MiniDock - using VGA and DVI port at the same time?

[tomkit66]

I´ve just read in another forum that it is possible to use 2 external monitors with the MiniDock at the same time, one using the MiniDock VGA port and the other one plugged into the MiniDock DVI port.

It was said that the Thinkpad LCD turns black but the externals are running nice ...

Could someone verify this please? I have bought the Minidock and still not sure what external monitor I should get. Dell raised the price for the 24" over 30% here in Austria ...

Thanks
Tom

[tomkit66]

no one ??

please guys, I have to order either two 19" TFT´s if the MiniDock can handle 2 external monitors or one 23" !

thanks in advance

[stalin]

Hmm... I can't say anything about MiniDock (I'd like to know it too actually), but what concerns the price of Dell 2405FPW in Austria - don't tell me you are buying this thing online at dell.at or at a local MediaMarkt store.
e.g. have a look at this one:
http://cgi.ebay.at/Dell-24-2405FPW-Flat ... dZViewItem
it costs 935 Euro, besides if you care for a small tip, wait 2-3 months, and you'll get it 20-30% cheaper...

[RonS]

I'm fairly certain that that won't work. You can use the VGA or DVI, but not both, since the connections are mapped to the same port on the video adapter. The best you could hope for is the same picture on both screens, but I would have to do some digging to see if even this was possible.

Your options include:

1. Get a PCMCIA video card
2. Get a USB-based video adapter
3. Get a Dock II and put a real video card in it.

Ron

[dansu]

Seems like it can. If you use IBM's Presentation Director to create a new setting, there's an option to use the DVI and VGA output to drive 2 seperate displays with either mirrored or extended desktops. This is of course only available if the LCD screen is turned off. So there's definitely a software setting for it, but I've never tried it myself so I'm not 100%.

[tomkit66]

Hmm... I can't say anything about MiniDock (I'd like to know it too actually), but what concerns the price of Dell 2405FPW in Austria - don't tell me you are buying this thing online at dell.at or at a local MediaMarkt store.
e.g. have a look at this one:
http://cgi.ebay.at/Dell-24-2405FPW-Flat ... dZViewItem
it costs 935 Euro, besides if you care for a small tip, wait 2-3 months, and you'll get it 20-30% cheaper...

No, not at MediaMarkt or Saturn But I thought about buying it from dell, btw in the meantime the lowered prices again. Now it´s 1.050,-- including 20% tax.

Thanks for the link...don´t know because I am always a little bit suspicious regarding ebay offers.

Why do you think the price will drop so much till christmas?

Regards
Tom

[tomkit66]

I'm fairly certain that that won't work. You can use the VGA or DVI, but not both, since the connections are mapped to the same port on the video adapter. The best you could hope for is the same picture on both screens, but I would have to do some digging to see if even this was possible.

Your options include:

1. Get a PCMCIA video card
2. Get a USB-based video adapter
3. Get a Dock II and put a real video card in it.

Ron

Thanks Ron! If it won´t work with my MiniDock II, I would prefer to get a Dock II and buy a PCI graphic card. Do you have a picture which shows where the VGA/DVI outputs are when the card is installed?

Thanks
Tom

[tomkit66]

Seems like it can. If you use IBM's Presentation Director to create a new setting, there's an option to use the DVI and VGA output to drive 2 seperate displays with either mirrored or extended desktops. This is of course only available if the LCD screen is turned off. So there's definitely a software setting for it, but I've never tried it myself so I'm not 100%.

You mean that the laptop screen has to be turned off, right?

Thanks
Tom

[dansu]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v380/ ... tled-1.jpg

I don't have another DVI display to test this out so don't quote me. Logically though, it seems like it should work.

[tomkit66]

Hi dansu,

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! So I guess I will first try the quality with 2 monitors using my Minidock II. If it´s good enough fine, if not I have to make my mind up buying either one 23-24" screen or two 19-21" screens. and the Dock II...

Thanks again
Tom

[stalin]

Why do you think the price will drop so much till christmas?

Couple of fresh models (from Samsung, Acer & ViewSonic - 6/8ms) have just appeared on the market. Reading some reviews (tomshardware I think or heise.de) the author stated that the price is very likely to drop 20% from its current level in the near future.
The 23" Widescreen "Daddy" from Dell and 'fan control utility' (which I currently work on, trying to debug TP Utilities) would be a nice presents for Christmas.. Can't wait.

[cybertof]

Hello,

I have made the test :
Is is not possible to have triple screen support with ATI FireGL T2, so the following will work :
A- (LCD Panel, VGA Screen)
B- (LCD Panel, DVI Screen)
C- (VGA Screen, DVI Screen)
but not
D- (LCD Panel, VGA Screen, DVI Screen).

The backside of using config (C) is that if your laptop has a 1400x1050 resolution, your LCD external screens may have less resolution, so it would be better idea to use config (A) or (B).


I think an alternative to have 3 monitors would be :
- additional graphic card (pcmci ? usb ?)
- www.maxivista.com


Cybertof.

[tomkit66]

Thanks for testing the configurations in real !

I would like to put either two 1600x1200 or 1680x1050 widescreen monitors to VGA and DVI port.

I just hope that the graphic card will support the setup!

Regards
Tom