Looking for a laptop to support Dell UltraSHarp 3008WFP monitor

I currently have an ASUS z70va.

The Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP monitor
is finally on sale and with an educational discount can get it for under $1500. (I don't know if there are more Dell coupons I can find to reduce this even more.)

I need to get a new laptop to support it and though I am open to others I am partial to ASUS.

Here is what Dell says the monitor need:

Here is a link to my answers to
What Notebook Should I Buy?

EDIT: Here are the essentials from the What Should I Buy? thread:

15.4 - 16" screen WSXGA+ (If it is possible to have a a card so I can switch back and forth between WSXGA+ and WUXGA, that would be ideal -- if there is no trade-off for getting that. Otherwise 70% of the time I will be word processing, sometimes 6 hours at a time and WUXGA on a 15.4" would be intolerable.)

Matte if at all possible -- that just doesn't seem available these days -- does anyone have a recommendation as ot what to do about that? Can I get some kind of screen I can put on and take-off as needed to have a matte effect?)

Any feedback here or there would be appreciated.

 

Are you going to be gaming on it? If yes, then I seriously recommend waiting for the new Asus W90 with its mobility 4870X2. The current Asus gaming laptops only have an Nvidia 9800m GS, which would choke and die trying to play on that huge resolution.

 

I am not a gamer but I understand that the Dell monitor needs one of the following video cards ATI RadeonTM HD4850, NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800GT, NVIDIA® GeForce® GXT280 and ATI RadeonTM HD4850 CrossFireX.

I will be using the laptop to watch DVDs, wordprocessing, listening to music, data analysis and intense Photo editing for purposes of museum work, etc.

Someone on the What should I Buy thread recommended the n50 -- is that reasonable recommendation? How will the W90 compare?

 

basically,you can get any laptop with hdmi 1.3 to enjoy full res!but if you want to play games on it,then get a desktop

 

I think I remember reading somewhere that HDMI only supports resolutions up to 1920x1200. You'll need a dual link DVI port for that monitor.

The Asus N50 only has HDMI and VGA, so no go there. Maybe someone else can help.

 

Yes, you are correct, the monitor needs dual link DVI.

The description that ASUS gives of the W90 is that it has an 18 inch screen -- I need a 15-16" screen so I can work easily on airplanes -- I will be lugging it around a lot.

The description also doesn't mention dual link DVI but as I don't understand yet what all these interfaces mean -- I might not be understanding the specs properly.

I am going to edit my post above to list what I am looking for. People here aren't looking at my thread "what should I buy" link.

 

Bumpity bump

 

Frankly, i don't think a laptop exists for your needs... sorry

 

According to Dell -- the specs of one of their systems: Dell Studio XPS 16 would support the monitor.

Isn't there something comparable manufactured by ASUS?

Here is what Dell says is necessary;

Excuse me if this is a stupid question: but is it possible to attach and "external" video card to my current ASUS z70va that will support the monitor?

 

Justitia:
Forgive me, but where on the linked Dell page are you seeing the compatibility thing for the Studio16? I might be missing it, but couldn't find it.

30" monitors need dual-dvi DESKTOP cards (and pretty fast ones at that, as you note from your 2/7 post) to drive the high resolution at 2560x1620 and without lag; I don't recall anyone's notebooks having dual-out links. The graphics card basically uses one dvi each for part of the screen to get the whole, as a single dvi link doesn't have the bandwidth to push all the data to the screen.

Bottom line for me is that I don't think there is any way for you to drive a 30" monitor with a notebook gpu at native res; running it at lower res kind of defeats the point, and might look fuzzy with the scaling that has to go on (but that's a matter of personal preference, unfortunately).

If you're using the notebook and you want size and crisp picture above all else, hit the biggest one you can get with HDMI native 1920x1080 - which I think top out 26-27". Asus had an external graphics solution, but it hasn't seemed to go anywhere. The simple answer to your last question posed is no.

 

The XPS will probably be able to drive it over HDMI, but I don't think at native res.

It was a external gpu in a box, threads are around here somewhere. Fujitsu has something similar recently announced in 4th qtr, but is specific to a gpu in one of their notebooks for mobile workstation or something.

 

Yeah -- now that I read the specs if the XPS studio 16 -- it only has an HDMI output.

Someone in the aftermarket hardware forum gave me a link to ASUS's external case and point out a. I would still need to spend $ on a video card in addition and b. they didn't think there would be a plug in the video card in my ASUS z70va (ATI Mobility Radeon x700)

 

I emailed the tech person I had been chatting with and he said you could use an adapter on the HDMI and another on the VGA and that would drive the monitor. But wouldn't the resolution still be effected? Won't I not get full use of the monitor?

 

Sounds hokey to me, never heard of using VGA and HDMI in tandem.

Me, I wouldn't risk $1500 plus a new notebook cost on that kind of answer; he/she might have just been trying to garner the sale......

 

If the laptop has hdmi 1.3 it will support the monitor, you will just have to use a dual link hdmi to dvi cable, and while the exist they are a little bit on the expensive side however it CAN be done.

 

Dell just drop their price on the 3008WFP 30-inch Widescreen another $260 bucks to $1339. On top of that I get an educator's discount of 7% which brings it to $1245.

I decided, based on what I have read to wait until the Windows 7 comes out with the laptops that take advantage of it.

I am trying to decide whether I should go ahead and get the monitor now. Given this economy, I have waited on a number of things that have gone on sale -- expecting them to drop even lower -- only to find that instead the price goes back up.

I might just go ahead and get the monitor. I am sure that a 3009WFP 30 inch screen will be coming out soon with more bells and whistles.

But the 3007 which was down to $1099 last week is now back up to $1299. It makes no sense getting that when you can get the 3008's for $50 bucks more. They are probably backlogged in inventory.

I know this is an ASUS forum -- but I have been considering a Clevo M860TU.

But I would like to see what ASUS comes out with.