Multi-monitor on XPS M1710

I'm pretty certain that the M1710 will let you hook up two external monitors and deactivate the internal screen. I know my D820 will at least when it's parked in my DDock (it only has one monitor connection when undocked). Might want to wait for some M1710 owners to respond too.

i use two monitors, but one of them is the lcd screen. i will let someone else confirm if the two ports will show seperate things if the lcd is not used.

however, a docking device can be used with the 1710, which will let you have two displays, one via dvi and one via vga, both on the back of the docking port. bonus is that a pci slot is available on it, and a dbay in which you could put another hard drive.

the docking port i have heard can be found on ebay for 70 to 100, maybe even less.

1. you can connect AND use 2 displays! e.g. internal lcd-display and 1 external dvi or vga-display or 2 external dvi and vga-display while the internal lcd is disabled.
2. you shouldn't expect a crisp and clear signal to provide your (ancient) monitors with a high-quality signal. the vga-port is only capable to provide resolution up to 1280*1024 with an adequate quality.
3. you may consider to wait until summer the "ASUS XG Station" is available. the external pci-grfx card can provide your monitors with the signal-quality they demand.

Balderdash, the VGA out on my DDock runs my 2005FPW just fine at native resolution without any discernable reduction in quality compared to DVI. I see no reason the VGA out on the M1710 would be limited to 1280x1024 either.

Really the image quality on VGA is dependent upon the monitor's ADC (analog-digital converter). CRT computer monitors very rarely have DVI input since CRT is a 50 year old analog age technology.

@MrEvil: 1. keep on reading! we are talking about the vga-output from the LAPTOP! test this output with an highend CRT, eg. Eizo Flexscan T 556@1600*1200! i know what i'm talking about.
2. no one said it is limited to 1280*1024! but the image quality drops significant at higher resolutions!

The VGA out on my DDock is not a seperate video card or processing unit. It's merely an extension of the VGA port built into the Laptop. All the ports on the back of the DDock are just passed through the dock to the bottom docking port. And no, I don't think you know what you're talking about. Any problems with a VGA port would show up on an LCD as well as any CRT. An Analog-digital converter gets a bad input signal you're going to get a crappy picture as well. (garbage in garbage out). I'm no graphic designer but I have been at this computer and Electronics thing for a while.

@MrEvil: i'm not in the mood to teach you a leason in physics or even mathematics!

Um. This is wrong. I ran @ 2560x1920 using my M1710 to a CRT via the 15 ping SVGA port and it was just as good if not better than a desktop using SVGA.

How is teaching anybody a lesson in physics and mathematics going to change what they see in front of them.

A lot of people mention they can't tell the difference,myself being one of them,I'm sure we all know what the Digital Display Working Group has told us as far as the advantages of DVI are,but it seems there are still lots of people who can't see any real world improvement.
Blowed if I can see any difference between the DVI dock connection to my 22" dell lcd @1680x1050 and the vga from the dock or directly to the laptop vga,maybe my monitor is not high end enough...looks good to me.
In theory,DVI should be better,in practise..........a matter of opinion or eyesight perhaps.

well well well, this discussion is out of control!


the intiated question was plain and simpel -can the m1710 use 2 crt-displays?

so, i was the first one who answerd this question. i was also so kind to point, that the vga-output wouldn't provide the same image-quality compared to the dvi-output.

i can't understand why you guys now start to flame around!

@gerryjoson: if you mind to read biscuits question serious, you may understand that he is going to use "two huge SGI widescreen CRT's in multi-monitor". so he will compare them, side-by-side, and notice the difference between the vga and the dvi port.

Er,no flaming here,you're comment below is a bit on the arrogant side though.


I will be interested to see what biscuit has to say about the difference when he hooks both his monitors up,like you say,its probably more noticable with 2 screens running side by side,in fact since your being so kind hearted,how about posting a couple of high res pics of your dual screens to show the disbelievers out there the difference,I know pictures are not that great for showing screen quality but since you say there is a big difference,it should be visible,ya?.

I don't think this thread is out of control,far from it,its interesting,I really am not interested in the 2 monitor question as much as being shown there is a marked difference between DVI and VGA which from my own trial isn't[but I don't have 2 screens to directly compare]

@gerryjoson: if haven't ether. to be more exactly, i haven't two crt-monitors of the same kind.

Hopefully biscuits will buy the Dell and let us know.

ok, i was able to shoot some photos...

configuration: both ports, vga and dvi connected to one tft (Eizo S2110W)


analog

and

digital

i'm able to notice the difference.

McBane, you're using LCDs which are natively Digital. You will see a difference between DVI and VGA input on them....especially if they have a sub-standard Analog-Digital Converter. However, CRT monitors are NATIVELY ANALOG. The technology's for CRT has been invented since 1897, well before the digital age. Yes there were some high-end expensive CRT monitors that had Digital input and sported their own Digital to Analog Converter...but they really didn't benefit from the DIgital input. Most professional grade CRTs have DB-15 and 5 BNC input as opposed to digital input. The OP will not notice a difference between the CRTs on Analog or digital because when you use a DVI-VGA adapter you're using the Analog pins in the DVI connector and converting them to a DB-15 physical interface (go look up the DVI standard on Wikipedia if you think I'm wrong). Your monitor more than likely suffers from a poor Analog to Digital converter. Doesn't surprise me, most professional display companies assume you're using a professional graphics card with at least a single DVI output. For the record my 2005FPW is the same as Apple's contemporary 20" cinema display, I just don't have the aluminium cabinet and Firewire hub. (many people regard THOSE monitors as professional quality too).