Can I connect more than one external monitor to the late 2010 MacBook Air?

Solution 1:

Sidecar is a nice product for windows and they have a Mac version, but seems outdated (and in fact I found the Mac version via Google, not through their product page). You might want to contact them in case they have something not shown there.

In any case, the graphic card (and CPU power) in the MBAir will have a “hard” time driving “two large monitors”.

If you still want to try, this guy over here is using not two, but three displays (plus the macbook’s display) for a total of four. He has a Macbook Pro tho.

He basically tried the Matrox solution and didn’t like it for various reasons he outlines in the post, so he tried the Diamond BVU195 USB-DVI adapter (he brought two).

Go ahead and read his post, he posts his impressions, problems and even links where to buy the things and their prices. You will surely need a couple of USB Hubs for that.

UPDATE: New products are now available for Mac as Matrox Introduces New Mac-Friendly DualHead2Go DP and TripleHead2Go DP Multi-Monitor Adapters.

Solution 2:

Adding one external display is easy. The interesting part is adding more than just the one external display.

I recommend the USB 2.0 to DVI Display Adapter from MonoPrice. It supports DVI, VGA, and HDMI, and costs just under $50.

Another option is the Diamond BVU195 that @Martin mentioned (list: $90).

Two other options are the IOGEAR GUC2020DW6 - USB 2.0 External DVI Video Card and the Diamond BVUMD3 HD USB Display Adapter. They're both around $100 and support DVI and VGA. The latter also includes a 3 port USB hub which I think is a nice addition.

Solution 3:

A sidestepping –and way cheaper– solution is to use ScreenRecycler. For just two screens connect one directly to the computer and then use any really old hardware you have lying around (old mac mini are perfect, but a PC or an old laptop will work equally well) to connect the second one. Then follow the instructions on how to use screen recycler.

The networked screen will be slower than the directly connected one, slower than USB adaptors. Use the "quick one" for games and video and the slow one to park your email/twitter/IM windows.

For the people interested in this who have computers with Firewire ports note that you can use the firewire connection to create a dedicated network with the dumb screen driver. This could improve display performance.