Laptop with 2 external monitors

flanders2006

Hi,

I'm looking at connecting 2 monitors to my HP Compaq nc6400 laptop in work. I have a HP docking station that has VGA and DVI-D ports. Currently I have one monitor connected to the VGA port and set up as an extended desktop. I want to add another.

Is my best option a Usb 2.0 Uga Multi-Display Adapter External Video Card? I can get one on Amazon for £25, does anyone know of a cheaper option for me?

Freddy Smelly

flanders2006 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking at connecting 2 monitors to my HP Compaq nc6400 laptop in work. I have a HP docking station that has VGA and DVI-D ports. Currently I have one monitor connected to the VGA port and set up as an extended desktop. I want to add another.

Is my best option a Usb 2.0 Uga Multi-Display Adapter External Video Card? I can get one on Amazon for £25, does anyone know of a cheaper option for me?

if you have a docking station you dont need anything else to run two monitors

connect both monitors to the docking station then boot up windows

in display properties you should see both monitors... on the second monitor check the tick box that says "extend this to my desktop"

hit apply and the second screen should work

flanders2006

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

if you have a docking station you dont need anything else to run two monitors

connect both monitors to the docking station then boot up windows

in display properties you should see both monitors... on the second monitor check the tick box that says "extend this to my desktop"

hit apply and the second screen should work

One monitor is connected to the VGA port and works fine as an extended desktop yo my laptop screen, however I can't get the other one recognised. It is currently connected to the DVI-D port via a DVI-D to VGA converter.

When i go to display properties I see there are 2 screens identified, clicking identify confirms that they are my laptop screen and my monitor attached via VGA port.

Freddy Smelly

flanders2006 wrote: »

One monitor is connected to the VGA port and works fine as an extended desktop yo my laptop screen, however I can't get the other one recognised. It is currently connected to the DVI-D port via a DVI-D to VGA converter.

When i go to display properties I see there are 2 screens identified, clicking identify confirms that they are my laptop screen and my monitor attached via VGA port.

ah you cant use the laptop screen with the other 2 external screens... it will only allow you one external with the laptop screen... you need to disable the laptop screen and use the two externals instead

flanders2006

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

ah you cant use the laptop screen with the other 2 external screens... it will only allow you one external with the laptop screen... you need to disable the laptop screen and use the two externals instead

What I want to have is 3 screens......

I know the USB to VGA external graphics controller allows this but I'm now wondering do all monitors have to be connected this way or can I have one connected to VGA and one connected via USB?

Freddy Smelly

flanders2006 wrote: »

What I want to have is 3 screens......

I know the USB to VGA external graphics controller allows this but I'm now wondering do all monitors have to be connected this way or can I have one connected to VGA and one connected via USB?

if you want to use 3 screens you will need something like this

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/displayport/

flanders2006

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

if you want to use 3 screens you will need something like this

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/displayport/

That's a bit out of my price range. I can get a Usb 2.0 Uga Multi-Display Adapter External Video Card from Amazon for about €40. This will allow one screen connect via USB.

What I now want to know is if I need 2 of these for my 2 external screens or can one work off the direct VGA connection and one off the USB adapter?