The Computer Oracle

Connecting 2 External Monitors to a Laptop?

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Track title: Book End

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Chapters
00:00 Question
00:35 Accepted answer (Score 34)
00:55 Answer 2 (Score 10)
01:23 Answer 3 (Score 9)
04:16 Answer 4 (Score 8)
04:32 Thank you

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Full question
https://superuser.com/questions/656/conn...

Accepted answer links:
[Matrox DualHead2Go]: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/produc.../
[Matrox TripleHead2Go]: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/produc.../
[blog post]: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archive...

Answer 3 links:
[DisplayLink]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayLink
[Plugable]: http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click...
[Anker]: http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click...
[experimental support]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dis...
[Plugable UD-3900 USB 3.0 Universal Docking Station]: http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click...
[image]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/KcyqL.png
[image]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/sWr8k.png

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Content licensed under CC BY-SA
https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/lice...

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Tags
#laptop #display

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 34


Matrox DualHead2Go (for two monitors) or Matrox TripleHead2Go (for three monitors) could be a solution.

Jeff Atwood also has a blog post about this.




ANSWER 2

Score 10


For my laptop I have a VGA and HDMI out, so I just use a VGA->DVI adapter and a HDMI->DVI adapter for my extra 2 monitors. Works great and is extremely simple to setup, no extra drivers or configurations to deal with.




ANSWER 3

Score 9


DisplayLink produces some chipsets that allow to convert HDMI / DVI video stream to USB. Plugable and Anker sell them (around 50-60 USD for one converter). It works for Windows and sometime on Mac (check the product's description). There is some experimental support for Linux.

I have 5 of them with my laptop and it works good for me:

enter image description here


I have recently switched to the Plugable UD-3900 USB 3.0 Universal Docking Station, as it can connect two monitors. Regarding the graphics:

  • HDMI port supports resolutions up to 2560x1440* and DVI/VGA port supports display resolutions up to 2048x1152 / 1920x1200; wired Ethernet port supports 10/100/1000Mbps speeds
  • Full support for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, & legacy XP systems. Surface RT, Mac OS X, and Linux/Unix are not supported. Docking station suggested for use with web and productivity software; not recommended for gaming
  • *2560x1440 output only available when using a single HDMI display. If dual displays are connected, each will be limited to a maximum resolution of 1920x1200. 2560x1440 output requires a "High Speed" HDMI cable. 2560x1440 mode operates at a 50Hz refresh rate; all lower modes support 60Hz refresh. 2560x1440 output requires current DisplayLink drivers and attached monitor must natively support 2560x1440 via HDMI input

Plugable UD-3900 USB 3.0 Universal Docking Station rear Plugable UD-3900 USB 3.0 Universal Docking Station front




ANSWER 4

Score 8


Typically most laptops only have enough video card grunt to support two monitors, one internal and one external.




ANSWER 5

Score 4


We use VGA Splitters at work. With the right drivers installed you can happily drive dual displays, and in the case of a notebook even 3 monitors.

We mainly use the Dell XPS series notebooks and it works well. It is not a native solution, but better then none at all.

Edit:

To correct my original statement. We use DVI to VGA splitters, which does have the ability to see 2 monitors as individual screens. This is specifically usefull when owning Dell OptiPlex Desktops with ATI DVI only external graphics cards.