Thanks for the video, it's very helpful in investigating the issue. I let you know as soon as we progress on this.

Any updates on this issue?
 

Just checking in to see if anyone has found a solution or workaround other than temporarily uninstalling the driver when I don't need the second monitor...

I picked up a brand new 2011 MBA to replace my old ThinkPad running Ubuntu, specifically because of Linux DisplayLink driver issues (color depth, multiple monitors, etc).

While I like the MBA and will likely hang on to it, I ran into the issue mentioned in this thread and it took me a couple of days to track down that the issue was with DisplayLink itself. I understand that it is a beta driver I'm using, so I can't be too upset, but would love to know when this will be fixed. I am in the same situation I was in with Ubuntu right now - a single external monitor via mini-displayport... USB/DisplayLink is unusable, unfortunately.

If I can help in any way to test or whatnot, please do email/PM me.

Cheers,
James

I'm also encountering this behavior on a new 2011 11" MacBook Air. The triggers are as described in Patrick's account above.

In case it's useful in pigeonholing applications using certain graphics modes, I thought I'd mention that VMware Fusion 4 is dramatically affected by this issue. There is noticeable UI stuttering within VMware windows, and window dragging (either in full window or unity mode) is terribly jerky. Dragging windows from other applications does not seem to incur the same performance penalty.

Problem persists...looks like a return is the only option...
 

This problem makes the macbook almost unusable. It is so jerky that it makes it hard to browse the web or read documents. I purchased this to increase my productivity at work, and now it has the opposite impact. Slows me down and makes me feel like I am on an old 486 computer. Since it doesn't appear that anyone is even aware of a method to solve this problem, must less near a solution, I think I will just have to return my unit.

Hope the fix this someday as it would be a great product!

Patrick

Give OS X 10.7.2 a spin before you send that adapter back. As mentioned by cshbell in this thread, the recent update from Apple has resolved my DisplayLink performance problems almost entirely.

...emphasis on the almost. I just saw the performance degradation manifest again after a display detection problem forced me to run a manual detect. A reboot cleared it up and a sleep/wake cycle is not immediately triggering the problem again, but the problem appears to remain in some cases.

I don't know if it's related yet, but my Air is having trouble staying awake in clamshell mode all of the sudden. It returns to sleep after a few seconds of inactivity.

If I can determine a reliable trigger for the DisplayLink performance problems, I'll mention it here.

Update...
 

Does it appear to matter what brand of DisplayLink based device is being used? I wonder if swapping to a different brand of DisplayLink would work better...

I can confirm that the 10.7.2 update has fixed this for me also

We have been able to replicate the issue in our labs. The issue seems to affect 2011 models with an Intel gfx card. The 10.7.2 update fixed the issue. Let me know if you still see the issue after the update. Thanks