Purchased 2 external monitors for my Dell Precision M6500

Hi there, when I purchased the laptop, I was led to believe I could use 3 displays at the same time. I installed the standard driver that was recommended to me through Dell.com/support. On ATI's website, it redirects me to Dell support and tells me to retrieve my driver here. So I figured my driver is up to date.

However, when I use Windows 7, I try to output to two 1920x1080p monitors while using my Dell 1920x1200p panel. It gives me an error stating settings cannot be saved.

I went into the Catalyst Contol Manager, and it tells me I need to disconnect a display if I want to use my Dell panel. So, basically, I can only use two monitors at a time.

Does this have to do with the native resolution on the Dell Panel being 1200p, and the others being two 1080p panels? It really doesn't make sense but I believe that may be the issue.

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

 

gpu only supports 2 outputs at a time pretty normal for most laptops.

you can get a usb external vga adapter for like $45 to use the 3rd display if you would like, this is the method i recommend to most people that need to add more displays to a laptop.

 

Or, if display performance/refresh rate isn't an issue, say you're using one of the external monitors for toolbars (photoshop, etc) or simple desktop extensions, there are any number of USB connect and powered monitors now available.

Toshiba just intro'd a 14" model.

 

The M7820 claims to support three external monitors. I'm using the Dell docking station, with two external monitors hooked up through DVI ports on the dock, and then I want to use my Dell Precision M6500 panel. That is when I run into the issue. I cannot power the Dell Precision M6500 panel and run both external monitors at the same time even though the M7820 is capable of it.


So basically, I do not want to add more displays, I just want to be able to use my M6500 panel along with both of my external monitors.

 

according to this video you can. Now it does say 2 DVI and 1 vga for external. since the internal display is digital maybe you need to do 1 DVI and one vga?.................

 

That was a good suggestion but I tried that and it did not work. Any other ideas? Thanks

 

Do what ViciousXUSMC said, I think you just mis-understood what he meant. You use the Internal Display on your computer, then 1 external monitor like you were doing, then plug the adapter into a USB port and a monitor on the other end of that (from what I know of it, you can use these usb devices with your notebook because it is using CUP and a bit of GPU power to process information and then send it through the usb port to the adapter, and it does not get recognized as one of the 2 total outputs your system can do it is separate)


I don't think you will be able to do it any other way (there have been countless people looking for the same solution you are, dating back many years; hence why there are so many of those usb to vga adapters, there really aren't other options)

 

I'll give that a shot, however:

YouTube - Dell Precision M6500 Mobile Workstation Powers Three Monitors

In this video, he clearly states that with the ATI M7820, which I have, you can power 3 monitors with zero issues (with the same dock that I have). Not only that, he states, "If you want to use the integrated M6500 display, you can use that too along with two external monitors connected to DVI."

So you can see why I'm curious why mine doesn't do that. Even if there is a workaround, I would rather have what should be working, working. I hope that makes some sense. Even on ATI's website, they state it will work.

And chatting with Dell support is incredibly useless. All they want to tell me is that it won't work, even though I tell them it's advertised as one of the main points of the M6500 and even linking them to the Youtube video. Their final "solution" was to get me to reboot my computer so they can disconnect the chat.

 

First, is there any firmware (BIOS) updates for your system and/or dock?

Second, I noticed in the vide that the displays were 'spanned' - is this how your setup testing is too? (If you have them as 'individual' montors, this is why you may be missing out on a three display output capability).

Lol @ Dell support.

Finally, have you tested this with the shipped drivers (all of them)?

If any drivers have been upgraded/changed - then all bets are off.

Good luck.

 

No, I tried this with the default drivers that comes included with the resource DVD. There has only been one release of the M7820 driver. I've tried this on default bios that shipped and current one A06.

And yes, my setup is spanned with "extended" option selected. When I try to extend to the laptop display, it won't.

There isn't any firmware that I'm aware of for the port replicator. It doesn't state that there is any, but I'll be sure to do a thorough search.

 

hmm.... I looked into it a bit further, and I think is is supposed to do what you are saying (though I can't find one PDF/ Dell provided bit of info that supports the idea of 3 monitors); but some other info has lead me to think it is your dock and screens in use that are the problem, not the computer itself. Reviews of the dock - DELL E-Port Plus Replicator with 130-Watt Power Adapter Cord for Select Dell Inspiron/ Latitude Laptops / Precision Mobile WorkStations : Laptop Accessories | Dell- (This is the dock you are using, isn't it? if not, do you have a link/ model number?):

Spoiler

Title:
Great Product / Know the Limitation
Review:
Pros
This is a great product, durable and a huge time saver for someone who is on the road or works between multiple offices. It is durable and has sufficient expansion slots for all of your peripherals.
Cons
Know the limitations of this item. One of the applications we purchased this for was to run two external 22" monitors via the DVI connectors in addition to the laptop screen. Although there is expansion for this a single video card won't handle it. If you want to run three monitors you will need a second video card. We found a good external USB 2.0 DVI option for this but did not expect to need it.

Spoiler

Title:
Convenient - I bought 2!
Review:
Very convenient. I love the fact I just show up and dock the devise. One major issues is that I purchased 2 22" dell monitors and had a heck of a time configuring the resolution of one of the monitors plugged into the back port (DVI) of the dock. I ultimately had to reduce the colors to 16 and then all resolutions worked and went fine - but this took about 4 hours of trial and error... Would be good in advance to know of limitations... Overall I love docking stations and this one has ALL the ports I could every need including external eSATA!

And then there is this:

Spoiler

Title:
Needs a cooling fan installed in the base.
Review:
The Dell E-Series is amazing because we can dock two 2560x1600 monitors via DisplayPort (not dual-link DVI) to any of the compatible laptops. Being able to dock the two monitors to my field laptop is really the only reason I'm not using Apple.
The major design flaw of this product is that there needs to be a fan installed in the base to cool the bottom of the laptop. I have remedied this problem by setting the dock on a USB powered laptop cooler which stops the laptop cooling fans from going to high-speed.
The other major oversight of this product is that the max resolution of a 30" dual-link monitor is 1280x800. You have to buy DisplayPort monitors to run at 2560x1600.

I guess because you are running too high a resolution on 'the wrong' ports, and perhaps too high a color quality; it isn't working for you, but IDK

 

Agent9 -

Thank you so much for looking that deeply into the situation. That is the exact port replicator I am using. The third post is interesting and I think may offer clues to solving this issue. I will report back!

Thanks again for this research!

I repped you

 

Also, should I use display port to display port adapter? I used VGA to display port and it doesn't work any differently but I'm sure that's due to the VGA signal. There really isn't a point to doing VGA to D-port, so I think I need to do a D-port to D-port. Right?

Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Display...H5X6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301363804&sr=8-1

 

If your screens have Display Port connectors on them, then I would say that is the way to go: getting a Display Port- Display Port cable (as based on the reviews of that dock, that is what others got to work correctly; but that isn't a grantee it will work for you -so make sure it is returnable if it doesn't work)

 

Thanks Agent9. I do have a Dport on both of my monitors and two Dport connectors on my dock.

 

Did you get this working yet? Here is a link to a youtube video on eyefinity. YouTube - SAPPHIRE ATI Eyefinity set up with Bill Donnelly
They say you must use One display port output to get it to work and I think It may have to be an active adapter. Someone correct me if that is not right as I am trying to buy a notebook with this functionality also.