The Informant: This Portable Monitor Transformed My Work-From-Anywhere Routine
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There’s a reason every movie scene with the FBI, CIA, or super secret spy agency involves one computer hooked up to seven different screens. External monitors make important work go faster, and anyone worth their weight in salt at their corporate job knows that using one screen puts you two steps behind. However, once you’ve experienced poly-screendom you can’t backtrack, which makes an extra screen that can move with you a necessity.
Enter: the Arzopa Portable Monitor, which serves the same function as a desktop monitor but in a slightly smaller, fold-out form. It connects via a wired cable and must be plugged in to work, but it frees you from your at-home desk without taking away pixelated real estate. I’ve been using it at coworking spaces and coffee shops all over the country for over a year now, and it’s changed how “working from anywhere” actually, ahem, works.
The ARZOPA Portable Monitor, 15.6"
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Before I finally broke down and purchased this additional screen, working anywhere except for my desk felt inefficient. I couldn’t get quite as much done, and it frustrated me that I couldn’t replicate my setup and enjoy the low-lying hum of other Slacking humans at the same time. Arzopa’s second monitor not only helps me spread tasks out visually and avoid desktop claustrophobia, but it also ups the ante of my work setup, sending a clear message that no, you can’t perch at my table and attempt to loop me into your MLM scheme. I’m not just here to “do research for my next TikTok mini-series,” (a.k.a watch TikTok) nor am I looking to chit-chat with a stranger mid-inbox cleanout.
The monitor has a 15.6-inch display which more than doubles my laptop’s 13 inches. The 1080p screen is very clear, and it’s anti-glare so sitting by a window or in harsh lighting doesn’t affect my view. It connects to my laptop via a USB-C cord and I’ve never had an issue with my laptop not immediately registering the connection and orienting the screens next to each other. The screen isn’t light as a feather, but it also comes with a protective case on it that doubles as an origami-esque monitor stand.
The only pain is it’s not wireless. So as I’m successfully untethering from my desk, I’m still that person one table next to the plug and alienating strangers with my apparent lack of self-awareness. “It’s because of my monitor! Can’t you see my novelty water bottle stickers!? I’m a woman of the people!!”
So be it. I’d rather be that girl adjacent to the coffee shop espresso machine than only have a single screen to work with. I’m no Elle Woods. I would need much more than the Clamshell iBook G3 to get a JD.
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