NP8660 w/ External Monitor

An idea popped into my head about leaving a monitor and a mouse/keyboard in my dorm at college to use with my laptop which would mimic using a desktop PC. Then when I need to travel/go to class I can detach the monitor/keyboard/mouse and I'm on my way. My question is, does this at all make sense to do? I don't really want to take my Desktop PC up to college, so I figured this would make due if it would work/made sense.

Another question, does the 9800M GT have a DVI port to easily attach a monitor? Would that monitor have to be widescreen or could I use my current 19" 4:3 that runs 1280x1024 native.

One more thing! Would running a larger external monitor decrease my performance at all? Would I see a drastic FPS drop while playing games between playing on the laptop/playing on the laptop with a 19" external monitor?

Thanks!

 

i think that would definitely work....i'm doing the same thing

the np8660 does have a dviport, so that is not a problem

and no, there would not be a drop in performance. what matters is resolution, not physical size

 

Yes, it makes great sense. It will greatly reduce the wear on the built-in keyboard, and it will give you an environment you are used to working with (full size keyboard/mouse). The NP8660 does have a DVI port. You can connect both widescreen and standard monitors to it. The resolution of the external monitor is independent of the native resolution of the laptop (although the monitor may have its own native resolution.)

The performance reduction would be dependent on the game settings, not the screen size.

 

yeah, im gonna be using my new dell 24" ultrasharp...so excited

 

If you have BlueTooth then what I would recommend is to go on Ebay and pick up a BT keyboard and mouse. That way you won't have to disconnect the USB all the time.

I picked up a BT keyboard for my PS3 for like $20 because it didn't include the dongle (which you don't need if you have internal BT). Ebay is rife with them.

The external monitor itself will not decrease your fps or gaming performance UNTIL you crank it up past whatever native levels you are using on your notebook. Say you have a WSXGA (1680x1050) screen and are playing with those settings max. You get a 24" external that goes to 1920x1200 and you switch you game to play at those levels. Then you are going to see a hit in performance.

It doesn't have to do with the signal being exported to the external monitor. It would be the same if you had a WUXGA screen (native) on the notebook and played at those levels. The performance hit will come from the resolution the card has to pump out info to whether it be the native screen or external.

The 9800 GT will attach to just about any current monitor out there no problem. I would go with a widescreen though.

 

Would it make sense to go from the 15.4" WUXGA+ to 18" non-wide? That maxes out at like 1280x1024 or something.