External monitor & keyboard

Hi,
I just went to BB and purchased a 25" 1080P HDMI monitor and a Logitech G15 keyboard for home station work use with my P7805-u. What a great investment and I should have done this a long time ago.

I have the 1920x1200 screen but the text and icons are just too small for everday use. The 25" actually is a bit large and almost the reverse situation but it is nice to sit back and type or even use RealFlight 4.5.

I still have to play a bit about getting the system to properly default to hdmi but boot to normal laptop screen when unplugged from the monitor. Finally having backlit keys is awesome too.

I need to get this down to one usb, HDMI and power to the laptop too so litterally I can packup or setup in under 20 seconds.

 

If you find a way to default to external hdmi monitor please share.

 

Congrats! I have the Asus VW266H 25.5" monitor, and wooo baby is it nice to have all that screen This is what convinced me that the 1900x1200 screen on a notebook is just too small for my use. Not only does it make you hunch over to read the text, but when playing games, 1900x1200 on a 17" monitor is just too small for accurate shooting and mouse-clicking on distant things.
So I'm now happy with 1440x900 on the notebook screen just for readability and general usability.

 

I think it's a driver issue, as mine was defaulted to the secondary monitor on HDMI the moment I plugged it in. I changed over to VGA and it defaulted to the secondary as well.

That is, right up to where a game crashed my Windows hard enough for me to reinstall. Now I can't get the dumb thing to default to the secondary monitor anymore unless I use early drivers. I'm using Xfastest 185.20 atm, the 180.70 ones kept the monitor setting, but the 185.20 ones do not.

 

I have Windows 7 and 186.03 Drivers. Although there was just an update available for for the Nvidia Digital audio driver. Setting to default video to the HDMI was a breeze when not in clone mode.

My laptop monitor is off while while using the big one. I also set audio to the HDMI as default and have no issues there either. I just need to setup th four port powered usb 2.0 hub so that I only have to use one plug in the laptop.

I really like the G15's back lit keys too. The back of the keyboard doesn't sit up as high as I would like though. I'll just have to get something there to prop it up about 3/4 - 1" or so more........

 

I use logitech's illuminated keyboard....i like the dinovo-edge insipired design of it.

IMO, the G15 (much like the Dell XPS 1730) suffers from substance over style; they both are very good at what they do but are a bit too garish from an aesthetical point of view.

 

Hey TANWare something like this sounds close to what your asking.... middle is best


http://www.usbgear.com/dock/

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/17273/usb-docking-station/

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Sony-VAIO-USB-Docking-Station/3060445/product.html

 

I do this, I have a Samsung T240 I use sometimes, and a 42" Insignia I use others(depending if the g/f is using the TV or not), Using the latest 186.03 mobile drivers, I use the Nvidia setup to setup the HDMI monitor as Primary and completely disable the laptop display. You'll probably also want to disable sleeping when you close the lid under power options, as my laptop usually sits near my television.

When I want to take the laptop upstairs, I just unplug it and it resets to the laptop monitor. If I plug HDMI back in, it goes back. If this doesn't fix it for you, PM me and let me know what steps you're doing(maybe add screenies)

 

You want to be careful of this if you're gaming or producing a lot of heat from your laptop. If the lid is closed and the notebook is sitting on its feet, a lot of the heat will be absorbed by the screen. I leave mine open at about a 45 degree angle to prevent this.