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When I reviewed the HP Series 5 Pro 514pn Portable Monitor just a few weeks ago, I was quickly sold on the benefits of carrying a small, lightweight portable monitor with me when traveling to gain extra screen space and increased productivity. I've primarily used my laptop with just its singular built-in display, with a full-size monitor at home that I tend to use in split-screen when working. But portable monitors don't just have to be helpful when traveling or working out of a café to change up your work-from-home routine. You can get some solid use out of a portable monitor in your home office setup, or even as part of your home lab. The benefits of a second (or third) display Extra screens are never a bad thing Even if you've got a primary display running from your desktop, mini PC, handheld gaming PC, or laptop, adding extra screen space is the primary objective of a portable monitor. And that's generally helpful for a number of reasons. You can have extra windows open to track different workflows, whether you're working, doom-scrolling the web, gaming, or streaming. A portable monitor can also be a fantastic little home lab dashboard. While any monitor or TV can work as a piece of home lab tracking equipment, a portable monitor is small enough to be easily positioned where needed without occupying additional space, which is ideal for cramped home lab setups. And since you mostly need it to interact with the command line or BIOS, you don't need the best resolution, color vibrancy, or refresh rates. So an older portable monitor can be a home lab essential. I thought two screens were enough Adding a third was still game-changing I go back and forth between using my laptop at home as just a simple laptop and using it to power a monitor in a full home office setup. Having the flexibility of an extra display has always been a significant boost to productivity. Having research and writing tabs open side by side on my monitor and using the laptop's internal display to track my task management software, work messages, or email has always been a boost to productivity, without becoming an absolute distraction. However, with the HP Series 5 Pro portable monitor still on display in my office, I decided to experiment with a third screen. Additionally, being able to offload even more windows to a separate physical space has been a significant boost to my work and streamlining the process. Email and messaging systems remain on the laptop, while my main work stays on the main monitor, and task management is displayed on the portable monitor. So I've got eyes on everything, without needing to worry about having an unconscionable number of tabs and windows open on just one small laptop display. It's not the biggest change, and yet this small tweak to my home office setup has been enough to help keep me better organized and better able to tackle my somewhat busy workday with a degree of sanity. As for my home lab, the HP Series 5 Pro has been a great way to work with any Raspberry Pi projects I've been tinkering with, since it's small enough that I can easily set it next to the Pi without taking up too much extra desk space. And it means I don't need to interrupt my home office workflow too much by unplugging the main monitor just to make a few command-line tweaks. Portable and versatile Just like my laptop, a portable monitor can power my home and travel work I still love the portability aspect of a portable monitor. It's a significant boon for anyone who has to do a lot of work travel, as it makes your travel setup much more similar to your home office setup without adding too much extra weight or equipment to your carry-on. But just like my laptop can power my home office and be my go-to travel computer, a portable monitor doesn't just need to sit on a shelf in between trips. Sure, I'm on the road a lot, but I don't live out of my suitcase even when I'm at home anymore. So finding a good use for a portable monitor in my home office and home lab has been great. While I do get a lot of review samples rotating in and out of my home office, I try not to keep too much unused, extra tech lying around. Both because I've got to eventually return review samples once I'm done writing about them, and also because I live in a small apartment and there's only so much space I can devote to shipping boxes without feeling like I live in a shipping department. While I hadn't given much thought to buying a portable monitor before this, I might have to put a good portable monitor at the top of my Black Friday list now, so I don't feel so bereft once I ship back the HP 514pn. Because now that I've worked from home with three displays, I can't imagine going back to just one screen on my next trip. More than three screens just might be pushing it, though. So it will probably be just one portable monitor, not several.
