Back in September last year I reviewed the 15” Espresso tablet and explained my frustration at not being able to get it to work with a relatively new Gigabyte Aero laptop, whilst it DID work with a quite old original Microsoft Surface.
As I am taking a break next week for a week in Broome in the Kimberley for some eyesight R & R (but will be continuing to update the website etc), I revisited the Espresso yesterday.
The problem I had with the Aero laptop was simply that model doesn’t output any video via the USB-C port, and this is the primary technology the Espresso uses. It does still seem odd an old Surface does, but it is what it is as they say.
Dell Desktop
But I was curious to see if it would work with my Dell XPS 8950 desktop, the reason being when editing video, I use a two-screen setup for DaVinci Resolve and a third screen would be handy to allow me to look up references, download graphics, keep the script in view and a hundred other things.
The short answer is no, the Dell also does not support video over USB-C, instead utilising a single HDMI port and three DisplayPort connections. I’d suggest to future proof yourself, if you are buying new hardware, check this out as it will probably become more and more important.
HDMI and DisplayPort
Espresso do supply an HDMI to USB-C cable ($99 from JB Hifi) so I next wondered if I plug the two monitors into the DisplayPorts with adaptors for the HDMI cable (about $30 each at Jaycar) and the Espresso into the HDMI port using this cable, that would work.
The Espresso cable has a spliced second USB-C cable into the original and this is to supply power to the 2nd USB-C port on the tablet, and this worked, sort of as it kept cutting out. If I ran a separate USB-C cable from a powered hub to the 2nd port on the Espresso, that did work. Hey Presto!
One drawback though; my main monitor on the Dell now wouldn’t work. It appears that at least one monitor MUST use the HDMI port.
A quick rethink (and a prayer to the gods of tech) saw me switch the monitor to the HDMI port and the HDMI cable for the Espresso to the DisplayPort adaptor.
Bingo! It worked.
Now in theory, if I run the Espresso off the external HDMI port of the Gigabyte Aero and feed the power from a spare USB-C slot on the laptop to USB-C port 2 of the tablet, that should also work.
I’ll let you know.
Yep. That works too!