I am not sure, but laptops with VGA and HDMI usually throw same output on both connectors ??? Has any one ACTUALLY used them in a extended desktop format ???
I just took delivery of a DELL M6500 laptop workstation with two additional screens via a docking station. It is somewhat expensive, but powerful enough for the analysis work I do. Works great as a general workstation and as a trading workstation, is heavy for travel, and I love it. I got away with this expensive a purchase with my wife because I was profitable in my trading the past several months. She gave in grudgingly. But no other holiday gifts were forthcoming. :eek:
It's standard. A laptop that can support an external monitor already supports two displays (monitor + laptop screen). A second external output will just replace the laptop screen.
Question: If i have a laptop with HDMI and VGA output, can I have two monitors running off the laptop in extend mode doing this?: Laptop screen disabled (closed) Monitor #1 (a vga monitor) connected to vga output Monitor #2 ( a dvi monitor) connected to HDMI output with hdmi to dvi adapter
I use DELL latitude E6500 and docking station, as you can see it comes with 2 display ports http://www.laptopdockstation.com/e-port-plus-130-watt-power-adapter.html
Are there 2 DVI ports and 1 Vga port giving you the ability to extend a total of 3 external monitors?
Beware that unless you use a docstation, most laptops are equipped with some contact switches of some sort that when you close the laptop screen it will put the computer in sleep mode.
I concur with Mr. J. I just did an experiment with my own setup. I have a HP dv8t 1100 laptop. It has 1 VGA port and 1 HDMI port on the left side. I hooked them up with 2 different monitors. Basically you can have 2 of the 3 displays. Laptop screen + VGA screen. Or laptop screen + HDMI screen. You can do the VGA screen + HDMI screen combination too... then your laptop screen will go black automatically. I think it has to do with the video chip/card inside the laptop, which can only support up to 2 screens, regardless of what video connectors are used. If you hook up a docstation to it, I suspect it's the same thing: 2 screens at any given time. I don't believe there is any video chip/card circuitary inside a docstation.
Did you try it with an HDMI to DVI adapter? I dont have an HDMI monitor. Also if you do the above set up with one of those USB adapters could you get a third screen going? Thanks for your input Bolimomo.
#1) Did you try it with an HDMI to DVI adapter? No I hooked my laptop's HDMI output to a plasma TV directly. (The TV takes HDMI inputs). But it doesn't matter because the HDMI-to-DVI adapter is a straight wire connection without any conversion. DVI just takes the video signals portion of the HDMI interface. The signals are the same. quote: A DVI signal is electrically compatible with the video part of an HDMI signal; no signal conversion is required when an adapter or asymmetric cable is used, and consequently no loss in video quality occurs.[3] As such, HDMI is backward-compatible with single-link Digital Visual Interface digital video (DVI-D or DVI-I, but not DVI-A) as used on modern computer monitors and graphics cards. end-quote. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI #2) Also if you do the above set up with one of those USB adapters could you get a third screen going? Yes I use a third monitor screen hooked up to my laptop through a SIIG USB-to-VGA gadget everyday. I am sure I can hook up a fourth (or even fifth) screen to my laptop if I want to. http://www.siig.com/ViewProduct.aspx?pn=JU-000071-S1