T510 - How to get 3 monitors running?

I have previous-gen Lenovo T510 (prior to Optimus graphics) and am trying to get it to run two External monitors in addition to the laptop screen itself. I can only seem to get the laptop screen and one of the monitors, or both of the monitors but not the laptop screen. This is using a dock, with one monitor connected through DVI and the other through VGA.

Is there a way to do this? I looked around a bit and it looks like it can be done with the newer models that have the Optimus graphics switching. Am I out of luck?

If I need to resort to an external adapter of some kind, could someone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

 

If your using Windows 7, go to the Desktop and right click it. Select "Screen Resolutions" and a window will open.
The computer should detect the displays it can support. This window allows you to set the screen resolutions of each screen.

Go to the Microsoft page that may solve your problem ( here).

 

Right. It detects all 3 screens and their resolutions just fine, but it will only run 2 at a time. When I try to activate/extend to the 3rd one, it just de-activates one of the other ones.

 

Your integrated graphics might not be able to power 3 screens if your problem persists. Certain graphics cards like AMD Radeon discrete desktop cards can support 5 displays with the "Screen Resolution" window.

Edit: Here is a demo of a ATI Graphics powering 5 displays to game.

 

I believe the T510 cannot drive three monitors at the same time, regardless of integrated or discrete graphics. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though

 

Yep, your wrong because of Nvidia Optimus ( here).

 

I thought ATI could do triple display as well.

 

If you have any ideas on how to make it work, let me know!

Otherwise, maybe something like this is what I need?
Amazon.com: Lenovo USB-to-DVI Monitor Adapter - Graphics adapter - Hi-Speed USB - DVI: Electronics

 

What? The link you gave ( here) leads me to a graphics adapter for 1 external display.

 

Well...

Yes, technically that would work for a third monitor through a USB port. However, keep in mind that framerate on that screen will be rather slow, so videos or gaming probably won't work so well. For static displays (ie, email) or the like, you should be fine though.

Not until recently. My T500's Radeon 3650 supports only 2 monitors.

 

Sorry I meant the new ones. Or maybe it was only the FirePros.

 

Right. I can already natively get 1 external monitor along with the laptop screen. So I just need to be able to get 1 more external monitor working. This would do that, right? My impression was that it has something like a secondary (although less powerful) video card.

Lenovo - Laptop and desktop - Audio & Video 45K5296 (US)

 

I use that Lenovo adapter at work with my X201T dock for three displays. Works great for coding, email, browsing. It can even play video smooth in flash/silverlight but depending on system resources it can bog down a bit sometimes.

You'll notice a difference in performance immediately though, it isn't anything close to the onboard ports.

 

Performance difference just with the display, or with the whole computer? Framerate and general performance for the 3rd monitor isn't very important for me. I'll just be using it as a supplemental monitor, for coding / light web browsing / e-mail. Fairly lightweight stuff.

 

The T510 in this thread will only drive two displays. You can do two external monitors or the notebook LCD and another monitor.

If you want three, you will need help from one of the products on the market.

Or sell the machine and move to an Optimus equipped machine.

 

That's interesting to know. I'd think it's not so much your system resources that are bogging it down, though, rather than the USB interface. Perhaps with low-resolution videos such as most Youtube flash videos, it plays fine.

I'd assume there would be a performance difference relative to the other monitors. Your T510 would not really have too much additional load placed on it, as graphics processing for the third display is done mostly by the adapter.

Yep, the new ATI Radeon and FirePro cards with Eyefinity should drive 2+ displays with ease.

 

Planning on getting a tricked out W520 in the near future

 

Uh, the W520 only does 2 monitors, too. You'll have to get Lenovo to explain why. So far they haven't.

 

I thought that you could do it with the Optimus setup?

Lenovo Support - ThinkPad Multiple Monitor Configurations: NVIDIA Optimus technology


Is this not correct?

Code:

ThinkPad-only Triple Display Configuration:
1st Display: Active ThinkPad display
2nd Display: VGA analog monitor attached to the ThinkPad VGA analog port.
3rd Display: DisplayPort monitor attached to the ThinkPad DisplayPort monitor port.

Note: DisplayPort monitor cables are available that allows attachment of DVI digital or VGA analog monitors to a DisplayPort monitor port.

The following ThinkPad discrete graphics systems, with NVIDIA Optimus technology, support ThinkPad-only Triple Display Configuration:
ThinkPad T420, T420i, T420s, T420si
ThinkPad T520, T520i
ThinkPad W520

 

Let me clarify, it won't do 3 or 4 externally attached monitors like the rest of the Optimus machines.

2 plus the notebook LCD, yes.

 

katamari has demonstrated how add additional monitor support to a non-Optimus equipped T510 with NVS3100M dedicated graphics using a DIY ViDock setup via the expresscard slot:

T510+GTS450 DIY ViDock: can attach 2 extra monitors on a GTS450

T510+HD5770 DIY ViDock: can attach 3 extra monitors on a HD54xx+ card. The Eyefinity HD5850 edition allowing up to 6 extra monitors.

Either setup also improved 3dmark06 bench results over the onboard NVS3100M.

 

I am having an issue with running two external monitors with laptop screen off. I have one monitor plugged into the vga output on my essential port replicator and the other directly into the notebook, but for some reason, the monitor plugged into the notebook does not get recognized. In both the Intel utility and the Win 7 display preferences, the only monitor that shows up is the one plugged into the port.

 

Just the monitor. Works perfectly for your intended use - same as how I use it. It will play high def videos off of Hulu or CBS.com just fine too.