Add An External GPU To Your Laptop

I’m extremely surprised that there hasn’t been any mid-range work done on this for laptops with either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt. I know from personal and work experience that a dual-out box that can push the GUI around better than the DualHead2Go would be fantastic, similar to a USB-based video card but with a less bandwidth-constrained environment. Right now, there’s only certain Dell laptops using an E-port that do anything similar.

Seems like the manufacturers are doing really high-end stuff, like Magma’s 3-port 220w beast, which is overkill and over-priced ($700 for the enclosure) for pushing two externals.

I've been following the project since it was first announced, and while it's interesting, I don't find it particularly useful... I mean, I got a laptop for its mobility, I knew I was sacrificing a bit of graphics performance (although these days the performance loss compared to desktops is unsubstantial). I also don't want a device bigger than my whole computer, with its own power source, sitting on my desk...

As for extending the life of old laptops, well, laptops get old and cheap so fast these days that it's not worth it - the difference between a Quadro FX 770M and FX 880M (which are what, 1-2 years apart), for example, is more than 50% in performance...

i am waiting for the new Thunderbolt enabled Vidock which will finally put an end to the USB2DVI or DualHead2Go performance and usability restrictions. Also it will finally enable Macbook owners to just plug in one cable and have a full fledged docking station with Dual Monitor output and good GPU performance without making the macbooks fans spin like crazy!

Other specialized processing boards will probably also have a place when using Thundebolt. I know a couple of people looking to use Red Rocket cards with a external chassis on their MacBooks.

This could be a good way to stretch the life of an old laptop especially for gaming or number crunching though it's probably not for LAN parties.