Dock + Monitors For R400

Hi...

I am looking to set up my home office space and am looking to get the Advanced Mini Dock with a monitor. I don't game (except for Chess) so that is not a consideration. Basically, I am a very heavy user of Office Docs (Word, Excel) a lot of PDF files and some sat. imaging softwares. I need the second monitor to use multiple documents at the same time. The laptop monitor will be used for the actual writing etc. The second monitor will be used for the reference materials. So, split screen work on the second monitor is necessary.

My current machine: R400; 1280x800; 4GB RAM; Integrated X4500; Win 7 Pro (64-bit).

The monitor options I have are:

Dell SE178WFP 17″ LCD Monitor – 8400/- (US$ 182)
Dell SE198WFP 19″ LCD Monitor – 9700/- (US$ 210)
Dell SE2008WFP 20″ LCD Monitor – 14650/- (US$ 318)
Dell SP2208WFP 22″ LCD Monitor – 16800/- (US$ 365)

From the Lenovo website (India), I found the following:

Lenovo Thinkvision L1711p (17in) LCD Monitor - Rs.9,676/- (US$ 210)
Lenovo D186 Wide Monitor (18.5in) - Rs.8,531/- (US$ 185)
Lenovo L197 Wide Monitor (19in) - Rs.9,468/- (US$ 205)

I went and checked the Dell monitors, and they all have glossy screens. The Lenovo ones, however, have a matte finish, which I am partial to.

Which one would you recommend?

Also, about the Advanced Mini Dock. Looking through the Lenovo India site, I find that after entering my machine number, the following is thrown up:

ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock (Z60t/ Z60m/ T60) 39T4594

Under the Compatibility Sheets on the Lenovo site, it shows that the R400 is compatible, but the strange thing (because I don't understand it) is that whereas under the R500 label, it says that the "Integrated graphics models support all docking functions except DVI-D (digital) Pass-Through." But under the R400 section, it does not say the same thing. From this can I assume that both the VGA and the DVI-D Pass-Through function is available for the R400 even though my machine has the Integrated Graphics option and not the dedicated or switchable one?

Thanks

 

R400 uses the T400 mobo, so it can support both video outputs on the dock. Get a second hand one from USA, if you have friends or family coming over.

To be honest most of the Lenovo TN LCD is pretty average in terms of picture quality. I think you would gain a lot more if you get an IPS monitor of some sort.

I had the L197, which i sold off. I still have the 17 inch model and the 22 inch model, and when watching movies, they are pretty woeful. They are okay for use doing word processing and simple image editing. But compared to the U2411, U2311, or any of the IPS monitors, they come up short.

However, your budget may not allow you get the IPS monitor, in which case, i suggest you try to find a second hand one of no more than 2 years old (CCFL wears out).

 

@lead_org...

Thanks.

(1) Good to know that R400 can handle both the video outputs. About the Dock, I will have to buy it from Lenovo India as I need it urgently and I have no one coming over from the US at the moment. Plus there is the warranty, which I will get.

(2) Yeah, IPS monitors in India are very expensive. Around US$1000 or so (at least from the Dell (India) site. Will shop around in the 2nd hand stores here, but as you know, these things (especially in India) are always a hit and miss. Otherwise, maybe for a stop-gap arrangement, I guess a TN-type monitor will have to suffice. The thing I noticed about these monitors is that they are invariably widescreen, which is somewhat disorienting when looking up from the laptop screen to the monitor. But that is something I will have to get used to I guess.

Thanks

 

One other quick question: When looking through the specs of the Lenovo monitors (just trying to get familiar with them), some of them say the following:

"Supported Software Applications Windows 2000Windows XPWindows Vista Basic"

What precisely does this mean? Should it not be the case that these monitors are dependent on the machine that drives it, which in my case would be Win 7 Pro? Sorry for the noob question, I really don't know how this works.

Thanks

 

don't know what they mean, but the Lenovo LCD you mentioned are NOT OS dependent. I have used them ranging from XP home to Win 7 Ultimate, they get recognised and work all the same in these different OS.

Also, you don't have to get the Lenovo LCD, unless you want the branding. Since Lenovo uses the Panel from Samsung, LG, Chi mei, AOC, etc.

Benq monitors are quite cheap and quality wise they are okay.

You could use a cheaper brand (not cheaper quality) LCD to get yourself tied over, so that you can get friend coming from overseas (i.e. US or Australia) to bring you an IPS LCD from Dell (not that i prefer Dell, but their e-IPS and H-IPS has consistent quality and widely available, sometimes darn cheap).

Also, you can try your luck with the second hand Dell Ultrasharp 1908FP, they offer much larger range of motion like up and down, portrait/landscape, also it includes usb expansion slot. It is far more useful than the L197 widescreen, which has only tilt function, which is frustrating. (My Uncles has around 20 of these LCD in their office, and most people complain about not having the height adjustment).
The Dell Ultrasharp 1908 FP second hand should be cheap.

If you can get the 20 inch Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP second hand, it is also very good (MVA or IPS Panel, you can tell from the revision number), and you can use it as a TV with the Composite/S-Video in. Many people whom do professional photographic touch up and on a limited budget use them with their Apple laptop/desktop.

I have around 10 Dell ultrasharp monitors, so if you need a detailed user experience ranging from the 17 inch to the 24 inch size, just ask and i can tell you.

Think of it as a monitor hedging method.
--------------

If you have a friend or family in Australia, there is some bargain to be had with the Dell monitors that you mentioned.

http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/27327

 

@lead_org...

Not really hung up on the brand names. BenQ is an interesting option and I can probably get it cheaper than the other marquee names here. Something to defintely look into.

I can probably get the Dell SE198WFP 19" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor for about US$200 in India (new) and definitely cheaper 2nd hand. What do you think about this one?

And, about the Dock (again), since 2nd hand is not an option though a refurb unit directly from Lenovo is possible, maybe that would be the way to go?

Ultimately, this is something that I have been meaning to ask: Is the Dock worth the hassle or would a USB hub suffice?

 

The Dell unit that you mentioned is comparable to the L197 in terms of image quality from memory. And it offers no height adjustment or portrait mode.

The usb2dvi option would depend on how complex your picture is on the external LCD, as the usb 2.0 has limited bandwidth.

Can't you just get ebay or someone from overseas to send it over to India?

 

Ebay is not relly an option at the moment and the import duty structure in India for stuff like this is way too much and is a complicated business unless accompanied by the person, which is not happening in my case for at least a few months.

Thanks for the heads up on the Dell unit. I did not know that and it's funny that these details are not mentioned in the product descriptions.

When you say: The usb2dvi option would depend on how complex your picture is on the external LCD, as the usb 2.0 has limited bandwidth. I don't know what you mean. Are you referring to the Dock and one of its advantages?

Thanks

 

the dock is directly connected to the motherboard bus, so the dvi out on the dock is not bandwidth limited as the usb2dvi out.

I had the usb2dvi converter (swapped with my friend's x200 ultrabase), and it was okay for 720p movies, i never tried the 1080p movies or try to do complex 3D modelling on the converter, so i am not sure how it performs in that regard.

The additional advantages of the dock, are the digital sound connection out, 4 usb ports, legacy ports and the external power switch.

 

Thanks. This is very good to know. On some of the past threads I have been reading of heating problems etc on some of the machines (generally the T61 and varients) when docked, which apparently a BIOS update fixed (not too clear about this). But have you faced any of these issues particularly with reference to your R400 (or perhaps the T400)?

 

no overheating on my R400, T400, or T61 with the intel gpu. It did overheat (not really overheat just that the GPU temperature went up b a few degrees, as compared to undocked state) slightly with the discrete GPU

 

Thanks again. From the threads I read (I can link them if you want), some of the experiences were like horror stories - overheating (yes with the discrete GPUs), the second (and third monitor) not working etc. etc. I got a bit worried reading that.

Edit: See this thread, for example on some of the problems I was referring to above.

But I think first things first: Let me get the dock and in the meantime hunt down a cost-effective panel. The last thing to do will be to buy a sizeable desktop external HDD for storage and backups (in this connection, as I asked in the Accessories page, I don't think a dedicated file server would be necessary. I think that would be a bit of an overkill).

BTW, with the dock how would the internet connection work? When at home I always use the net through a wireless router for the sake of mobility and convenience.

 

if you use wireless then it won't be affected by whether you are docked or undocked, the dock has pass through for ethernet port.

ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock - ThinkWiki

 

OK. Thanks. Which also means that if I have a second (backup) net connection, I can run that through the dock while keeping the wireless connection alive and switch whenever required. In case you are wondering, in some places in India (like where I am about to move to), a second net connection is sometimes necessary.

 

okay, so you are running two separate internet connections i.e. 2 ADSL2+ line?

 

Correct. One is through the wireless router and the other through the ethernet port.

 

Consider too a DIY ViDock option. Means can have USB + accelerated external graphics. An NVidia solution can offer CUDA processing for software that supports it (eg: Adobe). Could do a HD5670 12V/75W solution for ~US$200.

 

Possible, but looks too complicated for me. I am really looking for a plug and play capability that is rock stable, very very low maintainence (meaning, requires the least intervention from my side) and that allows me to get on with my work. I guess, you could say, in this sense, I am not exactly an enthusiast. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

Recipe for success:

1. US$77-delivered PE4L-EC2C
2. Cheapest HD4670 or HD5670 you can get, eg: US$60-delivered HD4670
3. US$9-delivered 12V/72W 2.5mm AC adapter

Total: US$150

On a similar T400 it's plug'n'play as shown here and here.

Stable? My 12V/80W HD5750 setup has been rock stable even after hours of gaming which stresses the whole system. Can do dual-link DVI or eyefinity setups.

It's another choice which offers accelerated graphics processing in addition to HDMI audio and video output to external LCDs. A lot more features for what will probably be the same price as the Lenovo dock.

 

hi Nando, has anyone designed a casing system for the DIY dock yet?

 

No enclosures as yet for hwtool's PE4L/PE4H. I know one company is looking into it.

Consider some DIY enclosures. The 1U setup a personal favorite with a HD5770+ or GTXxxx class card. Besides, a PE4H is well weighted down and can be discretely tucked away in a spot away from harms way as the Engadget article shows so can function perfectly well without an enclosure.

Other options? MSI GUS would be a good one to consider but that may be several months till it's available for purchase. Could go a US$200 Villagetronic ViDock2 blank but they are restrictive on the card size to use and come with only with a 12V/72W PSU.

 

Sorry for appearing dense here, but since my machine has the Intel integrated option only, what advantage is there for me to opt for an additional graphics card on the DIY solution that you are referring to? Is this relevant specifically to gaming?

 

thanks, i probably can make one myself.

 

basically, the DIY vidock will act as additional graphics card that has increased graphics processing capability, but if you don't have the use for the extra graphics power then there is no point getting it.

But you can get the 5770 and connect 3 additional external monitors in addition to the vga out on the laptop.

 

Sorry, I guess you already answered my question here.

 

As far as I can see, the biggest advantage this will have will be for gaming and image processing purposes and for adding additional monitors. At the moment neither of these fall within my scheme of things and will probably not be so for the next few years (won't be gaming, image processing will be relatively light and I definitely won't be needing more than 1 monitor). Plus, I keep thinking of the warranty issue (which was recently a big deal in my case), which will be covered by Lenovo. But it is good to know that there is this option of DIY. I did not know this could be done.

Off topic: Is it not the case that increasingly, gaming etc is moving over from PC-based systems to things like the Xbox etc.?

Off topic 2: Was just thinking about it - thinking through these issues does make one confortable with one's machine and it is no wonder that once one finds a "sweet spot" one is loathed to give it up. Especially true of the Thinkpads, which has other excellent qualities as well. But I guess, this could apply to other computers too.

 

- dual-link DVI to drive 2560x1600 LCDs (single max is 1920x1080)
- ATI Eyefinity to have a panoramic desktop across multiple LCDs (eg: 3 LCDs).
- accelerated 3D graphics for gaming/apps
- HDMI audio controller
- additional external USB port from PE4L/PE4H to dock USB devices
- hardware accelerated video here

If go an NVidia card, then get CUDA processing for apps that support it, eg: quite a few Adobe apps. Means CPU is liberated to do other things.

Worth reviewing ATI/NVidia candidate card specs (HD4670/HD5670, GT240) for their features to get an idea of what benefits they offer beyond an integrated graphics solution.

 

yes, Xbox 360 and PS3 has become the main platform for games. But there still people whom game on the desktop (i play C & C 3 using the ATI 4870 on the Thinkstation).

But unless you need the increased GPU ability, stick with your Thinkpad dock.

 

Worth reviewing ATI/NVidia candidate card specs (HD4670/HD5670, GT240) for their features to get an idea of what benefits they offer beyond an integrated graphics solution.

Thanks. I'll start familiarizing myself with this stuff. It's all quite new to me.

 

Yeah...for the moment, I think this will be the best option.

Edit: I just placed the order for the Advanced Mini Dock with the Lenovo Showroom guy here! He said it will take about a week for me to get it. Can't wait!

Thanks for all your help and advise guys!