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Can I have 2 external monitors at the same time?

post #1 of 17
9/20/05 at 7:31pm
Thread Starter 
OK, I have read about every thing I could find, but still no answers! I want to buy a ferrari 4005, but would really like to hook ip 2 monitors up at the same time. Has anyone done this, or is it possible? With all the advances in laptops, it dosen't seem like thsi option has caught on yet. I am replaceing a desktop at work, and really need to have my 2 19" monitors!
Thanks for any replies.
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post #2 of 17
9/20/05 at 7:54pm
Interesting question...
There's definately 2 monitor hookups (VGA & DVI)
Physically, it would be possible...
not sure if the software end of things would allow for it....

I'll test this with a LCD and 14" monitor soon...
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post #3 of 17
9/20/05 at 7:56pm
Thread Starter 
Please post as soon as you find anything out.
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post #4 of 17
9/20/05 at 8:43pm
I know you can hook up a monitor and use your laptop as one of the monitors with the 4005, dell seems to have not shipped a dvi cable with their 24" widescreen so I will have to pick one up tomorrow.

But I am interested.
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post #5 of 17
9/21/05 at 5:53am
I've had two 19' IBM ThinkVision TFT-screens hooked up to my Ferrari 4005 - one on VGA and one on DVI. Once a monitor is connected to the DVI the VGA output is a replica of the Ferrari panel. This resulted in the VGA screen output being of a lower quality that than could be wished for (image was blurry and the borders were incorrect, so the left part of the image was not visible). However, if you dissable the Ferrari Panel then this problem dissapears and the VGA output is of a very high quality - almost comparable to the DVI output. It's very nice to have two 19' screens to work on, but I do recommend that you get an external USB keyboard for the sake of ergonomics

/Wombatten
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post #6 of 17
9/21/05 at 12:08pm
Thread Starter 
Awesome! I have an external wireless keyboard/mouse already, so that's no problem. I currently have 2 "cheapo" 19" Acer flat screens, which run on VGA, but the real-estatte is great. I will be ordering my computer today. Newegg has a pretty good deal on tehm right now.
thanks again for the replies.
reedi
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post #7 of 17
6/8/06 at 5:25pm

How To Get Both External Monitors to Work

I got one to work, then the other. I can get either to work with the built in display but I cannot get both external monitors to work together.

I know it must be possible since you've done it (and there are two monitor ports).

Can you tell me how you did it?
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post #8 of 17
6/8/06 at 6:04pm

Silly fix

The fix: Unplug the DVI monitor from the laptop then plug it back in. Voila! Everything works great now.

If I had only tried that two hours ago. Geez!
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post #9 of 17
6/9/06 at 1:55am
Another option

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/offhome/dh2go/home.cfm

They also make a triple head version
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post #10 of 17
7/14/06 at 3:14am

Not Ideal

While it is nice to have other options, someone doesn't spend the money to buy a laptop with dual monitor ports to then have to use an external device like that.
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post #11 of 17
7/21/06 at 7:11pm
I use a matrox dual-head-to-go while at the office with my Acer 8204. I love it.

So i have my 15.4" Acer screen, plus 2 17" samsung LCD's as 1 giant desktop. Spanning 3 screens of full desktop space is VERY handy!

I tried to use both the DVI and VGA ports, but couldn't get it to work properly while still using the laptop screen, so this was my only choice. (not a hard one, work paid for it).
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post #12 of 17
7/23/06 at 5:11pm
One of the main reasons I bought my Acer Aspire 5672WLMi (w/x1600) is the simultaneous DVI and VGA ouput.

It took me a while to figure out the default ATI Catalyst driver and get it to work:
#1 connect monitors to both ports
#2 power on the laptop
#3 go to "Display Manager" in the "Catalyst Control Center"
#4 make sure all displays are enabled
#5 if you have video out on your laptop, but not one of the other displays, drag the greyed out "currently disabled" display on top of the "Laptop" display and it will swap the two.
You should be in business :-)

Try that with a MacBook or MacBook Pro

Acer makes some amazingly capable and cheap laptops!

PS Currently running 24" Dell 2405 and 22" Apple Cinema Display
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post #13 of 17
7/24/06 at 2:36pm
Just to confirm CoolHardware... You can't use all 3 desktops correct? One monitor is a simple clone of the laptop screen?

If so, thats what I found as well, and the reason i needed the external matrox box.

But, if you can have all 3 screens showing different apps, then I feel bad for making my company buy me the matrox, hehe.

thx

jeff
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post #14 of 17
7/24/06 at 3:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnMAndre
While it is nice to have other options, someone doesn't spend the money to buy a laptop with dual monitor ports to then have to use an external device like that.
rich bitches do
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post #15 of 17
7/24/06 at 4:09pm
So you can't run two external monitors while using your laptop screen? What a waste! I have my laptop hooked up to a 32" LCD HDTV, and I was thinking of buying a 24" Dell LCD. If I do that, according to this thread, I can't run all 3 monitors together?
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post #16 of 17
7/24/06 at 10:29pm
Hey guys!

I can't run "external + external + internal LCD"

I can run "external + external" and it's not just a mirror image of the LCD...

Here's more details...

The Acer CAN run TWO external displays. So JFvergara, you could have your 32" LCD and a 24" Dell driven by a single Acer laptop. The laptop can drive those displays at the external monitor's native resolution (at least up to 1920x1200 which is the most I have, for both VGA and DVI.)

This is NOT a mere "mirror image" of what is on the laptop's display, it is running an external monitor at whatever resolution you want. With the method I'm describing, the laptop's display is disabled and you're running two big screen monitors at their native resolutions. BF2 and other games run great on the external monitors.

What you CANNOT do, at least with my 5672WLMi and Catalyst drivers, is use two external displays AND the internal display.

Maybe that is a big problem for some people, but it is still better than any other laptop I know of (dual external displays is pretty rare on laptops!) Personally I don't mind not using the internal LCD of the laptop, because perefer using two BIG lcds as opposed to the laptop's 15.4" screen.

Thoughts, questions?
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post #17 of 17
7/25/06 at 2:33pm
nope, makes perfect sense...

thx for the notes on your setup!
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