New 22" LCD- Goes into garbage?

[mooingmooseman]

I just bought a new 22" LCD (Westinghouse). It has D-sub 15-pin (is this just VGA?) and DVI-D inputs. I'm running a T43 w/ x300 (64mb) 2668-WUF and also have a port replicator from IBM

I will most likely be trying to attach the monitor to the port replicator since i have no need to use it on the go or anything.

I'm advanced with computers but know nothing about all these new video stuff. Which one of those 2 inputs will I be able to use? I didn't see any mention of either on the port replicator's site.

is one better quality and how much better is it?

Will my video card be able to support the 1680x1050?

Thanks a lot guys for all your help![/b]

[sugo]

Is it the Thinkpad Port Replicator II? If so the DVI-D will give you a much sharper output compared with the Port Replicator II's VGA (which has very bad output signal quality).

I am using Thinkpad Port Replicator II with my T42 via DVI-D. It natively supports 1680x1050 with Lenovo ATI driver.

[mooingmooseman]

I'm not really sure if it's port replicator II. the P/N is 74P6734, the FRU P/N is 13R0292

Now that I look at it, there IS a white port and comparing it to wikipedia's images of DVI plugs, it does seem to be a dvi-d port?

But my laptop itself doesn't have dvi-d, so isn't it actually just converting it? Will I still see the increased quality? How much does the quality actually increase (I will have to pay extra $10 for cable).

Also, my x300 natively only supports 1024x768 on my laptop screen (but I'm guessing my laptop screen is limiting it?). Will it still support the 1680xwhatever on the external LCD?

Thanks for you help!

[pianowizard]

How much does the quality actually increase (I will have to pay extra $10 for cable).

The difference is subtle for most people. Just plug the monitor into the VGA port and decide for yourself wheter the image is good enough. If it is, save that $10. If it's not, then buy a DVI cable. It doesn't matter what other people's preferences are.

I had a T43 with 64MB X300 and it could drive my 24" 1920x1200 Dell LCD. I don't see why your would not support 1680x1050.

[mooingmooseman]

thats great advice, thanks a lot.

last question: is the port replicator a pass-through?

[sugo]

last question: is the port replicator a pass-through?

Yes for the most part. The audio out is a lineout instead of headphone jack. The USB port works independently from the existing two ports on the T4x. As I have mentioned, the quality of VGA out on the replicator is much worse than the VGA out on the T4x chassis.