Dv6tqe with external monitor?

Hey all,

I ordered the Dv6tqe with the 6770m graphics chip. I'm here because I noticed that many people, including me, are upset with the lack of a higher res screen. I want to get an external monitor for it but I have a couple questions.

1.) First off, is the screen really as bas as people say? Is gaming hard on this 1336x768 screen? My other laptop is 1440x900 so I'm not sure if it will be too small of a view for me while gaming.
2.) What resolution is best for gaming on an external monitor without a sharp drop in performance? Asking for the happy medium in between resolution and fps.
3.) Anyone got any good recommendations for a good, decently priced monitor that is ideal for gaming?

I'm trying to figure out basically if a monitor is worth it for this screen, and if so finding the perfect monitor for the job. Thank you so much!

 

If you are going to use your laptop at home often, I strongly recommend getting an external monitor. The bigger the better. You can even use the laptop's screen as a secondary display.

I have a 26" Acer monitor which I got 2 nearly years ago for $250. I plug into the monitor whenever I'm at home.

 

Personally, I always recommend getting a Small TV (19-inches and upwards) over a Monitor. That way, not only do you always have sound built in, but also you have other uses for it, supports HDMI (very good), VGA, maybe DVI.

The reason I recommend HDMI over simply VGA for gaming is because I like the colors and contrast ratio when using it. I know you can tweak it with VGA and HDMI, but I have tried to and like the HDMI better in every case.

And of course you always have other ports to plug in consoles, Blu-ray, etc.

I have recently been using a projector to play video games with surround sound* and it is awesome but not always convenient and cheap.

*surround sound via HDMI, yet another reason HDMI is better than VGA, especially since you can only get 5.1 or more in the DV6 or DV7 through HDMI port and not audio jacks!

You can check out:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insigni...HDTV/1854124.p?id=1218316999637&skuId=1854124
I actually have this one and man is it nice to have a 1080p screen. Although the 6770m you have will not perform as well with demanding games at 1080p, you can try 1440x900 or 1366x768 or 1280x720.
and it's $200
like this as well: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Viore+-...HDTV/1627363.p?id=1218274633579&skuId=1627363

for $240 you can get a 26inch:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Westing...HDTV/2006248.p?id=1218305635694&skuId=2006248

Just make sure to do some research of the specific product before you buy (but that is the case with all electronics!)

On sale now at Walmart
22inch LG (I have a 42 inch of the same type - very good):
http://www.walmart.com/ip/LG-22LD350/13904862

And there are a lot of 26inch TV's for $220 here:
http://www.walmart.com/browse/TV-Vi...+500592&search_sort=4&selected_items=+&depts=

 

Cheers, thanks for your insight! What is the price difference between a monitor and a small HD tv? It seems all the good monitors are $150 and up, and most don't have HDMI? Thats a good reason to get a tv.

What kind of performance decrease would I be seeing overall on games like WoW where its not stressing the GPU too much and high demanding games like Battlefield Bad Company 2(and future games), and what would be the optimal resolution for each on an external screen? I'm assuming neither can go full 1080 without dipping below 30 fps where it starts to get choppy.

 

Head over to the gaming section for detailed results, but I have to tell you, I have played Crysis 1 and 2 on this computer so far (1 day old) and at 1366x768 I can run 2 on full settings with some lag with loading and very action packed scenes and 1 is much more demanding but with all setting set to Maximum about 23-25 in most areas in terms of FPS

 

Is 1600x900 a good resolution for this laptop on an external monitor. I'm looking for a happy medium in between performance decrease and higher resolution.