Dual external monitors without advanced dock?

[danthman]

I have a T60p (2007-C8U) and an Advanced Mini Dock on order. Trying to figure out what my options are for connecting a couple of 18" CRT monitors with old-school d-sub VGA plugs. I need them to both run 1280 x 1024.

The threads I've seen on this subject all seem to talk about using the pci-express card on the Advanced Dock. Is this the only way it can be done? I was hoping I could plug one of the monitors into the VGA and another into the DVI (using a VGA-->DVI coverter), but given that I haven't seen this mentioned, I'm guessing it won't work. (Or maybe it would work, but it would just be the same image on both screens?)

Anyway, any advice you all may have would be greatly appeciated.

-Dan

[RonS]

Hi Dan,

You options for connecting two analog (VGA) monitors are fairly slim. The dock's DVI port is DVI-D (digital only), so you can't drive an analog monitor from that. Obviously, you can drive one of your displays from the VGA connector. For the other monitor, your options include:

1. Instead of the Advanced Mini Dock, buy an Advanced Dock and put a video card in it. That would give you the widest range of options and high performance.

2. Buy a Matrox DualHead2Go. Here is an article about it: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1884 I've never used one of these, but they're getting great reviews. They run about $150. With this, you can run both external monitors with VGA at 1280x1024, your Thinkpad's built-in LCD will still be usable, and you wouldn't need a dock.

3. PCMCIA-based video adapter. Margi used to manufacturer these, and there one on e-bay right now for $46 (search for "margi video". Or, VillageTronic.com sells them for more money.

4. DVI to VGA converter. They run about $200-$300 each. This would be an actual converter, not just a cable or connector.

5. Buy a USB-based video adapter.

19" LCD's are hitting down around the $200 mark. If you shop hard, you can get a nice 19" UltraSharp for around that price. You may want to consider buying one, and use it on your Mini Dock's DVI.

I hope this helps.

[danthman]

Hi Ron,

Very helpful, thanks. The idea of just buying a 19" UltraSharp is actually very appealing--and cheaper than some of the other solutions (like buying an Advanced Dock and pci-e video card). I guess this means you really *can* have one analog (VGA) and one digital (DVI) running at the same time, showing two different images. Am I understanding that right?

Thanks,

-Dan

[RonS]

I guess this means you really *can* have one analog (VGA) and one digital (DVI) running at the same time, showing two different images. Am I understanding that right?

Yes - you got it right.