External Monitor and Keyboard for x61T

[spasell]

I am thinking about getting a monitor and keyboard for my x61T since I am now in my home office more and more and would like a bigger screen. Here are my questions:

1. Does the monitor need to be the same 4:3 screen as the tablet? I'm wondering if getting a 16:9 screen stretches the screen and distorts it?

2. Can someone recommend a monitor and keyboard that they use in the same manner that is reliable, clear, and worthy? I'm not looking for budget models but if they are as good, so be it.

My plan is to run this all off my Ultrabase, and so I'm assuming that I can close the computer lid and do all of this...if not, please let me know so I can nix everything I just said.

Thank you very much!!

[spasell]

Would anyone have an answer to this at all? I'm going to get the monitor today if I can, along with a good keyboard and speakers (already selected the Bose 2), but I'm still unsure if it makes a difference whether the external monitor is 4:3 or 16:9 if the x61T is 4:3. Does that somehow mess up the resolution?

Any thoughts on this are appreciated!

[hart22]

For 1) No, the monitor can be widescreen if you prefer. It won't stretch and distort if you use the proper display setting.

For 2) Samsung and Viewsonic both make very good LCD displays. I personally use a Samsung SyncMaster 215 TW (21" widescreen 1680 x 1050) on the desktop in my sig, but my X61T would be able to support this monitor as well. Just be sure to get a PVA or IPS panel as opposed to a TN. The Intel x3100 graphics chip in your tablet supports a certain maximum resolution that I don't remember off the top of my head; just search the forum or the tabook and be sure not to exceed that when you're buying.

Also, remember that neither the ultrabase nor the X61T itself supports DVI out, so you'd need an adapter or a monitor with native VGA input support.

[ducky2802]

I checked the display properties and it appears you can drive monitors up to 2048x1536 pixels, which is a pretty high resolution. I havent tested it as my external monitor only does 1280x1024. But you can get any external monitor with vga and hook it up without it being distorted.

I would also highly recommend using both screen!!! It really is a nice addition to have dual diplays.

As far as keyboards go, my personal favorite is the IBM travel keyboard as it includes a built in trackpad and pointing stick. But I have also used a logitech alto, which is very nice, and a kensington slim keyboard. I prefer the laptop scissor action keys as opposed to thedesktop though.

[spasell]

Thank you for all the valuable information.

Now all I need to do is find out how to close my laptop while keeping the monitor on. Any ideas? Thanks!

[ducky2802]

Right click on your desktop, display properties, screen saver tab, power button in the lower right, advanced tab, and where it says "when I close the lid of my portable computer:", use the drop down menu to select "do nothing". That way, as you guessed, closing the lid on your computer does not put it into standby.

[spasell]

Thank you very much...a HUGE help.

[hart22]

Did you go out and buy the Bose 2 speakers yet? In my experience Bose is very good at advertising, but usually dollar for dollar their speakers don't stand up well to competitor's products. Actually I find that they charge a roughly 30-50% price premium over similar quality products simply because of the "Bose" brand. And the fact that you can say that your sound system was featured in the pages of Gramophone and the like.

If you're paying ~$50 for the Bose 2 by all means it's a good buy, but if you're paying full price have you considered the Logitech Z-10? They are also 2.0 PC speakers, but they have a onboard digital audio converter and integration with Windows media players of various sorts. They display track information on an LCD display and have touch-screen controls for volume, next track, etc. And from the various reviews they seem to have good sound quality. I have a pair of Logitech Z-2300's, and as far as consumer-grade PC speakers go I'm pretty satisfied with the Logitech brand.

[spasell]

Did you go out and buy the Bose 2 speakers yet? In my experience Bose is very good at advertising, but usually dollar for dollar their speakers don't stand up well to competitor's products. Actually I find that they charge a roughly 30-50% price premium over similar quality products simply because of the "Bose" brand. And the fact that you can say that your sound system was featured in the pages of Gramophone and the like.

If you're paying ~$50 for the Bose 2 by all means it's a good buy, but if you're paying full price have you considered the Logitech Z-10? They are also 2.0 PC speakers, but they have a onboard digital audio converter and integration with Windows media players of various sorts. They display track information on an LCD display and have touch-screen controls for volume, next track, etc. And from the various reviews they seem to have good sound quality. I have a pair of Logitech Z-2300's, and as far as consumer-grade PC speakers go I'm pretty satisfied with the Logitech brand.

I have not purchased the speakers as of yet...The BOSE 2 were at Best Buy and running and the sound was unreal. I have a BOSE 3-2-1 system which was great for my older DVD system, but when I got my Blu-Ray player, I needed to upgrade to a system that can input 7.1 and uncompressed audio.

In any event, will the speakers that you mentioned allow me to hook them up through the Ultrabase? I did go out and purchase the monitor (HP w1907) which is great, but the speakers are not good at all.

I'm trying to make this as seemless as possible, but want everything to run through the ultrabase so that I can leave it all hooked up and just pop my x61 on and off as I please.

Thanks for the help and advice.

[hart22]

Yes, the speakers will run off the ultrabase; from the specifications it looks like in order to get the full functionality of the touchscreen controls all you need to do is plug them into an open USB slot of any machine (instead of the audio out jack). The USB routes into an onboard DAC sound processor, which may or may not be better than the onboard sound card of your machine. If you can't test them out conveniently then the Bose is a safe bet if you've already listened to them. I just thought they were a little pricey, and wanted to mention that there are other options available at that price point for good 2.0 speakers without a subwoofer.

[spasell]

Yes, the speakers will run off the ultrabase; from the specifications it looks like in order to get the full functionality of the touchscreen controls all you need to do is plug them into an open USB slot of any machine (instead of the audio out jack). The USB routes into an onboard DAC sound processor, which may or may not be better than the onboard sound card of your machine. If you can't test them out conveniently then the Bose is a safe bet if you've already listened to them. I just thought they were a little pricey, and wanted to mention that there are other options available at that price point for good 2.0 speakers without a subwoofer.

Thanks for the info...I looked at pricing for the speakers you mentioned and they were about $100 as were the BOSE. Thanks