XPS M1330 - HDMI to drive external monitor?

Apologies if this is a stupid question, it seems in theory it should work but I've also seen a few threads where people seem to be finding troubles with using the HDMI connection.

Is it possible to use the HDMI connector to drive a desktop display at say 1680x1050 or 1900x1200 either connecting to a display with a HDMI port or with a HDMI->DVI cable?

Considering the 1330 as a portable machine but would want to "dock" it in to something larger for desk based use, preferably using HDMI rather than the VGA cable.

Only experience on HDMI has been trying to get a DVI->HDMI connection on the telly which wouldn't play nicely at anything except 720p

 

I think it could be done in theory. Anyway I think you'll be fine if you used the VGA if the HDMI didn't work. I never bothered with HD TV's and the likes.

 

HDMI can drive 1920x1080 at 60fps so 1680x1050 shouldn't be a problem.

1920x1200 may be possible, but it's outside the spec.

**EDIT** Having just read the Wikipeadia article on HDMI, you're going to be out of luck with 1920x1200 unless, by some bizarre miracle, Dell implemented HDMI version 1.3 (usually, only 1.2 or earlier is used).

Also, with a suitably good monitor, 1920x1200 via VGA is indistinguishable from DVI. The more expensive the monitor (and VGA cable), the better it will look.

My Dell 2405FPW works wonders with incoming VGA.

 

my m1530 has no problems running 1920x1200 on my external with an HDMI-> DVI cable

 

I'm running an external monitor (Samsung 245bw) at 1920x1200 right now from my M1330 (with the 8400gs) using a HDMI - DVI cable running at 60hz. I've also hooked it up to my HDTV and run it at 1080p with no probs.

It also runs my monitor through VGA but I was getting a lot of flicker and things which I think was due to my power supply and not laptop.

 

Thanks for the comments guys, that's good to know Torn between the M1530 or the M1330 at the moment - currently use a 15" lappy which I want to replace soon as it's 3yrs old, the M1530 would be a good replacement but sometimes wish for a bigger screen and seperate keyboard, and sometimes wish it was a bit smaller when travelling with it!

So I'm thinking of getting the best of both with a M1330 for out-and-about and getting a nice monitor for using it on the desk - shame there's no dock solution for the M1330 but at least power, HDMI and USB are all on the same side of the laptop so I can manually dock it fairly easy and tidy

 

I just tried running my Samsung 205BW external monitor (native resolution of 1680x1050) using VGA connected to my M1330 and can't get it to display any higher than 1280x800. Are higher resolutions for external monitors only possible through HDMI?

 

Are you trying to mirror the laptop display (i.e. both screens show the same thing)? If so that could be the issue, as you're only going to get the resolution your laptop has.

 

Yep, that must've been the problem. Works fine now that I use it only as an external monitor (and not mirrored). Thanks for the help!

 

Related to this question, does anyone here know whether the XPS M1330 can drive two external monitors, one via the VGA port and one via the HDMI port?

 

You could buy a 'DisplayLink' capable monitor or adapter and drive extra monitors via USB, but with regard to HDMI/VGA combined usage I'm not sure. I wouldn't imagine it to be within the scope of either the onboard graphics or the Nvidia GPU.

 

You can run 1680x1050 by itself if you do not, at the same time, use the internal LCD. If you want to use the internal LCD, too, then I think 1280x1024 or 1440x900 is the limit for what the 8400 M GS can do for the outside display.

As far as docking is concerned, I also basically dock my M133O with the power, HDMI (to DVI on the monitor) and usb, all on the left side of the notebook, so it's a fairly easy docking/undocking. My concern, though, is that I don't want to wear out the ports, particularly the USB, from all the in/out.

To that end, I purchased the Logitech MX Bluetooth KB/Mouse from the BestBuy clearance, and it works great, so as long as I don't need any other peripherals, I don't have to use the USB every time I "dock".

If anyone does buy the above KB/Mouse, my advice is to use the built-in Dell BT card (order it if you don't have it)to associate with the KB/Mouse WITHOUT installing any Logitech drivers. While you do miss out on some of the hotkeys (the media and others work fine), you can keep the touchpad drivers available for use, and have one less driver/set of autoruns cluttering your system. It works very well.

 

That's inaccurate information. The Nvidia specification on their website for the 8400M GS capabilities is 1920x1200 maximum output. Perhaps the monitor you are using is only capable of supporting upto 1680x1050, but the GPU itself is capable of pushing a lot more pixels.