Vostro 1500 and Dell U2711

Hi,
is there a way to use max. resolution of the U2711(2560x1440) with the Vostro 1500 8600mGT?

Unfortunately the Vostro 1500 has only VGA. German wikipedia says 400mhz ramdac would be sufficient for 2560 x 1440 pixels at 75 hz frequency and I can configure 2560 x 1440 as a custom resolution in the nvidia control panel, but the U2711 would only accept resolutions up to 2048x1152

Is there some workaround? I am using winXP.

If not, which laptop do you recommend? Preferrably cheap, used, 1680x1050 or better, with displayport.

Thanks in advance

EDIT:
Unfortunately I still really love my V1500.
The following things i would really miss:
-the robust construction,
-the caddy which carries a 12.5mm 1TB HDD
-and of course the configurable fan(i8kfanGUI) which makes it so quiet

 

Without digital outputs, there is no workaround. 2048x1152 is roughly where VGA stops, and even then it might not look very good depending on the cable.

English Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector): "The same VGA cable can be used with a variety of supported VGA resolutions, ranging from 640×400px @70 Hz (24 MHz of signal bandwidth) to 1280×1024px @85 Hz (160 MHz) and up to 2048×1536px @85 Hz (388 MHz). There are no standards defining the quality required for each resolution, but higher-quality cables typically contain coaxial wiring and insulation which make them thicker."

There are add-on USB graphics cards that might go higher, but they're usually VGA. There's also the eGPU thread on the forums that might be an alternative if your system is compatible: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/418851-egpu-experiences.html

 

Wow, i am quite impressed. eGPU seems to be an option.

I will read the thread about it. Someone got it to work with the Inspiron 1520(=V1500), so i should also be able to do it.

Probably it gets a little less portable, but i think i will manage this.(I carry it to university everyday, always using standby mode).

At least its worth a try...