dv6000t and DVI--help!

I own an hp dv6000t, as well as a Gateway FPD2185W 21" flat panel monitor.

I need to be able to hook up my latop to that monitor. The VGA connector works--and even recognizes both the laptop and 2185 as independent displays--but the resolution and appearance both are worse than when that monitor is driven by my desktop's Matrox P650 graphics card DVI output.

Is there any way that I can use my laptop to drive that monitor at its full native resolution (1680x1050) with a DVI connection?

Since HP, in their infinite stupidity on an otherwise excellent product, failed to put a DVI port on the DV6000t, I need to turn to alternative solutions.

I called up HP about this and suffered thru multiple horrible tech support people from India who were barely understandable and very technically illiterate (they read from a script and know nothing about things like DVI).

One of their techs, at least, mentioned the idea of a docking station.

Unfortunately, the particular models that he cited do not in fact support DVI. These models were

1) HP xb3000 Notebook Expansion Base
http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/pr...r329_search/ES631AA_pdp/ES234AA%23ABA_ES234AA

2) HP Notebook QuickDock Station
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=342175

On my own, I found this docking station that does have a DVI connector:
HP Advanced Docking Station with 135W Smart Adapter EN489UT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834998019

Unfortunately, it does not appear to support the dv6000t (please correct me if I am wrong).

Since HP cannot get their act together, the only solution that might work is a 3rd party dock, such as the Belkin Notebook Expansion Dock
http://www.belkin.com/pressroom/releases/uploads/10_10_06NotebookExpansionDock.html

Does anyone know

a) of any good reviews of that product (my google searches keep turning up worthless shopping sites...)

b) if its ExpressCard interface is compatible with the 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34) slot on the dv6000t

c) be able to drive my 1680X1050 monitor via dvi? (it claims to actually drive a slightly different resolution: 1600X1200); or will the video card on my dv600ot (I got the Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 950 - Core) be an issue? or if my existing video is a limitation, would a better video card solve this?

d) have any direct experience with this or another dvi docking station

 

The degraded video quality you're experiencing on the Gateway LCD have nothing to do with DVI vs. VGA. The problem is that your dv6000t isn't capable of outputting the panel's native resolution, so the display has to scale what it's getting. This will always result in softer, less detailed video. If you're feeding a 1680x1050 panel 1280x800 video it would look just as bad via a DVI connection. Since the Intel GMA950 in your HP isn't capable of delivering anything higher than that (1280x800), you're simply out of luck I'm afraid. If the Belkin dock can output your panel's native rez then you may have a solution there, but I'm not familiar with its graphics capabilities.

 

The Belkin does have a dedicated GPU inside it, and it claims to be able to output 1600x1200; not sure how it would handle a monitor that is 1680x1050--please speak up, if anyone knows!

 

If it's maximum horizontal resolution is 1600 pixels it's not going to help you. You need to be able to match the native resolution of your Gateway panel *exactly*.

 

The Intel GMA 950 is capable of supporting 1680x1050 just fine. I use it myself. However, you are not comparing the displays and adjusting just one variable. The quality of the video card as well as how it's being connected to a monitor all has some effects on what you see.

 

Bad news: just spoke with Belkin tech support. The guy claimed that the gpu in their new dock is crappy and won't support widescreen monitors. Unbelievable--didn't they do any market research first?

The first girl that I spoke to in customer service claimed that they have now shipped units out to compusa and best buy, so what I may try to do is simply buy one and see for myself if it works, since I can always return it if it fails. But if anyone beats me to the punch, please post here.

 

You're absolutely right on the resolution - I neglected to have my 1280x1024 panel connected when I checked. D'OH! As for my point on DVI vs VGA however, it remains valid within the context that I made the statement. If you're not outputting the native resolution of your panel and the display has to scale, it will look far worse than EITHER DVI or VGA outputting its native resolution. In other words, native VGA rez output will look far superior to non-native rez DVI output. While DVI *can* result in cleaner video than VGA at panel rez, IMO it's certainly not worth spending $200 on a dock with a built-in GPU to see a slight (if any) improvement in this particular case. Most newer LCDs handle VGA input extremely well.

 

As dagmaer34 rightly pointed out, the Intel 950 GMA in your HP *does* support the native resolution of your LCD panel. Just connect it via the VGA output, right-click on the desktop and select Graphics Properties..., choose Display Devices->Single Display->Monitor. Click OK. After it flashes, displays on your Gateway, and readjusts the resolution, go back into Graphics Properties and change the color depth and display resolution. Your Gateway's rez of 1680x1050 should be an option.

 

Did some more playing around with the VGA connection, and strongly suspect that dpippel is right: I am not matching the exact native resolution of my gateway 2185W.

I would think so too; the intel specsheet claims this.

Actually, it claims 2048x1536 at 75 Hz maximum resolution, which is far more than my gateway 2185W's 1680x1050 resolution.

On the other hand, I want to use it simultaneously with my laptop's display, which is 1280x800. Is that the problem? Should I try using just the gateway?

Unfortunately, 1680x1050 never shows up as an option. It goes from 1440x1050 to 1600x1200, with no choice of 1680x1050.

I will try doing some more playing around tomorrow....

 

OK, finally got 1680x1050 resolution on my gateway external monitor using the dv6000t's existing vga connector by:

1) downloading the latest driver for the Intel 945GM Chipset Express

2) turning off the laptop's monitor and using the external gateway as the sole monitor.

The actual resolution setting was only obtainable by going to the Advanced tab which launched Intel's configuration dialog; couldn't see that resolution setting from the normal windows Display Properties --> Settings tab.

Three problems remain:

a) I am fairly sure that even with the laptop vga connection now using the native resolution of my monitor, the image is inferior to what my desktop's dvi connection yields (this is somewhat hard to judge, as I am not doing a double blind, side by side comparison)

b) while watching a Bit Torrent download of a Real Hustle episode to test out the laptop vga connection, it worked fine while playing but then when I tried to exit win media player, the gateway external monitor basically went blank; clicking on the mouse caused the screen to flash, but did not restore it to normal status; this has gotta be a software glitch somewhere, perhaps in the new intel drivers that I installed...

c) it would be nice if I could get this 1680x1050 resolution while using both the laptop's monitor and the gateway, and not have to turn off the laptop's, but that does not appear possible; it looks like the intel chip and/or driver simply does not due 2 independent displays in the way I want (when you choose to extend your desktop from the laptop into the external monitor, you no longer seem to be able to set the native resolution of the external display correctly)

Does anyone know of a laptop similar in quality to the dv6000t which has better video (dvi instead of vga on the laptop, better support for multiple monitors, etc)?