some basic questions about battery maintenance and external monitors

1. The X220's screen resolution is 1366x768, my question is would this resolution preclude the possibility of using an external monitor with 1600X900 resolution or more?

2. I have been storing my 6 cell battery in the fridge to preserve its capacity, what I'm wondering is if it is all that bad to have my laptop plugged in constantly (without the battery).

3. Would having the laptop constantly plugged in acclimate the laptop to rely on being constantly plugged in? Come time to actually use the battery would everything be good? And would performance decrease in the absence of the battery?

 

Also, does looking at a computer monitor fatigue the eyes faster than looking at a tangible textbook? Are there certain types of monitors I have to watch out for?

 

1. You can plug in a 2048x1536 monitor via VGA, or a 2560x1600 monitor via DisplayPort.

2. Storing it in the fridge is good for long-term storage, but make sure you have some dessicants in there to prevent condensation and short-circuiting. Running it without a battery should be fine except for momentary power outages for obvious reasons.

3a. No.
3b. Maybe. Some laptops (i.e. ThinkPads) will throttle the CPU without the battery.

I'd personally prefer a textbook. Glossy screens can be harsh on the eyes due to the strong, sharp reflections.

 

1. no, the gma 3000 igp supports pretty much all monitors on the market today
2. keeping your battery in the fridge is silly because the humidity will probably damage it over time. most batteries these days have controllers so i doubt keeping it in will do much harm
3. no