Testing and Usage

 

For testing I used the AOC e1659Fwu USB Monitor with a Windows 7 64 bit Desktop, 11” 2011 MacBook Air running OS X Mountain Lion then Mavericks and a 17” 2007 MacBook Pro with OS X Snow Leopard. Before using the monitor you will need to install the Display Link drivers for either OS X or Windows. The included CD has an older Windows driver on it but for an updated version or the OS X one you will need to grab the driver from the DisplayLink website – here.

On the Mac you will need to reboot once the DisplayLink drivers are installed. The Windows driver installs without a required reboot. At this point just plug in the AOC e1659Fwu USB Monitor into an available USB port and the display should start up in a few seconds. From the OS X System Preferences you can control the positioning and orientation of the monitor.

Once the drivers are installed simply plug in the monitor into a non-USB hub port on the PC or Mac being used. Optimally you’ll want to use a USB 3.0 connection to provide faster throughput for the video. I was able to connect via USB 3.0 ports on my PC and 2011 MacBook Air while on my older MacBook Pro a USB 2.0 port was able to provide sufficient power for the AOC screen. One issue I did encounter was the AOC e1659Fwu USB Monitor was able to be powered off the left side port on my MacBook Air but not the right side USB 3.0 port.

Immediately after powering up I noticed a difference in color from the main computer screen to the AOC one. The AOC e1659Fwu USB Monitor had a bluish hue and color reproduction was not representative of the source image. If you plan on doing any photo or video editing then I would stick to the main computer screen and run other applications on the AOC one. On the other hand, the AOC display is very bright.

 

 

The AOC experience varied with the device used. On the PC I had no issues with moving applications from screen to screen and watching video was lag free. On the older MacBook Pro things ran smoothly as well. Once I got to the MacBook Air using Mountain Lion and then Mavericks did some hiccups occur, primarily video playback was choppy and had occasional flickering. This may be due to the relatively new Display Link drivers for OS X are still in beta.

I found the portrait orientation is great for working on documents like writing reviews while landscape was better for recreating a more standard dual monitor setup. While using a dual setup with a laptop is convenient, it still feels more comfortable when using detached monitors in a desktop environment.

The carrying sleeve provides an easy way to bring the monitor on the road as the AOC e1659Fwu USB Monitor slides right in and out and closes with a Velcro strap.