D-Link is going the baby-sized auxiliary USB monitor route with the SideStage, a 7-inch 800×480 monitor due out "later this year" with a price that hasn’t yet been set.
Later this year? These things are gonna start popping up all over the place in the next few months (see these MiMo monitors). It’d better be priced aggressively, but something tells me it’ll cost about $50 more than people are willing to pay for it.
Actually, it’ll be really interesting to see what people are willing to pay for any of these secondary displays. As a blogger, these are appealing because they’re portable and USB powered, which means one cord. However, they’re luxury devices, not necessity devices.
If they’re priced at, say, an average of $149 to $199 (which I think they’ll be) I’m not sure how many people are going to buy them just for traveling. After all, you can pick up a “regular” second monitor for your desk at home for around $100 if you look hard enough. Price them at $79 to $99 and they’ll look much more appealing.
Full press release:
D-Link Introduces "SideStageTM," a USB-Powered Monitor for Multi-Tasking PC Users
LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwire – January 6, 2009) – You’ve embraced interactive computing and your desktop proves it. All sorts of cool widgets, gadgets and programs keep you informed in real time. The problem is, you also need to get some work done.
D-Link, the end-to-end network solutions provider for consumers and business, has made it easy to move your desktop to a side monitor, freeing your main monitor for productivity with the introduction of the D-Link® SideStage™.
The Fountain Valley, Calif.-based company is introducing the SideStage, a 7" monitor designed for multi-tasking computer users who prefer to have their main screen for viewing Windows applications, and another smaller screen for extending their desktop to display instant messaging, watch videos, conduct video conferencing via webcams, display Yahoo® Widgets™ and Microsoft® Gadgets™, or house common tools from programs such as Adobe® PhotoShop®.
The SideStage is a stylish and compact USB 2.0-powered monitor with a 7-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) screen featuring 800 by 480 resolution with both landscape and portrait modes. Weighing only 1.34 pounds and housed in a sleek black frame, it is 7 inches wide, 4.6 inches tall and only 3/4-inch thick.
It will be on display this week at CES 09 in the South Hall Meeting Room S218 of the Las Vegas Convention Center and by appointment at off-site demo hotel suites.
"This latest addition to our family of digital home solutions is designed to add productivity to PC users while providing a convenient and friendly way to view smaller applications," according to Steven Joe, president and CEO, D-Link Systems, Inc. "The SideStage solves the problem of needing a bit more screen space, providing quick access to commonly accessed applications hidden behind larger Windows on the desktop."
The SideStage is compatible with virtually all CRT and flat panel monitors, has standard and wide screen aspect ratios, 32-bit True Color depth for high-quality images and ultra low power consumption, consistent with the D-Link Green™ initiative.
Price and Availability
Pricing for the SideStage will be announced when the product ships later this year to D-Link’s vast network of retail outlets.