T400s display question

[miketoro]

Can my T400s drive two monitors (VGA and Display Port) at the same time, without the dock? Can it do this with the screen open---three monitors going?

Thanks.

[miketoro]

None of you experts know?

I'm driving a cheap 19-inch Dell via VGA but have been eying the deals on these Dell UltraSharps ... It would be pretty cool, I think, to have a 24-inch IPS elevated above my ThinkPad screen and the 19-inch vertical next to it ...

[dr_st]

Any combination of two out of three (internal, VGA, DisplayPort) should work.

Three at the same time won't work though.

[pianowizard]

The easiest way to drive a third monitor is to use a USB-to-VGA adapter.

[miketoro]

The easiest way to drive a third monitor is to use a USB-to-VGA adapter.

Sweet. That sounds a lot cheaper than a dock

Any quality or performance issues?

[dr_st]

Quality - probably not, performance - yes. Don't expect any fullscreen video at high resolution and high framerate.

[miketoro]

Quality - probably not, performance - yes. Don't expect any fullscreen video at high resolution and high framerate.

Makes sense ... Thanks, man

[AMATX]

Quality - probably not, performance - yes. Don't expect any fullscreen video at high resolution and high framerate.

Yup; real dogs, performance-wise. Anything other than casual web surfing is gonna drive you nuts. Tried this, dumped it, went on to Matrox line splitters, which work great, assuming you buy some extra monitors.

[lead_org]

or you could try the DIY Vidock and Vidock 4.

[miketoro]

or you could try the DIY Vidock and Vidock 4.

Those vidocks look expensive. I can get a Lenovo dock for that ... Which can definitely drive three panels, right?

[dr_st]

Which can definitely drive three panels, right?

No. The limitation to 2 panels is that of the video card, not the dock. Now, I understand that _some_ modern systems (Optimus-equipped?) have the ability to drive 3 displays, but I doubt any of it applies to the T400s.

Here is a quote from Lenovo's dock description:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 72873.html

Any two, of the five, video ports can be used simultaneously. Attaching two monitors disables the ThinkPad display.

[JMvS]

The newest T410s with Optimus is even capable of driving 4 screens.

Keith Comb did the test: http://blogs.technet.com/b/keithcombs/a ... -dock.aspx

[AMATX]

or you could try the DIY Vidock and Vidock 4.

Well, yeah, the ViDock stuff is pretty slick stuff. But, the $$$ add up after buying this + video card, etc. With Expresscard port(s), these can work really well, tho.

[miketoro]

Ah well ... Yet another reason to kick myself for not waiting three months for the 410s ...

m.