driving dual 20 inch monitors with T60p ?

[k9]

I have a T60p and am using it with a IBM 2504 docking station. I want to be able to use two 20 inch NEC monitors (1600x1200 resolution each) as my main displays, with the notebook's display itself not used. The T60p has the ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 graphics card.
Has anyone tried this or can confirm that it is doable without needing any extra hardware ?

Thanks for the help

[joester]

While I'm not familiar with the docking station, I am going to assume it has a DVI output. Depending on which connector you have, it may be able to be split to two heads.

I have several DVI splitter cables, and might part with one if it's compatible.

Take a picture of the connector side and post. I'll let you know if I have one.

Joe

[pianowizard]

I have several DVI splitter cables

But wouldn't that result in both monitors showing the same image?

[tomh009]

It would, yes. And the Advanced Mini Dock (which the OP has) does not have expansion capability, so he cannot add an external video card.

I don't think there is a solution here without switching to the Advanced Dock, which can accept a PCI Express video card to support a second independent monitor.

[joester]

As I stated, I'm not familiar with that station. The splitter cables I have will split into two seperate heads, with one being "extended" BUT ONLY if the other hardware supports it.
Sounds like you need the advanced model.

Joe

[k9]

I dont need an independent second monitor, I just need to be able to use the 3200x1200 space (twice 1600x1200) of two monitors as my working area. I can put a browser and email on one monitor and work on the other ... in an extended format.

The docking station itself has one DVI output and one VGA output.

joester, thanks for the splitter offer but I'm hoping the hardware I have should do the trick ... just waiting for a positive confirmation.

Thanks

[tomh009]

k9, you need two independent monitors in the sense that the signals need to be independent -- you don't want the same image on each display. And I believe that your current VGA and DVI connectors will produce the identical image.

The way to tell for sure? Dock your T60, and then go to Display Properties in Windows, and check how many monitors Windows sees. I suspect you will see only two -- your built-in display panel and one external monitor.

[tvsjr]

Wrong. You can successfully connect one monitor to the DVI port and another to the VGA, and extend the desktop from one to the other. Works great. The one downside is that you end up with one clean digital link and another crummy analog link. My dock is about a 25-foot cable run from my monitors (grumble)... the DVI-D did just fine - the VGA was quite fuzzy at that cable length. I have the full Advanced Dock, so I installed an ATI Radeon X1300 in the PCIe slot, and run one DVI monitor from the notebook and the other from the X1300.

If you don't mind the analog link, you're golden with what you have. One monitor to DVI, one to VGA, configure Windows to extend your desktop, and have fun.

[tomh009]

Ah, thanks tvsjr. I couldn't tell without having a T60 and a dock to test with -- hence the suggestion to the OP to give it a try, since he already has the gear.

[k9]

I got to try out what I was looking for, took my notebook and docking station and borrowed two monitors (20 inch NEC) from colleagues. If you extend the desktop to the second monitor then the notebook display becomes the first and one of the 20 inch monitors becomes the other. The trick to get both the external monitors to display is to close down the notebook, which causes the notebook display to move to the external monitor.
Of course the connection is one from dock's DVI and the other from dock's VGA. In my case the display quality was not that much different.
Thanks for the help everyone, tvsjr, you are right on the dot!

Regards,
k9

[WPWoodJr]

Its easy to set up a profile for two external monitors using Presentation Director. Then you don't need to close down the Notebook cover. I have a new Dell 27 inch 1920x1200 monitor on the DVI output and a Viewsonic 20 inch 1600x1200 monitor on the VGA output - works great!