E6400 with an external monitor as the main monitor?

So you are using the e6400 monitor as the second monitor (no taskbar)? Perfect then! I'll get the integrated Intel card then, I think..

Thanks!

 

I've now found this thread about the Intel GPU and 2 monitors.

John

 

I've seen this thread, but I think it doesn't speak about using the e6400 monitor, only 2 external monitors. The problem is that some cards don't allow you to use an external monitor as the main one and the laptop monitor as the second one.

But thanks for the help!

 

I have an E6400 with Intel Graphics and I have now tested this.

Laptop: E6400 with 1280x800 resolution
External monitor: Samsung 19" 940T 1280x1024 resolution connected with VGA cable to E6400.

Result: External monitor can be set as primary monitor in extended desktop mode.
Note that you need to use the Intel Graphics properties tool to set which monitor is primary. The normal Display properties tool in Windows XP is not enough. Maybe people that say this cannot be done have tried to do this with the Display properties tool?

With earlier generations of Intel Integrated graphics it has been a bit tricky to get the primary/secondary monitor settings to stay in place if the laptop is disconnected from the external monitor. With E6400 it works better. I performed a test with this:

1. External monitor connected and set as primary
2. Shut down laptop and disconnect external monitor
3. Boot laptop without external monitor. Laptop monitor primary as expected (not all computers handle this correctly).
4. Shut down laptop and connect external monitor
5. Boot laptop with external monitor. At login screen, the laptop monitor was still primary (should have been secondary). After login, the external monitor took over as primary (settings remembered). This is good and I believe it is an improvement from earlier Intel Graphics devices. It is not perfect though since the login screen appeared on the laptop.

I don't have a DisplayPort->DVI cable so I haven't been able to test DisplayPort/DVI connection. I can borrow a cable to test with if this is important to you. The primary/secondary logic should be the same with VGA.

One thing that might be a problem that I haven't been able to test is using high-resolutions on the external monitor. I think VGA will work resolutions up to 2048x1536 but for resolutions over 1280x1024 DVI produces a better image. For 24" monitors (1920x1200?) you probably want to use a DVI connection and then you might have to buy a DisplayPort->DVI adapter. It is not included with the laptop and to save shipping costs you might want to order it together with the laptop.

Regarding high resolutions, I know that resolutions over 1600x1200 can be tricky to get to work with older Intel Integrated graphics since it only used to support Single-Link DVI. Dual-Link DVI is needed for high resolutions. 1920x1200 is a resolution that sometimes work with Single-Link DVI but not always. I will try to see if I can find info if E6400 with Intel Graphics supports Dual-Link DVI with the DisplayPort->DVI adapter.

Örjan

 

Wow, thanks a lot orjan!

I agree it would be better if the settings were better remembered when disconnecting/reconnecting the external monitor but I can live with that!

I also know sometimes you have to use the software provided by the card to use the monitors like you want, I have no problem with that.

Thanks again orjan, your tests are really appreciated!

 

I can check this out later on tonight, if you need anything.

 

If you have a nVidia card and can confirm, as sakor1, that an external monitor can be used as the primary monitor and the e6400 as the second monitor, using dual view, that would be awesome! orjan just confirmed it for the Intel card, but I'd like a second confirmation for the nVidia card.

Thanks!

 

If you're still willing to do the little test I asked, it would be really appreciated! But thanks anyway!

 

Hi tata668,

I have an E6500 with the NVIDA. I'm using my external monitor as primary monitor and the E6500 as the second monitor. It works great and easily via dual view. I'm doing this via the E-Port Plus dock though, but I think it will work without a dock as well, since theres both a VGA and DisplayPort output on both the E6500 and E6400.

 

Cool, thanks LHF! It's appreciated!