Do any laptop graphics cards have dual outputs?

[monkeyman1133]

^^^

I was thinking of getting a laptop sometime, even though I've been a firm laptop opponent for just about my whole life. But I really need multi-display functionality.

 

[Peter]

As of today, most do. One of the two screens you'll get is the laptop's own panel.

 

[cm123]

Yes there is HERE

Several of these do, the N5009 has 15.4 inch Wide-Screen, 1680 X 1050 Resolution, 256MB ATI Graphics, up to 2GB Memory, ultra sleek design - It does CAD & games well plus plays a great DVD movie!

VGA & svideo plus the screen all which can be used at the same time - many LCD's now have a s-video in for 1 of the inputs and vga for the other of course.

The s-video I use is HERE

 

[monkeyman1133]

ok, thanks for the answers. But just to clarify, I know that most laptops have s-video and vga, but do any have dual dvi, or even dual vga?

 

[Traire]

no, not really

 

[monkeyman1133]

so theres no way to attach two external monitors to a laptop at all?

 

[cm123]

Originally posted by: monkeyman1133
so theres no way to attach two external monitors to a laptop at all?

again, yes there is... we do it all the time. You need to NB that can display to the VGA connector and the S-video and the same time.

Then a LCD with S-video input (many have this nowadays) & of course 1 normal connection.

see my first post here, this is a NB that does that & a display that does - simple and easy to do just be careful that you get a NB that has enough video power you may need if your split screening (dual) vs. same image on both displays. That's why we like the NB below - its has a ATI 256MB Video...

Yes there is HERE

Several of these do, the N5009 has 15.4 inch Wide-Screen, 1680 X 1050 Resolution, 256MB ATI Graphics, up to 2GB Memory, ultra sleek design - It does CAD & games well plus plays a great DVD movie!

VGA & svideo plus the screen all which can be used at the same time - many LCD's now have a s-video in for 1 of the inputs and vga for the other of course.

The s-video I use is HERE

 

[trikster2]

To answer your question.

I doubt you want VGA and S-video, unless you are making movies or something.


The answer is yes. You can get VGA and DVI (both) on many laptops.

I use two monitors with my laptop all the time, one via DVI and the other VGA.

However, on some laptop you need a docking station to get the DVI out.

One of the pannels will be a mirror of what you have on the laptop screen. However since the screen is so small compared to my LCDs I just keep it closed.

Dell lattitude D800/D810, Precision M60/M70 and Thinkpad T42/43 and R51/R52, toshiba Tecra's are all examples of notepads that support DVI, IF you have the docking station.

The Dell 9300/XPS-2 and Acer 8103/8104 support DVI and VGA without a docking station.

I run dual monitor with both ATI and NVIDIA cards. For some reason I prefer the NVIDIA dual head drivers over ATI's.

 

[Peter]

... and besides, although the ATi chips can drive three displays at a time (VGA+panel+TV), they can only drive two sets of contents. The TV screen will be a mirror of one of the others.

 

[monkeyman1133]

Originally posted by: trikster2

The Dell 9300/XPS-2 and Acer 8103/8104 support DVI and VGA without a docking station.

The Dell 9300/XPS-2 use the 6800 Go, right? So their having a dvi and vga output is dependent on the video card? Thus, any laptop with a 6800 Go would also have the same outputs? Or is it manufacturer dependent instead?

 

[cm123]

Originally posted by: Peter
... and besides, although the ATi chips can drive three displays at a time (VGA+panel+TV), they can only drive two sets of contents. The TV screen will be a mirror of one of the others.

Not true, come models allow completey different display on s-video - of course with a docking stations that adds more options - on NB's that offer doccking stations with a display out.

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: cm123

Originally posted by: monkeyman1133
simple and easy to do just be careful that you get a NB that has enough video power you may need if your split screening (dual) vs. same image on both displays. That's why we like the NB below - its has a ATI 256MB Video...

What do you mean "enough video power"? I'm not particularly familar with notebooks but I know in desktops it doesn't take much at all to drive dual displays, certianly not 256mb of VRAM.

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: cm123

Originally posted by: Peter
... and besides, although the ATi chips can drive three displays at a time (VGA+panel+TV), they can only drive two sets of contents. The TV screen will be a mirror of one of the others.

Not true, come models allow completey different display on s-video - of course with a docking stations that adds more options - on NB's that offer doccking stations with a display out.

No ATi chip ever had the capability to do triple independent output, ever. Sure you can do dual independent LCD+TV or CRT+TV, but you cannot do triple independent LCD+CRT+TV.

 

[cm123]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman

Originally posted by: cm123

Originally posted by: monkeyman1133
simple and easy to do just be careful that you get a NB that has enough video power you may need if your split screening (dual) vs. same image on both displays. That's why we like the NB below - its has a ATI 256MB Video...

What do you mean "enough video power"? I'm not particularly familar with notebooks but I know in desktops it doesn't take much at all to drive dual displays, certianly not 256mb of VRAM.

Most NB video chips are not near as fast as their desktop counter parts is all, watch that your getting a qualtiy video chipset...