Hey, I’ve tested a bunch of these, because I travel a lot and hate being stuck with one cramped screen. There are really three main categories of laptop screen extenders.
1. Traditional external monitors. If you’re mostly working at home, just plug in a regular monitor using HDMI or USB-C. It’s cheaper, you get bigger screen space, and picture quality is way better.
2. Portable monitors. These are slim, lightweight displays that connect via USB-C or mini-HDMI. Brands like ASUS ZenScreen, Lepow, or AOC make good ones. They slip right into your backpack, and you can set them up in seconds next to your laptop. Perfect if you work from cafés or hotels.
3. Clip-on screen extenders. These are those foldable add-ons that attach to the side of your laptop (like Trio or Duex Plus). They let you turn a 13–15″ laptop into a dual or triple-screen beast. They’re more expensive, but productivity skyrockets if you’re juggling docs, meetings, and emails at once.
If you’re on a budget, portable monitors are the sweet spot. If you’re hardcore multitasking, the clip-ons are worth it. For me, nothing beats the convenience of flipping open my laptop and instantly having two screens.
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