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Best external lcd display for 700m???

G

GilletteCat

Member
Calling on all of you good people for some help in choosing the best solution for the external monitor for the Dell Inspiron 700m. It natively has 16:9 (or close to it) and I am not sure if, and whether, it will work well with the standard (4:3) lcd. I am planning on using some usb port replicator (there are plenty of those), and not the s-video or vga out, if this laptop even has it. So, I am not sure if it is possible to setup an alternative monitor profile with totally separate resolution settings, if the video port is not going to be used, and therefore, nothing will ever be detected on it.
My primary choices are 1905 or 2005. But if you guys show me that standard lcd is easily utilized (i.e. 1905), then I could go with anything I choose (19"-20"). One more detail, this setup is going to be a college student's (my niece) comp, so, I need it plug-n-play, through that external usb thing (replicator). I am afraid that for this to work without any adjustments on every connection, I must buy the wide screen lcd that is able to maintain the same resolution that is native to the laptop's screen. Please, correct me if I'm wrong 😉
 
AFAIK the 700m doesn't have DVI out, so honestly I wouldn't buy a 1905, 2001, 2005 or 2405.

Due to the lack of DVI, I would get a 1704 or E193FP.
 
My main concern is not overpaying for DVI monitor, but the need to have a wide aspect ratio one. If I get the standard ratio lcd, how does this laptop work with the resolution change on the fly when it is plugged into the USB port replicator? 😕
 
it should be fine. You can maintain two different resolutions on built in and external monitors. However, if you plan on cloning the two monitors so they show the same thing, then you want one with the same resolution/aspect ratio
 
It seems that the SVGA USB port replicator does exist: Discussed in this thread. Ecost has it for $169. Plus a small USB to 2 PS/2 for $9.89. This port replicator has everything, including sound ports (just what I wanted), but for some odd reason it does not have the keyboard and mouse ports :Q. All the rest of them, even the cheapest ones, would have PS/2 for mouse and keyboard plus some number (2-4) of usb downstream ports. Well, this addition is only ~$10, so, no biggie.
Still, I am a bit puzzled how to maintain 2 separate monitor profiles, its own screen and the external, if the external one never gets to be plugged into the VGA port? 😕
Should it be done through the screen.onclose() event of the laptop object? 🙂
I suppose it could be, by making the thing instead of going to sleep, change the resolution and the bit rate (1280x800, 16bit)...
What are your thoughts? Am I entirely off base, and this functionality has already been taken care of by Mike (Dell, that is)?

Thanks!
P.S. I've got the laptop before the rebate expired
 
Actually, I suppose it should only change the bit rate, from 24 to 16, and not the resolution for the widescreen monitor, like 2005. But for the standard monitor it would have to probably change both. The reason why I mention the bit rate is because the port replicator supports a max of 16 bit at these resolutions.
Please, guys, what are your thoughts?
Gotta get a monitor to go with this brand new laptop. The kid is about to leave for college.
 
Also, if you know of other usb port replication solutions (other brands, etc.) that would have all the ports - usbs, audio, video and ps/2 for keyb. and mouse, do not hesitate to share the info 😉
There are plenty of us out there who bought the 700m, I know who you are!🙂 I do not believe that subject of external everything is not important to you enough to keep the thread going :Q. The thing is great for the mobility application, but when you are stationary (i.e. home, work, dorm...)... Let's just say, convenience would not be its highest selling point.
Please guys, I know there is wealth of knowlegde and ideas out there. Common, it's Anandtech forum, after all. 🙂
 
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