hel80 video question

hi all, i'm about to replace my overheating acer 5672wlmi to get an nvidia based laptop, and the hel80 is 1st on my list (not only for it's specs but for the opportunity to purchase from powernotebooks.com and experience the awesome service i've read so much about). the main use of my laptop is as a desktop replacement.. literally. i'll have a 20" lcd hooked up to it as well as a bluetooth mouse/keyboard. my question is, can you have the laptop closed and use the external lcd as the main monitor without any problems? the acer overheated REALLY bad and sometimes had a problem coming back on after opening the laptop back up (even though it was supposd to be on the whole time).

anyway, that is about it. i can't wait to get this laptop; will be decking it out with highest components.

thanks for your input to my question.

-defsquad

 

Hi defsquad,
I have a Compal HEL80 and I'm using it as a desktop replacement, it's currently plugged with a 17'' LCD, mouse and keyboard, external speakers, and everything is smooth, had no problem hooking everything up.

 

The same goes for the HGL30 which I use.

 

great! thanks you two for the info! i can't wait. i've been torn between this laptop and goin with a 17" sager or something, this laptop jus seems to be the perfect size and stuff.

 

I was in the same situation 2 weeks ago, couldn't decide between the Dell E1705 (Inspiron 9400) or the Compal Hel80, but I figured I prefered portability and battery life over a 17'' LCD

 

I currently do not have an available external monitor to check this on at the moment but it is supposed to be possible.

I'm curious as to why you wouldn't want to use your laptop LCD as a secondary monitor--for additional productivity and desktop real estate. Donald's the dual-monitor crusader and has some excellent ideas on how to use the setup.

Anyways, be sure to talk to powernotebooks tech support if you have any problems setting it up the way you mentioned--although it should be very simple in the go 7600's control panel.

 

Ah yes, mulitple monitors...Here is my setup

You do have to be careful not to close your laptop while it is running. It breathes partly through the keyboard, and closing it will tend to overheat it.

Besides, as you can see from the picture linked to above, you are really wasting a great resource by not using both your laptop screen and from 1 to 5 external monitors at the same time.

Notice that there is a different window/application open on each screen, and your curser will float between them as if they were one. And of course I have my TV Tuner going in "always on top" mode in the lower right corner of the left hand screen so I can watch TV and work on my computer at the same time. It takes away the guilt

 

If anyone is like me, and has a multi-system/multi-moniter setup, and would like to sync keyboard and mouse between them (Think software KVM, but much smoother), I recommend a nice application called Synergy. It's a very small footprint, can run as a system service, and is very configurable. The new interface the creator designed even made it easier to use for new people. Also comes compiled for just about any system on the planet, so its friendly in multiple O/S environments.

BTW... It's also free... But if you use it alot like I do, maybe toss the guy a few bucks for his efforts. =D

 

I used to have one of those exact same keyboards in the late 90's early 2000's, didn't know they still made them! One of my all-time favorites.

 

They DON'T make them anymore and haven't for years. When they were going out of business I bought 2 more so I had 3. One has failed so I still have 2 left. I just hope they last longer than I do

 

wow what laptop is that in the picture? it looks like one of the older Quantas?

 

Good eye Goren...it is our PowerPro C 3:16 (Quanta Z500)

 

Synergy is the greates invention since... whatever was invented before it!
As far as I know there's no way to have 3 monitors on a laptop. But you can have two, and then as many other computers/monitors in your network. They can be Windows, Mac, *nix... Synergy works in all of them and you can specify that screen A is to the left of screen B, and screen C is above screen A, etc... all controlled through a single keyboard and mouse.

If you are a programmer, you can have your source code on one screen, documentation on the other, debug on a third one... etc...

 

Actually, as long as you have a PCMCIA Card Slot you can have 5 external monitors connected to and operated from your laptop giving you a total of 6 screens.

With no PCMCIA you can have 3 external monitors connected and operated by your laptop by using the Matrox TripleHead 2 Go. Then if you have a PCMCIA slot you can add 2 more using the VTBook PCMCIA Video Adapter with DualHead Cable. You can set them up side by side and/or stacked.

 

what is this magic you speak of? hahaha
I'll have to investigate a little more... although I don't have enough desk space for more than three monitors... maybe if I clean up a little...

 

barspi, did you click on the link in my post above that takes you to a picture of my setup with 2 external monitors?

From there you can go to 3, 4, or 5 externals as I suggested.

 

yes yes.. very nice gadgets you have there
but I'm ok with built-in LCD + external monitor + 1 other computer for now
I may buy the TV tuner in the future, though

 

Donald,

I just purchased my Hel80 from you and have had it for a little while now and LOVE it, but can you be more specific on how to do a setup like that with my laptop?

I'm going to be getting an external monitor from dell probably. One of the 20inch Widescreens and was wondering if there would be any resolution problems if the monitor has a larger resolution than the max on this hel80.

Also, I see synergy would work with that set up, but what else would I need to do that? especially types of cables?

Would I need something like this http://www.lindy.com/us/productfolder/04/41223/index.php?

 

If you are only using one external monitor then just plug it into your laptop and set them up in Display Properties. If you need help with that call Customer Service and they will walk you through it.

Also, to buy an external monitor I would recommend checking at www.costco.com first...they seem to have the best values, and definitely have the best return policy (any reason for at least a year)

There will be no resolution problems with a much higher resolution than on your HEL80 (1680x1050 will not be a problem, and your GeForce Go 7600 will support much higher resolutions than that)

You don't need any cables other than the LCD cable that comes with your new monitor. Monitors today come with both VGA and DVI cables, so you will not need that adapter to which you linked.

When you go beyond one external monitor you need another video adapter. This can be from a port replicator, VTBook PCMCIA card, or Matrox Dual or TripleHead 2 Go

 

Thank you for the reply so fast! That will save me some money and time wasting it on buying that stuff. All I want is one external monitor.

So far I love this thing!

You Da MAN Donald!

 

I was looking at the PowerPro L 8:14 SUPRA and it has an option "Video Adapters for External Monitors" and in it is listed the Matrox DualHead2Go and the VTBook PCMCIA card. Do I need any of these for an external monitor with the model? Also will a desktop monitor work? Would I need a connector then?

 

From what I just gathered. You don't need those adapters unless you have 2 or more external monitors. If you only want 1 external monitor, just use the cord that came with the monitor and plug it into your laptop, then use Windows settings to configure it.

I'm assuming the HGL30 is almost exact same, just a little smaller than the HEL80.
A desktop monitor will work.

 

You can run any monitor. Donald explained it earlier today a few posts above yours: