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Ken J. 2006-07-20 19:17
Hi all. I've searched around this forum for 30-45 minutes just to get an idea of the dialogue on this subject, and would like to get any ideas people have. I have a Fujitsu T4020 Tablet PC and the compatible port replicator. The replicator has VGA and DVI ports. I use two external Dell monitors with no problem, using the extended desktop setting, with the notebook closed. I also have the Toshiba M405 Tablet PC. I have not yet purchased the compatible port replicator for it, but I know that it has both VGA and DVI ports. However, in reading on another forum about somebody who tried to use two external monitors with this same machine and replicator, he has been unsuccessful. I have received two different opinions from Toshiba tech support, the latest saying it is not possible because as soon as the replicator senses a signal on one of the ports, it shuts down the other one.
I am curious as to what accounts for the apparent difference in the capability of both setups, the Fujitsu and Toshiba. Is it the notebook that governs whether you can use two monitors, or is it the port replicator? The specs on the Fujitsu T4020 say it has the Intel® 915GM chipset and the video controller is the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900. The Toshiba has the Intel® 945GM Express chipset and Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950. Since the Toshiba seems to have more recent versions of these items, it would surprise me that it would not support two monitors, while the older versions would. Therefore I'm left to assume that the port replicator is the deciding factor. However, the specs for these replicators don't seem to identify anything that would definitively indicate yes or no on dual monitor capability.
I'd just like to understand what makes one work and the other not work. Our whole firm (30+ employees) has gone to dual monitors, and several are using Dell docking stations with dual monitors, so I'm just surprised that a recent machine like the Toshiba M405 would not support it.
Sorry if this post was too long, but I wanted to be very clear on the specifics of my setup and question.
Thanks.
Ken
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n3twork 2006-07-23 16:56
From my experience with port replicators and laptops the general consensus is that the laptop has on board VGA out and the port replicators have the VGA and the DVI out.
Now your laptop can run in dual head mode without much problem. Laptop screen + VGA port or latop screen + DVI port (if you have the port replicator) and most laptops will allow you to run VGA+DVI (in this mode you won't have the laptop display running).
I'm pretty sure you would be able to get this to work but there is always the small chance that it doesn't work it depends on how the manufacturer builds the port replicator. If you absolutely need to add displays to your tablet pc you could buy a VGBook (I think that's the name of it you can google it) and it would give you an extra 2 DVI ports on top of the 2 outputs your laptop can allready provide for a total of 4 displays.
I have an IBM T41 and it has an ATI Mobile chipset and it does allow me to run VGA+DVI if I use the port replicator.
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Ken J. 2006-07-25 06:48
Thanks for the reply n3twork. It sounds like you agree that the key factor is whether the port replicator is built to allow simultaneous VGA and DVI. I'm just surprised that Toshiba would not have a port replicator that supported this. So far it appears that Fujitsu, Dell, and IBM replicators support it, and there may be others.
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