A Closer Look

The TripleHead2Go Analog is constructed of steel, which makes it very sturdy. There are air vents all over the device, and the device does get hot during use, unlike the DualHead2Go Digital. The square indents on the underside act as heatsinks to the chips on the PCB. The top mentions the name of the device as well as the website URL of Matrox. The underside is covered in different stickers and air vents as well. The device is actually much smaller than the DualHead2Go Digital, even though it supports one additional LCD.


You will find one D-SUB input and another output D-SUB connector on the front of the device. This output connector is clearly labled as "RIGHT" which means that it has to be connected to the display which is on the right - in our case one of the Acer AL1721s. There is also a dual LED, which shows you if the LCDs are on and up and running by red or green color respectively. On the other side you will find two further D-SUB connectors which are clearly labled as CENTER and LEFT for each respective monitor. Unlike the DualHead2Go Digital, the TripleHead2Go requires an external power source, with the connector on this side as well.


The PCB features three large ICs. Two of which are covered by small but fine aluminum heatsinks. The third can be found on the underside of the PCB and is meant to be covered by thermal paste, but actually does not seem to make contact with the outer casing. This chips is a Cyclone IC from Altera, but as you can see in the image, the label on the surface cannot be made out anymore.


Connecting everything is very straight foward and takes about five minutes. There is no specific order in which you have to connect everything. Just plug 'em in, turn the notebook and monitors on and install the included software. The two larger black connectors go straight to the outer Acer LCDs while the single blue one is hooked up to the Samsung Syncmaster. The fourth connector is connected to the PC or in our case the Macbook Pro.