeable fading or color distortion. However, I have a habit of using Windows Key - L to lock the computer when I walk away and the monitor that goes straight into the integrated video card updates instantly, but the monitor on the external adapter is a bit slower at updating the screen and there is a noticeable top-to-bottom passing motion as the screen updates that elapses around 3/10s of a second.

Overall, I give this product a 4 out of 5 rating. It's versatile ability to add a monitor without cracking a case (in fact, you could literally max out your computer with 10 monitors given you had enough USB ports). But it does suffer with the refresh speed of the image, which would probably be noticeable in high resolution video or DVDs, which I did not test.