By Kelly Guimont The convenience of a secondary screen can be very handy, either for monitoring something like your email at a busy time, or for extra tools, such as productivity or creative apps, but investing in an additional monitor (especially if you’re mobile and using a laptop) isn’t always practical. This is where Duet Display comes in, letting you use an iPad as a wired extra monitor. Duet Display’s performance is impeccable — as smooth as an external monitor.The requirements are simple: any Mac that can run OS X 10.9 or higher, and any iOS device that can run iOS 7 or higher. Grab the free Duet Mac utility from duetdisplay.com, install it on your Mac, get the app on your iPad, then launch both and you’re ready to go. One of the notable things about this app is speed, there’s effectively no lag displaying to the iPad, which there is with AirDisplay, an equivalent wireless solution. Another thing to note is that the audio will only come from the computer, not from the iPad, so if you have them some distance apart but video is playing on the iPad it might be disconcerting for the audio to be playing elsewhere.You can tap on items on your iPad, but it’s definitely a suboptimal experience, mostly because Mac OS isn’t made for touchscreens. It’s much better as a display for static information you don’t need to interact with. You can also use Duet Display with your iPhone, but even with a 6 Plus it doesn’t seem like enough real estate.Aside from the audio, the only other thing to really be aware of is that if you are using Duet Display with a laptop, plugging in that cable means you’re also charging your iPad. This means if you don’t have your laptop plugged in, the battery will drain even more quickly due to the iPad charging and never turning off the screen. This isn’t really a problem, but it’s an issue that may affect some users more than others.If you want a way to extend your screen, Duet Display is a solid choice. If you are put off by the power requirements of running both devices off your laptop battery, there are other options for displaying static information on your iPad. Obviously, there are dedicated apps for things like email, or you can use an app such as Status Board to give you a customizable “heads up” display of information from different, customizable sources.The bottom line. A very useful utility for portable productivity.Review Synopsis
Product:
Duet Display
Company:
Rahul Dewan
Contact:
www.duetdisplay.com
Price:
$15.99
Requirements:
iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch running iOS 7 or later; Mac running OS X 10.9 or later
Positives:
Lag-free Mac display on your iPad. Works anywhere and charges iPad.
Negatives:
No audio feed. Touch control can be awkward.
Source: Maclife
