Performance -
Measuring the performance on the FMP is something of a subjective item, ok it is almost entirely subjective. But let’s start off with what I did to test the FMP and how I came to my conclusions of its performance. For the FMP I ran it through several display oriented activities. I use it for Photo and Video editing, Gaming (light gaming), Video Streaming, Document preparation (I wrote this on the FMP screen), and finally Web browsing and general usage. All of these tests were run from our Asus EEE Slate EP121. This is the “customized” version of this product with an Intel 80GB SSD and 4GB of Corsair DDR3 inside, but you will get the gist of things.
Photo Editing with Photoshop CS5 -
While the FMP is more than capable of being used for photo editing the color profile and contrast is not the best for this type of activity. I found that I was able to get things adjusted, but I had to set this up every time I plugged the FMP into the Slate. This made for some annoying delays in getting things going. I found it was easier to use the FMP other functions and leave the photo editing on the main display for the slate. Perhaps the DisplyLink drivers will improve in the near future to allow more control over the Gama and color profile of these low power displays.
Video Editing with Microsoft’s Movie Maker -
This one also suffered from the washed out quality on the monitor. However because it was not trying to also force an Adobe color profile on top it was honestly not as noticeable. In general editing video with the FMP was acceptable but not the best you could hope for.
Gaming -
Sorry guys, this is one thing you are not going to get from the FMP. It is just not up to gaming. I mean you could play things like solitaire, hearts, chess, etc., but even a game like Plants vs. Zombies was too much for the FMP to deal with. This is not surprising though; after all it is trying to push a lot of display information over a USB 2.0 connection. We have been told that this performance should improve with the USB 3.0 release and also with an improvement in low power panel technology.
Video Streaming -
Our video streaming tests included both YouTube and Netflix. In fact I am watching a NetFlix video while I type this (from their website and not Media Center). Both are acceptable with the same contrast issues we noted for video and photo editing. There is also a slight flicker that is associated with the refresh of the screen and the USB connection. It is very subtle but can become annoying after a while.
Document Creation and Editing -
Here is a place where the FMP shines. As we told you the majority of this review was written using it as the primary monitor. Having the additional desktop space with the Asus EP121 was a blessing. It allowed me to have my images and information (notes) on one screen and to type this up without needing to minimize things all the time. The same can be said for a couple of other reviews I am working on. I have the performance data and graphs visible on the FMP and the review document up on the EEE Slate screen. This makes things very easy to work with. It is also exactly what MMT says the FMP is for. So as far as performance as marketed it does a great job.
General Usage (Web Browsing) -
Once again having an extra monitor attached to the Asus EEE Slate made things much easier when working on the web. I am not sure why but that extra screen real-estate just makes a big difference. There is a statistic (not sure from where) that says that having a second display can increase productivity by up to 50%. I am sure that some of this is marketing but having worked in IT for many years I can tell you that an extra monitor can be a big help doing even day to day tasks. Again our only issue was that we had to be attached to wall power all the time to use this.
Overall the FMP works well for what it is intended. We personally found that using it with the stand was much better than with the base out. This meant that we lost the use of the number pad (the reason we were interested in this model) which was something of a frustration. Unfortunately the base simply sticks out too far for our tastes and makes things awkward when it is extended. Additionally the numbers pad is pretty far up on the base and not the easiest thing to reach.
