The 7-inch 800×480 Mimo monitor is a portable USB-powered display that’s easy to set up and use and ought to fit neatly in most laptop bags. At $130, it’s not outrageously priced, either, considering you’re getting a pretty capable second monitor that weighs just 1.3 pounds and requires only a single cable in order to operate.
Specs (from ThinkGeek’s product page):
- Small monitor runs completely off of USB, giving you an extra mini display whenever and wherever you need it.
- No extra power needed. The Mimo monitor is powered by USB.
- No extra video card. The Mimo has a built in video card that runs over any USB 2.0 connection.
- Rotating Portrait or Landscape view. Go vertical for notes and spreadsheets, horizontal to watch a movie.
- Great for laptop use. The Mimo stores easily in your bag and is ready to go simply by plugging it in
- Mac and Windows driver support (intel Mac only)
- Display size – 7″
- Display resolution – 800 x 480
- Brightness – 350 cd/m2
- Contrast ratio – 400:1
- Connections – USB 2.0
Pros: I came away impressed, overall. The Mimo is a DisplayPort monitor, and I’ve run into some wonkiness with DisplayPort devices in the past. This time, though, setup was a breeze and the little monitor was easily able to play back video files from Hulu Desktop, which I didn’t think it would have been able to do cleanly.
The fact that there’s just a single USB connector makes the Mimo a truly special device. Notebook and netbook owners who find themselves wishing for a little extra desktop real estate for e-mail or Twitter or whatever it is you kids are into these days will find that the Mimo travels well and offers just enough additional space to help you remain productive without weighing your bag down too much.
The stand and monitor are both built solidly without being too heavy and the ability to position the screen horizontally and vertically is a huge plus.
Cons: Not too many here, folks. Some might be put off by the $130 price tag — you could get an actual big boy monitor for less — but the Mimo’s not meant to compete with traditional displays. The DisplayPort software sometimes doesn’t play nicely with 64-bit operating systems, especially the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Release Candidate (I couldn’t get it to work), but that’s hardly the fault of the product itself, as it doesn’t claim such support.
Overall: In a word: Impressive. I thought the thing would be more gimmicky than anything, but it works well and that extra 800×480 to play around with is perfect for loading up widgets, e-mail, video, music, and anything else that normally takes up space on your regular desktop.
Mimo Mini USB Monitor [ThinkGeek.com]
Like this video? View more here…
haha! this dude reviewing the Mimo is funny as hell!
“Let’s take A look!”
I think I might wait a while to see if any competitors make anything a little bigger or anything a bit cheaper. Pretty sweet gadget though.
It’s gonna be real nice to do some Zooming in order to make some tweaks and details in my designs.
Nice.
Gerald_Chipeur
They even make a touch screen for about $200 I believe. ThinkGeek doesn’t sell them though, you’ll have to go straight to the source on this one I think.
Actually, thinkgeek DOES sell them, as well as the new “slider” model.
think for $50 I might go for it, but at $100+ it’s just a little much. And even though it’s only 1.3 lbs, that’s one more pound I’d have to lug around, and if if I’m just going to leave it on my desk the $100+ would be much better spent buying a 15″+ LCD. I’ve used the VGA output on my laptop many times and never had a problem.
only reason i could see buying this is if space is at a minimum or if there’s no power outlets or if I’m already using the video output and still need more screens.
I bought one of these babies. I have a macpro with just one video card installed. One port goes to my monitor and one port outputs to my HDTV in the living room. Instead of buying another video card and monitor I just went with this. It fits all my photoshop pallets so that’s all I needed. Great buy. Mac drivers are a little wonky tho, I have to unplug the monitor and plug it back in after a reboot. I also unplug the monitor before I mirror video or whatever because all the widgets etc will all get moved into a window the size of 800×480 not too mention the other monitors just display 800×480. 1080 video will chop but 720p video seems to play fine. I’m happy with my purchase.
“LET’S take a LOOK!”
GOD i wanna make friends with CG editors. XD
you should review everything everywhere forever.
lets take a look!
these mimo monitors are retarded.
anyway.. thanks for a stupendous morning laugh.
Care to explain WHY they’re retarded? Or are you just going to leave an incomplete comment?
Almost as entertaining as the Batter Blasters review.
One the better ones. Thanks Doug for the review. A also think that for the same amount of $ I can get a larger screen but I can see where this could be handy.
Once again Doug you manage to make me piss myself laughing. Keep it up!
Nice! A touch screen version of this would be stellar for sure.
Anyone else have any really good uses for a monitor this small? I think I would use it for my Graphic Design/Art needs, but could it be useful for anything else really?
Mac drivers for the touchscreen are $30 bucks if memory serves me right.
I like to browse the web on my main monitor and have a video playing in the mimo.
This guy is awesome!
I am going to use a laptop in my 4×4 as a GPS….this might be a great way to keep the lid of my laptop closed so dust stays out of the laptop……