April 28, 2009 11:54 AM PDT

Get more productive with USB display adapter

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(Credit: OWC)

Having a second monitor doesn't just make your office space look more serious, it also helps you boost your productivity. Unfortunately, most computers don't come with a video card that can handle more than one display at a time. This is when you need to resort to one of the USB ports for the second display.

Other World Computing announced on Tuesday its USB 2.0 display adapter that helps you easily add additional monitors to your computer. The adapter is basically a bus-powered USB external video card. All you need to do is plug it into an available USB 2.0 port and then plug a monitor (not included) to it, just like you would to the regular built-in display output of the computer.

The adapter comes with software drivers for both Windows and Mac computers. You can add up to six additional monitors to a Windows machine and up to four to a Mac. Once done, you can use all these displays, plus the main one simultaneously.

The OWC USB 2.0 display adapter supports all HDMI-, DVI-, and VGA-equipped displays, be them LCDs, plasmas, projectors, or legacy CRTs. It can display full 32-bit color at the max resolution of 1,600x1,200. It's unclear but you probably won't be able to play 3D games with it.

The device comes with all you need out of the box, including: USB to DVI adapter, DVI to VGA adapter, DVI to HDMI swivel adapter, a 4-foot USB 2.0 cable, and a software CD.

It also comes with a one-year warranty and a reasonable price tag of $99. Unfortunately, it doesn't ship with any LCDs. If you want something like that, look for the Mimo 740, which is a lot more expensive and only works with Windows.

Dong Ngo is a CNET editor who covers networking and network storage, and writes about anything else he finds interesting. You can also listen to his podcast at insidecnetlabs.cnet.com. E-mail Dong.