Lenovo ThinkVision USB Monitor Review

I picked up a new toy a couple of weeks ago - a secondary monitor for my multitude of computers. The screen I picked up though a slightly different from your every day monitor. Lenovo recently released a USB monitor called the Lenovo ThinkVision:

The ThinkVision sports a 1366x768 resolution (720p for you media centric folks out there) and has a nice crisp image. The reason I opted for a USB monitor is because my favorite netbook lacks a standard video out port (plus now with my normal laptop I can have a three monitor setup!). Another thing worth mentioning is that is addition to connecting to your PC via two USB ports - the ThinkVision also draws all of it's power through USB, meaning you won't have to scramble to find an additional outlet when using this extra screen.

So far I've just been using the screen as a nice large terminal at home when using my netbook. I have several weekend trips planned for this summer and the ThinkVision is designed to be mobile. It has a built in stand:

 and it comes with a protective plastic cover that can clip over the screen when transporting the monitor.

Like a good deal of hardware the ThinkVision only comes with a driver disc that supports Windows operating systems. Thankfully the screen uses the same display driver as most USB display adapters - DisplayLink. OSX users can find a driver download here and my fellow Linux users out there should be happy to know that DisplayLink drivers have been in the mainline kernel since the 2.6.38 release (meaning they are included in most modern Linux distributions by default).

The price tag on the ThinkVision is 200 USD and you can pick one up directly from them here.

~Jeff Hoogland

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Lenovo Multimedia Remote (Keyboard/Mouse) Review

Whenever I am working on something, be it homework or one of my various tasks for Bodhi I almost always have the TV on in the background. I have a lot of work that I do - so that amounts to a good deal of television hours. Even with this being the case though, I have not watched more than a few hours of network television in the last three years.

A few years back I took a spare PC I had laying around and turned it into a dedicated media PC. It runs pretty much 24/7 attached to my 32" LCD television. Most people don't sit right on top of their television and I am no exception to this rule. Thus in order to control my media PC I needed some form of wireless control. For a good deal of the last three years I've struggled with using a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse. While these generally worked they chewed through batteries, had poor wireless range and other various issues.

Late last month I acquired a new device to replace my old keyboard and mouse. It is a Lenovo Enhanced Multimedia Remote. The Lenovo remote is essentially a keboard/mouse combination that is designed to fit in the palm of your hand:

I must say after having used this little device for a couple of weeks I am fairly impressed with it. The range on the device is fantastic - I can go anywhere in my front room and get a flawless signal to my PC. The keyboard is of good build quality and the raised keys make for a pleasant typing experience. The dimensions of the keyboard are slightly bigger than your average smart phone keyboard - meaning that anyone who can text fairly quickly will have no problem working with this keyboard at an impressive speed.

The mouse on the device is a fairly interesting design. It reminds me a of a more fluid implementation of the "nub" mice older laptops used to have built in by default. Directly below the mousing area there is a vertical raised bar that acts as a scroll bar - very handy when web surfing. It is easier to see the mouse/scroll bar in action so the following is a short demo video of the "Remote":

While the product page claims the device is only compatible with various flavors of MS Windows - I have had absolutely no issues with the device on my Linux media PC which runs a build of the 3.0 kernel (meaning it should work on most all modern Linux distros). Beyond being a useful toy at home, I also plan to drag my remote along with me once I start teaching classes so I can work the PC I am presenting from anywhere in the room.

Finally, the price tag on this little guy is 80 USD. So while this is more expensive than your average wired keyboard and mouse it is about the same cost as most quality wireless keyboard and mouse combos.

~Jeff Hoogland

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