Not many of us have the luxury of space to fit a full-sized computer monitor into our working-from-home set-up. However, Aldi’s is about to change that with its latest special buy: a portable monitor.
Aldi’s portable monitor is priced at £79.99 and landed in the middle aisle on Sunday and will only be available to buy instore. After testing the monitor at home, I have a feeling this specialbuy will be like gold dust to get your hands on.
If you haven’t heard of a portable monitor before it does what it says on the tin, it’s a computer screen that looks a little bit like a tablet that can be folded up and down as you need it. They are ideal for small home office ideas as they are usually thinner than a laptop meaning they can be easily packed up and put in a drawer or on a shelf at the end of a day.
As someone who works on the kitchen table, and doesn’t have the luxury of a dedicated home office desk, that was music to my ears. I need to be able to pack everything up at the end of the day, and standard monitors are not usually conducive to that (trust me I’ve tried).
The Aldi portable monitor has a 15.6-inch screen and comes with a case that protects the screen and doubles as a stand. When testing I found the monitor was easy to set up. It is compatible with Windows and Mac iOS, and connecting it to my Windows laptop was a simple plug-and-play, it was just as easy when connecting to my iPhone.
The monitor is on the basic side, the screen isn’t the best quality and it also depends on two cables to connect it. It includes three cables: USB-A to USB-C, USB-C to USB-C and HDMI to Mini HDMI, you need one to connect the screen and the other to connect to the power. Like most devices it doesn’t come with a plug, so you will need to supply your own.
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The Aldi portable monitor set up on my kitchen table
The biggest drawback for me was that the power cable was so short the plug needed to be right behind the screen for it to reach. But that is something that an extension cord can solve, especially when you can pick up IKEA’s pretty new extension cord.
However, overall, as someone looking for a tool to ease my back pain hunched over my tiny laptop, which can also be easily hidden in my home decor scheme, the Aldi portable monitor worked a treat!
Alternative portable monitors
This monitor does just what you’d need it to do if you’re only planning to use it as an additional screen when working from home.
Asus Zenscreen Mb166c Full Hd 15.6″ Ips Led Portable Monitor
For £15 more this model uses only one cable to connect the screen and power, and can be used horizontally and vertically.
In terms of value for money, the Aldi version is one of the most affordable portable monitors on the market. Some versions can cost as much as £500, but there are affordable versions for under £100 on the market if you can’t get to an Aldi to buy the new portable monitor in-store.
I spotted one that looks very similar selling at Argos for £79, alternatively, you can pick up the ASUS ZenScreen for £95 at Curry’s which has the added perk of using only one cable to connect the screen and power.
Will you be heading to Aldi to add one of these to your working-from-home set-up?
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