Question on External Monitors.

I wanted a slightly bigger screen than 15.4 since I do a lot with photoshop as well as digital recording.

I got to look at 17 inch screen laptops and it just seems to big as this laptop I will be transporting it a lot as well as using it on my lap.

I was ready to get the dell inspiron 9300 until I realized just how big the 17 inch is. But I do prefer a larger screen when doing what i need to do.

Now I am looking into sager notebooks. I just heard about them from this website.

My question is..the sager one I am looking at (3880) only comes in a 15.4 screen which is fine. If I hook up an external monitor to this- what exactly is displayed??

If the programs on the 15.4 monitor is squished up and barely fitting- will a mirror image of that be produced on the larger external monitor as well?

Is there a way to have a more viewable space on an external monitor rather than a magnified mirror image? Or should I just stick with the Dell 9300 for the 17 inch screen? Another thing about the dell I liked were the speakers in the front, so that when the laptop was closed you could still hear the sound perfect but I do own some external speakers I could use instead on the sager(And the 9300 had a tv tuner, though I believe there is such a thing as LCD HDTV monitors which I assume laptops can hook up to and I could use that for my external monitor as well as having it for HDTV..or, do I need a laptop with a tv tuner in order to view TV on a HDTV LCD screen? No right cos they already have built in TV tuners?)

But it seems sager is pretty good esp with customer support. Dell has terrible cust support usually. So.. I am now leaning towards sager but would like to know what exactly is displayed on the external monitor. Anyone know or have experience with using an external monitor on a laptop? Thanks.

Oh cool!

Well this is where i am very unlearned.

The options for the sager 3880 screen resolutions are as follows:
(All 15.4 screen)

1280x800
1680x1050
1920x1200

If, on the external monitor, I would like the MOST possible working space, nice and spread out.. Which resolution should I select with my order? The 1920x1200?

(If graphics and video card are the same thing, the only option the sager 3880 has is: 128 MB Dedicated VRAM - nVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 6600 16X PCI-Express. of which I know nothing about)

It is very important to me to have a lot of working space as the digital recording software is very intricate.

Also, are you saying that the specs of the external monitor itself has things to do with how much working space I can achieve? (Eg, some screen resolutions not supported) How do I find out which resolutions are supported?


Thanks!

So with an HDTV monitor... all you need is a tv tuner(Which should be built in) and something to catch the HDTV, right?

Be it one of the boxes, or a sattelite like dish.

I have digital cable but have to figure out if that works with HDTV

Do you catch any decent shows?

You lost me.

Im a straight out newb when it comes to this stuff. I never heard of it as never attempted to look at gaming geared laptops before.

What is a DVI connector for?

Killers. this is exactly what I want to do.

So since the 3880 has NV then that means it can do this... Hopefully it is easy for me to figure it all out when I get the gear. Oh, and I have to find out if the 3880 has a VGI or DVI connecter. it has a VGA which is video output.. I don't see anything mentioning VGI or DVI... Anyone know?

15.4" WXGA Active Matrix with Super Clear Glossy Surface / WSXGA+ Active Matrix / WUXGA Active Matrix Display
Intel® Pentium® M Processor
2048KB on-die Cache
512MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz [Expandable to 2GB]
NVIDIA GEFORCE GO 6600 PCI-EXPRESS with 128MB DDR Video Memory
40.0/60.0/80.0GB Hard Disk Drive
8X DVD & 24X Max. CD-RW Combo / 8X DVD±R/RW / +DL Combo / 8X DVD±R/RW / +DL Combo with LigthScribe Technology Built-in CD-ROM Drive
Smart Li-ION Battery
Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology, Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915ABG LAN 802.11a/b/g, Integrated CMOS Video Camera, and Built-in 4-in-1 Card Reader
Optional external 3.5" 1.44MB USB Floppy Drive
Integrated AZALIA compliant interface / SRS WOW
Touchpad with Scrolling Keys
1 Type II PCMCIA Slot
Infra Red, Wireless Fast IR interface
3 USB 2.0 Ports
1 IEEE-1394 Port (4 PIN)
Other Ports: 1 S/PDIF out, 1 headphone, 1 microphone, 1 RJ-45, 1 RJ-11, 1 SVGA video, 1 S-Video TV-out, 1 Serial, 1 Infrared
Additional Features: Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet LAN & V.90 56K Fax/Modem, CMOS Digital Video Camera, 4 speakers, Optional Extrenal USB 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive, 8X DVD±R/RW/+DL Combo Drive.
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Standard Carrying Bag
Auto Switch 110/220V AC Adapter, AC power cord, User's Manual, Utility CD
Dimension (H) x (W) x (D) : 1.85"x14.125"x10.5" Weight: 7.9lbs. with Battery
One year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty. (2 or 3 year Extended Warranty Plan optional.)
Lifetime Free Technical Support




Thanks by the way.

Thanks a bunch. I'll go and look back at the 3880's photo and see if I see that because it doesnt make mention of having a dvi.

However, many of the external LCD monitors I have been looking at online say "1 dvi"

Gaah I don't think the 3880 has it.

---checking now--------

Nope, It doesn't have one. So does that mean I can't accomplish what I want?

Oh wait! I just went back and re read your post-- you said "If your laptop has a VGA or DVI connector, then it likely has dual monitor capabilities"

The 3880 DOES have a VGA port.. But in your earlier post you said I should "shoot for an external DVI port" is that just because most external monitors connect via this port? But, since the 3880 doesnt have one I could get away with using the VGA port as long as the monitor supported that??

Or, is there some type of VGI adapter I could purchase..

Thanks a lot I appreciate it.

Oh ok. Whew cos i found this:

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=1310

Good thing I don't need it. Too much $$

Well hey thanks a lot for your help. Now I feel confident in what to purchase!

Ah..yes good idea. I'll do some google/dogpile searching and see if I can find out, if not I will try asking some owners of the 3880 if they know.

Thanks again

Found this on nvidia's website concerning the go6600:

" Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rates–up to 2048x1536@85Hz. May vary by model.


Dual DVI SupportAble to drive the industry's largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays including 1900x1200 resolution and the new Apple 30" cinema display. (Support for Apple 30” cinema display available on the GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB only.)
"

But like I discovered my laptop doesnt even have DVI. Hopefully it works with vga. hehe