laptop 2 external monitors question

hi,

I need some help, I recently got 2 external monitors : Dell UltraSharp U2415 24 " 1920x1200. I connected both via a USB 3.0 hub. It worked @ their native resolution but I found mouse lag with online games, I took one monitor and connected it to the HDMI on my laptop - mouse on games got much quicker but then I noticed the colours on both monitors didn't match up and there is still some lag (but less) with the monitor connected to the USB 3.0 hub.

My question is, do you think the USB 3.0 hub is causing a drop in performance in my monitor ? Do you think if I bought a USB to HDMI converter and connected the lagging monitor it would be a solution ?

Please help !!

 

If your notebook doesn't have a second HDMI, Display Port or even VGA option, then what you have is what you have.

Getting an HDMI converter won't solve anything. USB is what is limiting your performance, ime, as usual.

 

thanks for the reply !! As you said it may well be that my laptop is not up to it.

I have AMD Radeon HD 7400M Series and (discrete) Intel HD Graphics 3000. There is an option for VGA but the monitors don't do VGA.

The USB 3.0 hub I got good reviews - it might just be a laptop limitation but its hard to tell

 

Hub or not, the problem is the USB3. It completely bypasses your laptop graphics and replaces it with it's own chip. Which is not very good, as you have noticed.

No winners here. You would need to replace one monitor with something that does VGA signal.

 

Yes it is bound to make things slower. I'm going to hang on to the two monitors but is there anything I can do to boost what I have ? At some stage in the future I will get a new laptop but I could still be stuck with the USB 3.0 bottleneck. I'm not sure if a better laptop would improve the two screens ?

 

A better laptop with two digital outputs or a business class laptop with a real docking station that has two digital outputs.

 

most laptops only have the 1 HDMI. Even if I got a new laptop do you think that the USB hub that I have is the bottle neck ? It got such good reviews and lots of people seem to run 2 screens from it.

 

It doesn't matter what kind of computer you plug that usb3 graphics card in, it will always be slow and laggy compared to much more powerful GPU inside your computer.

It works fine for those who type word documents and excel sheets. Altough page scrolling might visibly lag.

 

its horrible, so close yet so far.

I sent an email to the manufactures Anker and asked if it was possible to run 1 or 2 monitors from the hub @ 1920 x 1200.

 

Of course it's possible, you were doing it.

But possible and running optimally are not equivalent...

 

USB 3.0 hubs / docking stations are intended for productivity use (desktop apps, web browsers). They are not for gaming.

There isn't anything you could ever do, with any laptop, or any configuration, that would allow you to use a USB 3.0 docking station for gaming purposes.

The only way you could do multi-monitor gaming is to either get a monitor that accepts VGA input (to work alongside the HDMI monitor); or buy a new laptop that supports two digital monitor output connections.




Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

But even when I am web browsing the USB 3.0 monitor is laggy.

I have a VGA port on the laptop, Im not sure if it would work to a HDMI monitor @ 1920 x 1200 with no lag ?

 

It's laggy because that's the nature of USB 3.0 docking ports. They are there to offer "good enough" connectivity for office productivity purposes. Nobody cares how smoothly you can drag around or resize windows, when you're using a computer for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, etc.

You can use the VGA port on the laptop to connect to a monitor that accepts VGA input. That would eliminate a lot of the lag; but introduce a bunch of problems associated with using an analog connection like VGA (versus digital connection, like DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort).

My recommendation is to just get over the lag part, if you're not gaming. It really doesn't negatively impact anything, except your own personal obsession with lag-free images in a situation where lag doesn't matter.

 

I found this :

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aluratek-VGA-to-HDMI-Converter-Adapter/11997632

laptop VGA to monitor HDMI... it does 1920 x 1200 but Im not sure about lag

 

$72?????? Lol. Holy cow, that's a rip off.

It's up to you. But I would recommend against buying that. You'd be spending quite a bit of cash and buying into an obsolete standard (VGA).


Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

its very expensive.. probably not worth it.

Take a new laptop like the Dell XPS 15 :

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-15-9550-laptop/pd?ref=PD_OC

It only has 1 HDMI port, do you think it could run 2 external monitors with no lag ? I know there are docking stations for them but I'm not sure if they are technologically any better

 

Yes, the Dell XPS 15 can support 2 external monitors.

Connect one monitor into the HDMI port
Connect another monitor into the Thunderbolt (USB Type C) port, using a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter.

 

I think the monitor came with a displayport (mini) cable. Cool. I think I will solider on with what I have at the moment and if I upgrade I will look for a machine with HDMI and Mini displayPort on it.