If there’s any computing axiom I consider to be true, it’s this: Once you begin including screens to your workspace, it’s very exhausting to offer them up. Which is why I used to be so desperate to see The Portable Monitor’s five-screen (sure, 5) moveable configuration at CES 2024.

Sure, it wasn’t fairly what I used to be anticipating, however I’m prepared to offer it a move.

A 12 months again, a contact persuaded me to try FOPO’s triple-display monitor, one of many first available on the market on the time. FOPO’s “triple” show (in actuality, two 1080p shows which can be mounted on both aspect of your laptop computer) plug in to your laptop computer’s USB-C ports and offer you additional screens for e-mail, Slack/Teams, and so forth. Laptops don’t actually let you tuck varied home windows throughout your desktop like a big desktop monitor does.

So when the Belgian tech firm’s pitch landed in my inbox, I used to be intrigued. I hustled over to a resort close to the conference middle whereas ’80s hits performed in what seemed to be a karaoke bar.

Mark Hachman / IDG

I thought that TPM had a five-screen answer — and, because it seems, it form of does. It simply creates the 4 further shows from two merchandise: the Flex, and the Twins.

The Flex is a pair of 14-inch, 1080p shows for $469, accessible on the corporate’s web site. (They’re on Amazon, too.) A 15.6-inch choice is $569. You may also go for a model product of plastic, reasonably than steel, which cuts the load and worth to $369.

Mark Hachman / IDG

According to TPM executives, the Flex was designed to not seize your monitor just like the FOPO, partly as a result of house owners of MacBook Airs and different skinny notebooks have been apprehensive about damaging the display screen. So the shows stand by themselves, with each related to your laptop computer through a USB-C cable.

The Twins is a $499 dual-display model of the Flex, however with two screens that may flip vertically, again over themselves. This can both create an array considerably just like the Asus ZenBook Duo, the place the shows type one thing like a flat skyscraper of pixels. The good factor concerning the Twins is that each shows fold down practically flat, making them straightforward to journey with. The Flex nonetheless appears prefer it requires an inch or extra of room, which makes it much less probably they’ll slide simply right into a backpack.

I initially thought all these shows (the Flex and the Twins) have been related, which might create a five-screen monstrosity. As it’s, you’ll want to purchase each a Twins and Flex setup, utilizing one USB-C cable apiece to attach them to your laptop computer. But it is potential, when you completely require the facility of a transportable battleworkstation whereas on the go.