- #Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 android
- #Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 pro
- #Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 windows 8.1
- #Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 Pc
- #Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 tv
#Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 tv
Additionally, other Miracast-enabled devices like Western Digital's WD TV offer screen mirroring along with apps that stream online and local content for about $25 more. A Roku stick or box can be purchased at about the same price and the Roku wouldn't need a second device to feed it content.
If you're thinking about adding yet another device to your home theater, the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter does not make a lot of sense. The main competitors for the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter are the Chromecast and the Roku Streaming Stick, both tiny, gumstick-sized devices and both slightly less expensive. Screen mirroring worked quite well, although the different aspect ratios of the tablet and my television meant pillar bars around the mirrored output. I tested this function with a Nexus 7 (2013).
#Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 android
Since the adapter uses Miracast, certain Android devices can also mirror their displays. In that case, you'll probably want a trackpad or mouse attached so you can control your things on the second display. Additionally, you can use your TV as a second or extended monitor with your computer instead of just mirroring.
#Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 windows 8.1
If it runs on your Windows 8.1 machine, you will be able to see it on your TV including DRM-bound iTunes videos. Video and PowerPoint presentations are examples of content a device such as this is designed to share.Īs the signal mirrors your PC, you're are not limited by specific apps. The adapter is more about being able to present or share things on a big screen. Swipes and videos are slightly behind on the mirrored display, so this isn't ideal for gaming. And this dongle will be a permanent part of my travel toolkit going forward.There is the tiniest amount of lag between devices. I’ll examine those issues in August, but it’s fair to say that screen projection via the Wireless Display Adapter will work just as well in Europe as it does here in the USA. Looking ahead to this summer, we’ll be traveling to France, and accessing US-based services like Netflix has other challenges. Bringing this device along on a trip is a no-brainer, and if I don’t use it, no harm no foul. Everything works.įinally, the Wireless Display Adapter is small and self-contained, so you won’t notice its size or heft at all in a carry-on bag, let alone the device bag I throw in my larger luggage. Web-based apps like YouTube or Google Play Video. It works fine.īecause the Wireless Display Adapter works with my devices, that further means it works with anything I can do on those devices. But you can switch to external only and just used the Surface’s trackpad to control onscreen items.
#Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 pro
On Surface Pro 3, the display projection functionality in Windows 8.1 goes to screen duplication by default, which squishes the built-in device display. I tested the Wireless Display Adapter with both of these devices and it worked great: With the phone, you get a nice screen replication, which is of course odd in portrait mode.īut it makes more sense when you watch a video, such as this Xbox Video-based movie. (And if you’re using Windows 8.1 (as with the Surface), you can even download a special Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter app for configuring the device, though that is not necessary on a trip like this.) Basically, you need Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1, or Android to use any Miracast device. Second, it works with all my devices, which on this trip include a Surface Pro 3 and a Nokia Lumia 930 smart phone. If we had brought along a similarly sized Roku Streaming Stick or Amazon Fire TV Stick, we’d have been left stranded since those devices need to connect to Wi-Fi and they can’t navigate a hotel’s web-based sign-in pages.
#Microsoft wireless display adapter v2 vs v1 Pc
In addition to its rock-solid reliability, there are a number of nice things about the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter.įirst, because it’s Miracast, it doesn’t require a Wi-Fi network to work: you just make a direct connection between a compatible PC or device (see below) and the dongle. (If there’s no USB port on the TV, you can use a standard cell phone-like power adapter instead.) It’s a simple and, at $60 at the Microsoft Store, inexpensive solution: Just plug in the HDMI end of the dongle to an available HDMI port on the TV and plug the USB end into a USB port for power. We’re in Puerto Rico this week for the kids’ vacation-how we managed to get out of Boston and its historic snowfalls and low temperatures is still unclear-and I brought along the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter for this very reason.
And I now bring such a device with me on family trips so that we can all enjoy TV shows or movies together on the big screen. While Miracast was once an unreliable solution for replicating a PC or device screen to an external display, Microsoft’s newer Miracast dongles-in particular the inexpensive Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter-change all that.