GeChic OnLap 1301 USB monitor review: dual monitor for your laptop

I don’t know about you, but personally I’ve been using a laptop for work for the past couple of years, even if the price and performance difference could justify in some cases a desktop. I find today’s laptops sufficiently powerful for the tasks I’m performing, except one thing: screen real estate.

If you feel the same then you might want to take a look at the GeChic OnLap 1301 (official page), a 13.3 inch LCD monitor that get power via USB and connects to your laptop via either VGA or HDMI. It’s a cheap alternative for building a multi-monitor desktop. And since the monitor is lightweight it’s also very convenient to transport it alongside your everyday workhorse laptop.

GeChic OnLap 1301 side by side with a 12.5 inch laptop

Let’s take a quick look at the main specs of GeChic OnLap 1301:

The box is packed with accessories and very detailed instructions about how to use the USB monitor. I have to say the instructions are very easy to read and are welcome for those with little tech ‘intuition’. Accessories include the USB power cable (attached to the monitor frame), VGA, HDMI cables, 4 x cupules, 4 x cupule mylars, two rubber bricks, cable clips for routing and making everything look better and a basic cloth transport bag, if you don’t want to attach the monitor directly to your laptop and transport it this way.

Let’s take a quick look at how this monitor looks like. As expected, it’s nothing like your usual monitor, so there’s no stand, VESA wall mounting points, speakers of visible connectors. The actual display is surrounded by a black metal frame that acts as a stand for vertical orientation or can be attached with suction cups on the back of your laptop. In the latter case the screen comes out of its frame when in use and swivels the monitor on the left or right of your laptop monitor (depending on how you’ve mounted it or the placement of your USB and display ports).

Four suction cups attach the monitor to any laptop

One oddity that I don’t understand is that OSD buttons are placed on the back of the monitor, while their function is displayed on the right side of the frame. Some capacitive buttons would’ve been welcome in this case.

Hidden cables and OSD buttons on the back

The connecting cables are hidden under a special compartment (that offers an option to route the cables to get a cleaner look, but since they’re pretty sort I don’t think that’s something you’ll be doing. The USB power cable is attached firmly to the monitor, while the VGA or HDMI cables are completely detachable.

There are so many options to mount that GeChic OnLap that the big quick installation guide will help you chose the one best suited for you. Here they are:

On the back of your laptop: you’ll be using the four cupules by attaching the screw-in suction cups to their sockets on the monitor’s metal frame and then use the cupule mylars as grip bases on the back of the laptop. They’re extremely useful, and prevent the monitor from sliding off shinny laptop screen lids (talking from experience). Depending on where your USB and display ports are the monitor will swivel and appear on the left or right side of the main laptop displayVertically next to the laptop: the metal frame acts as a stand in this case and the four suction cups help maintain a fixed desk position.Horizontally near the laptop: if you don’t want to attach the GeChic OnLap 1301 to your laptop’s back (fear or adding too much weight to the screen lid) you can place it horizontally near the laptop with the help of two rubber bricks, either on the bottom screen bezel or on the left/right sides, with the mention that in the latter case you can adjust the inclination angle. I find this orientation better, but the two plastic bricks don’t show stability, so I’m using an adjustable tablet stand to hold the external USB monitor near my laptop. Vertical orientation is possible

I’m sure all of you wonder how the screen looks like, after all this being the most important detail about a monitor. I have two laptops, a Sony Vaio with a Full HD display and a 12.5 Lenovo X220 ultraportable (which you’ll see in the video at the end of this review) with a gorgeous IPS display, and I have to say the GeChic is closer to the Sony laptop, except colors).

I have to say the GeChic is clearly not a premium monitor when it comes to screen quality, and this mostly happens because the maximum power consumption is limited to 5 watts (USB 2.0), so maybe the next version will use the USB 3.0 standard which is capable of supplying 10 watts. Despite this I have to say the maximum brightness seems on par with my Sony display, but is clearly lower than what the X220 with IPS display is capable to offer.

Also the fact the display area is (very) glossy poses problems with reflections, but that’s not something easy to escape these days when purchasing a monitor or a device with a monitor. It needs some time for your eyes to accommodate, but right now I don’t have a problem with it, after weeks of use.

Vertical viewing angles are not great

The last thing I have to mention are the pretty weak viewing angles, especially the vertical ones, so you’ll want to use a horizontal orientation. Colors are also pretty pale (even too cold, despite using the 6500K color setting), but I think it all has to do with the low power consumption. The conclusion is: don’t expect to use the GeChic OnLap USB monitor as your main display, but it does a great job as a companion. I also hope the next version will offer a higher resolution, as 1366 x 768 pixels is pretty limiting, especially since you have to scroll vertically a lot.

For what it does I’d say the GeChic OnLap 1301 is priced just right: $199 on Newegg. So if you’re looking for this type of solution it might be the perfect answer. I’ve been using the monitor for the past couple of weeks and I have to say I love the added workspace. Being able to write on one window while reading documents on the other without having to switch windows is a time saver.

I’ve got word that an improved model is on its way to market, so I hope to get the chance to test that one too and come back to you with my impressions.

GeChic OnLap 1301 is surprisingly thing and light for a monitor

Let’s end with a video review of the GeChic OnLap 1301 USB monitor. It’ll get you a better idea of how this product works and looks like:

View the original article here