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    A good dock for my T420?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by ebolamonkey3, Apr 19, 2011.

  1. ebolamonkey3

    ebolamonkey3 Notebook Consultant

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    Hey guys, I'm kinda confused w/ all the options out there.

    Just bought a T420, and I want to connect it to my 3007WFP-HC.

    Normally I'd just drag a DP cable from the laptop to the monitor and be done with it, but since the only input on the Dell is Dual-Link DVI, I'm kind of in a jam.

    So which dock has a Dual-Link DVI connector on the back and supports the T420? I looked around Lenovo's website but it seems that the newer docks only support 1600p resolution via Displayport :(
     
    ebolamonkey3, Apr 19, 2011
    #1
  2. afhstingray

    afhstingray Notebook Prophet

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    a displayport to dual-DVI adaptor will cost you less than 10 dollars. look on amazon. and displayport supports higher resolution AFAIK
     
    afhstingray, Apr 19, 2011
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  3. ebolamonkey3

    ebolamonkey3 Notebook Consultant

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    At 2560x1600 resolution, wouldn't I need an active adapter? That's much more expensive.
     
    ebolamonkey3, Apr 20, 2011
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  4. bsoft

    bsoft Notebook Consultant

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    Get yourself an active DP to DL DVI-D adapter. The cheapest option seems to be:

    For only $61.18 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Mini DisplayPort + USB to Dual-Link DVI Adapter | Mini DisplayPort to HDMI / DVI / VGA Adapters

    With that adapter you'll also need a mini DP to DP adapter:

    For only $3.50 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Mini DisplayPort Male to DisplayPort Female Adapter | Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapters

    Total is around $65. You can use the DP-DVI adapter with just the laptop alone.

    All of the docks are going to be more than $65. The Mini Dock Series 3 is around $180 new and around $100 on eBay.

    None of the Series 3 docks have a dual-link DVI-D output because the new connector uses DisplayPort. DP (specifically DP++ like the T420 has) does support DVI compatibility mode but it's only single-link. Since the dock does not have an active DP to DVI-D DL converter, you are limited to single-link monitors. If you want a high-resolution (more than 1920x1200) monitor with the Series 3 dock you either need a native DP monitor (like the Dell 3008WFP) or you need an active dual-link adapter.

    The good news is that you can drive a 30" digital monitor with the T420, even the integrated graphics version. That was not the case on the T400 where you needed both the dock (since the T400 didn't have a digital video connector on the laptop itself) and the discrete graphics version (the Intel graphics have never supported dual-link DVI). What's worse is that in the T400 switchable models DVI out didn't work at all when the graphics were set to "Energy Saving".
     
    bsoft, Apr 20, 2011
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  5. ebolamonkey3

    ebolamonkey3 Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the help :) Was hoping to get a dock for an all in one solution (and less messy one), but I guess adapters it is.
     
    ebolamonkey3, Apr 20, 2011
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