T61p 14.1" in Advanced Dock with Dell 24" widescre

[billj32]

I was thinking of buying the Dell 24" monitor to use with my T61p in the Advanced Dock. Info on the Dell Dell 2407WFP-HC UltraSharp states that the "Optimal Preset Resolution is WUXGA 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz". Can anybody give me an opinion with the resolution of the 14 " T61p being the lower sxga+ and not widescreen, how this configuration would work. Could I set the display in Vista Ultimate for wide screen when placed in the Advanced Dock and then back to 4:3 when using the T61p alone. Thanks.

[bdoviack]

I have the Dell 2407 and a T43p (14" 1400x1050) with the same screen specs you have. The t43p, docking station, and Dell screen all work great together with the most important factor being that I don't have to change resolution when going from the dock to portable mode. In both modes, the desktop scales to just the right size. Like you said, in docked mode the ThinkPad shifts to widescreen mode while in portable mode, it adjusts to the regular 4:3 format. I'm also using Vista Ultimate however it worked the same way with XP.

I'm actually looking at getting a T61p with the same screen specs (as my t43p) so I can be sure it works just how things are working now (screen resolution wise).

Hope this makes sense to you.

[billj32]

Thanks. I assume that my experience with the T61p would be the same as with your T43p. I am surprised to hear how the resolution automatically changes to wide screen when connected to the monitor. I wonder how that occurs. I thought I would actually have to go into Display settings to do that.

[DAH]

Plug-n-play, would be how it should work. When you dock your computer should sense it, and it should look and see what type of monitor is/was attached.

[dr_st]

Plug-n-play, would be how it should work. When you dock your computer should sense it, and it should look and see what type of monitor is/was attached.

I don't think it actually sense the monitor, but just remembers two separate profiles for docked and undocked.

[bdoviack]

actually, I believe it is more plug n play than docked or undocked profiles, because even if you use a port replicatior, the result is the same, the computer detects what type of monitor you have and adjusts the display the appropriate settings.

[dr_st]

actually, I believe it is more plug n play than docked or undocked profiles, because even if you use a port replicatior, the result is the same, the computer detects what type of monitor you have and adjusts the display the appropriate settings.

So if you plug a different monitor, it will automatically recall the last settings used for that monitor? Seems far-fetched, but, maybe.

[bdoviack]

actually, that seems to be correct. If you plug in a different monitor, Windows will detect it (at least from the DVI port, maybe VGA too). What's nice is that Windows Update even offered to download the new driver/inf file for the Dell 2407

[dr_st]

actually, that seems to be correct. If you plug in a different monitor, Windows will detect it (at least from the DVI port, maybe VGA too). What's nice is that Windows Update even offered to download the new driver/inf file for the Dell 2407

Windows will detect it, no doubt, but I just don't believe that the Presentation Director (or whoever) will remember separate profiles for each and every monitor that you ever plugged in.

[bdoviack]

I'm also not exactly sure how everything works. What's interesting is that this is done natively within Windows (Vista and XP) as I haven't yet installed any IBM tools like presentation director. (just did a fresh format)

I remember in the old days (NT4 and maybe Win2000) you had to manually create profiles for each setup you had. These days it's more like adding a USB key, where windows says it found new hardware and installs/updates the appropriate driver/inf file.

I'm not complaining as I'm happy the way it works