Review of HIS Multiview II DVI USB 2.0 Adapter HMV2-MAC-PC

I was looking to extend the number of display monitors connected to my Mac Pro. After a quick research I found a few YouTube videos on HIS Multiview II Adapter and how easy it is to configure. So I purchased the device on Amazon and asked one of my colleagues at ThoughtWorks to carry it back from US.

As per the YouTube videos, I proceeded to directly connect the device to a monitor. But disappointingly it didn't work out of the box. So I popped in the companion CD, but to my surprise it didn't work as well. The installer failed with error - This software could only run on Mac book with Intel on it. I have a Mac OS X 10.8.4 Lion with 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7. It is as Intel on Mac as it can get. Now I started to get a little worried, as with any product purchased from US and shipped it via friend to India, it wouldn't be easy to get a local support or return the product.

I still persisted and after quick Google search, I was taken to DisplayLink website for an updated driver for this device. Although the device is marketed by HIS, but I think the hardware and support is done by DisplayLink. Downloading the latest driver for Mac, I restarted the machine and Voila !!! it started to work.

I am happy since it was able to detect my additional monitor connected via USB without much fuss and then tested connecting additional monitor via Firewire. They all work superbly though there are some quality issue on the display connected with the HIS Adapter.

The monitor connected to HIS Adapter is not as smooth as the one connected with Firewire. The screen is a little grainy and colours are not that rich. Over it the screen flickers if I switch the spaces or go to Mac dashboard. Running movie on the connected display renders without noticeable flickers but again resolution is not that great. I think this is because this is a USB 2.0 device rather than USB 3.0.

The other annoying thing about the product is the companion pouch that comes along with it. Since most of the displays I use are VGA, so the DVI to VGA adapter is constantly going to be attached to the device. But the pouch is long enough to pack the device, but not with the adapter on. A little irritating since everytime I will have to unscrew the adapter from the device to pack and screw it back to use.

Overall I would give 2.5/5.0 stars to the product. Although because of the limitation I won't be using the connected monitor as my main monitor, but again I am happy that I can have an additional monitor connected to my laptop and remove the productivity barrier that I was facing.