I caved and bought an $80 portable monitor. Now I love working remotely
I’ve worked exclusively from home for over a decade, so as you can imagine, I’ve felt pretty comfortable in my cozy home office with a pair of monitors, my trusty MX keyboard, and plenty of fresh coffee. I also enjoy working from other locations, including restaurants, cafes and hotels, except that there is a huge downside.
I hate working on my laptop on the go because one screen isn’t enough for me anymore. It cripples my productivity and hinders my writing process developed over decades. I need multiple screens and split-screen for all my apps, which is great when I’m at home, but not so great when I’m limited to a single laptop screen.
Luckily, I don’t have to worry about it anymore since I purchased the Arzopa S1 Table portable monitor! Oh, I couldn’t be happier.
Gabriela Vatu
This portable monitor is a 15.6-inch IPS display with 1080p resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. There’s nothing fancy in terms of specs – certainly not as fancy as a 4K display or an OLED panel – but it’s exactly what I need without going overboard. It’s not like I need a second monitor larger than my HP ProBook 450 G9 laptop, especially when I’m on the go. No, the Arzopa S1 table was the perfect choice.
I like that it has two standard USB-C ports and a Mini HDMI option, but my laptop complicates things because it only has one USB-C port (which is usually used by something else) and one full-size HDMI port. Luckily, Arzopa thought ahead and packed three cables with this monitor: one USB-C to USB-C, one USB-C to USB-A, and one HDMI to Mini-HDMI. This covers just about every combo, allowing me to keep my laptop plugged in for charging via USB-C while connected to video via HDMI to Mini-HDMI. And your daaa! I now have two screens everywhere I go.
Gabriela Vatu
I also like that this portable monitor comes with its own smart cover, allowing me to comfortably slip it into my bag right next to my laptop without worrying about it getting scratched. With a weight of only 1.7 pounds, it doesn’t add much extra weight. The cover also doubles as a stand with different viewing angle options, allowing me to prop it up slightly when reading PDFs or extend it upwards when streaming on YouTube.
Oh, and it works with my smartphone too! I have a Samsung Galaxy S24+ that connects to the monitor and triggers Samsung DeX, which is essentially a tablet PC with my smartphone as a touchpad to control the mouse cursor on screen. This is great for those times when I wish my phone had a bigger screen but I don’t need a keyboard (so no need for a laptop). For fun, I also tried connecting the screen to an iPhone, but it just mirrored what was playing on it. Still, not bad.
The Arzopa S1 table launched at $109.99 but has been hovering around $80 recently. If you’re waiting for a big sales event, you might even be able to get it for just $65. But it’s so useful that if I had to do it again, I’d rather get it now than wait a few months to save a measly $15 or $20. Remote work is better with a portable monitor, period.
This Portable Monitor Transformed My Laptop Productivity Overnight
