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IXMicro Road Rocket:
Dual Monitor Desktop for Your PowerBook G3

(Original article from 1998 follows - this was before there were dual head notebook graphics chips.)
The PowerBook G3 is often called the first notebook with the power and features to truly be a desktop replacement. One feature missing that is often needed to fulfull that role is the capability to have a dual monitor/dual desktop IXMicro has addressed this need with the first (to my knowledge) 128-bit graphics adapter on a PC Card - the Road Rocket.

The Road Rocket was a big hit at the (1998) Macworld NY show, winning a Best of Show award. It's the coolest addon I've seen for the PowerBook G3 so far.

What's Included:
The Road Rocket package includes the radical looking PC Card with embossed aluminum heatsink (CardBus slot required), a pair of cables (both VGA and Mac connector cables are supplied) that mate to your existing monitor cable (see image below) and a driver CD with software bundle including MetaCreations great new presentation software 'Show' and a carrying case.

Within minutes of opening the package I was running a dual monitor setup and enjoying the benefits of an extended desktop. It also turned a few heads from the PC crowd that had never seen a notebook run a extended desktop across two monitors.

Performance:

Using a CardBus interface, the Road Rocket was slightly slower than the on-board RageII LT chip at both 1024x768 thousands and millions colors according to MacBench 4.0's Graphics test. In PCI slot form factor, the IX3D graphics chip has proved to be faster than the ATI Rage series in 2D although the IX3D name is almost a misnomer as far as 3D performance (but that's another story...) Either the interface itself or the PCI/Cardbus controller chip is the reason for the adapter not reaching its full potential. To be honest if I had not run the benchmark I would probably not have noticed the difference with the applications I used on the PowerBook. (Note they also compare favorably to the 9600/350 Twin Turbo scores of 459 on the thousands colors test with driver 4.03p).

IXMicro's Jeff Chasick responded to the Macbench scores:

"The overall MacBench scores are deceiving since we are running over the CardBus slot and ATI is directly on the motherboard. Within the MacBench test suite there are numerous tests that can skew the result numbers.

For example, the srccopy copybits test will favor ATI since they are down on the motherboard, but if you look at a test like scrollrect, which is a test that is a good representation of the types of things that people do (photoshop, test scrolling, etc.), you will note that we have a 300% increase over the ATI chip, even though it is down on the motherboard.

To really put it to the test, take a photoshop image, zoom in on it, and then hand scroll around the image on the builtin monitor and our external monitor. see the results for yourself.

Look at the performance in real world situations."

The benefit of a second independent monitor and larger desktop make the Road Rocket a valuable addition to the PowerBook. No other product on the market currently provides this capability.

Like all current IXMicro cards, QuickDraw 3D Rave acceleration support is limited to millions colors. This means games like Rave Quake will not run (Rave requires thousands color mode support). Other games such as Myth, Diablo and Duke Nuken run fine as do applications like Ray Dream Studio 5 and others.

Summary:

It was great to be able to put windows and applications on a 2nd monitor, allowing me to view a web page and the source code for it without repeated flipping back and forth between layered windows. I'm hooked!

The Road Rocket really turned a few heads here as people do a double-take on a notebook running a dual monitor configuration. It's a welcome addition to the new PowerBook G3 accessory line that will surely prove to be very popular. I know it's on my list of most wanted accessories for the new PowerBooks. There is nothing else on the market that provides this capability.

Specifications:

Graphics Engine:	IX3D Twin Turbo 128-bit
Video Ram:	4 MB Sync. Graphics Ram (SGRAM)
RamDac:	Integrated (85 Hz max Vert. Refresh Rate)
Max Resolution (2D):	1152x870 Millions Colors (75Hz) 1280x1024 Thousands Colors (85Hz)
Max Resolution (3D):	800x600 (without Z-Buffer) 640x480 (with Z-Buffer)
Requires:	PowerBook G3 Series with CardBus Slot OS 8.1 or higher, CD-ROM drive
Interfaces:	VGA and Mac monitor cables supplied
Warranty:	1 year limited warranty

Pricing and Availability:

The Road Rocket had a suggested list price of $299 and was originally available at the Apple Store and other IXMicro authorized resellers.