Multiple/triple monitors with Z21?

I recently upgraded my old Z1 to the new Z2 and loving it. I also got the PMD.

I am now thinking of getting a tripple monitor setup, but am unsure of whats durable.

I know i can drive 3 x 27" (with 1920 resolution) with the PMD without a glitch.
But what if i were to get a 20/30/20 PLP setup (Portrait/Landscape/Portrait) running in 1600 resolution for the 20 inch and 2560 for the 30 inch. Would this be possible with my Z+PMD?

Also, i have a offsite office, where i would also like a good screen setup, but i dont want to buy another PMD for the purpose. So here i was thinking to get either a single 30" or 27" with a 2560 resolution (Dell U3011 or U2711). Could the Z2 drive either of these monitors, with that resolution, without the PMD?

 

Have seen somewhere that anything over 1080p is not possible on the vaio z.

3 monitors work ALOT better than a single hi-res monitor for work, it provides alot more screen real estate to work with. You can have your email/ms office/several browsers/proprietary software all opened at the same without having to tab back and forth. I would suggest a triple monitor setup for both of your office.

 

Nope, apparently Sony is not advanced enough in 2011 to make a laptop that supports external resolution over 1920x1200 at 60 Hz and without registry/device .inf hacking (something even a 2008 MacBook can do out of box).

 

I just found this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/602724-success-2560x1440-support-new-vpc-z2-dell-u2711.html where it seems they have succesfully connected a 2560 to a Z2, although they did some reg-hacks and the refresh rate is at a max of 35Hz. But i am not quite sure what this would actually mean for me - i almost never game, but i do watch movies/bluray but mainly i work, surf etc.

I firmly agree that a triple monitor setup IS the ultimate setup. Thats why i was thinking of doing the 20/30/20 setup, instead of the "normal" 27/27/27 or 24/24/24 (24's are to small for me). I really like the setup with the 20/30/20, but am still unsure if it would work.

 

So hold on, the Z2's internal / PMD HDMI ports has no dual link support? I'm going to have to test this - but alas, I have no HDMI-DVI / HDMI-DP cables at all, so looks like I'll have to order one.

 

Nope, it's single link from all the (3rd party) evidence I've seen so far. Just like Z1.

 

These are all 1920x1200 monitors.

 

As i search the web, i get more and more hooked on the 20/30/20 setup instead of the 27/27/27.

The main catch here is the 2560 resolution of the 30" as i see it - the reg-hack seems to able to fix this (but at the cost of 35Hz?). The 2 20" screen running in 1600x1200, should not be a problem. So iy should really be durable - although not out of the box, but possible nevertheless?

 

I don't really get it. Why not let a desktop drive the setup? It's not like the screens are portable

 

For me, it's because I'm simply tired of trying to keep the software on two machines synched all the time. For me it was tremendously time-consuming. I have multiple copies of Visual Studio, .Net, SqlServer, utilities, etc., etc. I can spend my time more profitably than by trying to keep two machines in parallel.

I've got my complete, up-to-date software environment with me wherever I need to go, whether it's to a quiet retreat or to the client's site. I never have to worry about forgetting anything at home. I can do what I want on one monitor if I need to and can generally find a spare when I arrive at my destination. But it's the software that's critical, the monitors are really a secondary issue.

I was able to go to one unit starting with the Z1 a couple of years ago. However, that machine belonged to the company I was working with at the time. I left it there and went with the Z2 for my own use.

Having gone through this rationale, however, I can see the time coming when ultimate processing power on the road (and capacity) is unnecessary. When reasonable-speed access is available, VPN's and remote desktops are quite suitable. The big issue for me was air travel and that is getting better by the year.

I believe that the Z2 is the last high-powered laptop I'll need. After that I will indeed go back to a desktop for my development environment and use the laptop primarily as a window into that world.

 

I can see the idea behind it, it's obvious. But the practical limitations of trying to achieve it should also be obvious.

Never mind that the Z2 is hardly a 'high powered machine' in the overall scheme of things - I would not even consider it a usable desktop in my general computing, let alone the stuff I do that needs workstations.

I run my own private cloud in a redundant setup in three countries, but you don't need to go that far - you could just use Live Mesh Sync to keep your core files in sync - the beauty of Live Mesh is that you don't need to use the Skydrive storage, you can directly sync one machine to another using Live Services as only a conduit, not storage.

In my case, the data and services I use are up in my private cloud. I also have dedicated remote workstations (OS X, Linux & Windows) that I can take control of using anything I'm using. So my notebooks are, as you eventually intend, primarily a window to everything I do. However for the files that I need to generally work on locally, I sync using Sharepoint to each notebook. I also use Live Mesh to sync personal files. There's a little more to it, but generally speaking this way I can sit down at any of the machines I use and have access to the same environment - so in terms of what I sit in front of, the choices are determined by how much horsepower or visual estate I need for whatever I'm trying to do at that particular time, not what I have access to.

You should be able - in a simple one-desktop / one-notebook scenario - be able to achieve much the same thing using Live Services. As long as your desktop is on, you'll always be able to sync to it - and also using Live Sync, you can also remote control the desktop if needs be.

I kind of think you're tying one and a half hands behind your back in trying to achieve your goals this way. A one-time software install that you have to duplicate is not a big issue. Keeping data in sync (without it being actually anywhere thrown up on the web) between machines is also not a big issue as long as you lay adequate groundwork for what you want - and I think that's a much better option than trying to make your mobile machine your do-everything.

 

I guess I'm just so used to being without connectivity (planes, trains and automobiles, client offices, etc.), that I haven't quite acclimitized myself to the second decade of the 21st century. Give me another couple of years to make sure this new-fangled stuff isn't really a mirage!!!

I haven't really had too much of a problem with the multiple monitor setup. Prior to the Z2 I used USB->DVI adapters that were "good enough" and now it's direct wire when I'm at my desk.

As far as power is concerned, the Z2 (and even the Z1) are enough for my needs. I don't do any sort of heavy duty graphics (aside from a bit of photo editing), just app builds over and over again. My current app builds in < 15-20 seconds and that's good enough for me right now. If it were to hit say, 45 seconds, then I would have a problem.

 

(Actually, I'm kind of impressed with the latest rev of LogMeIn's iPad app.)

 

Lets not forget that you also need a registry hack to set an external monitor to landscape mode!

And I don't think Sony's intentions were to make the Z2 an extremely powerful machine. Just the most powerful machine for it's size! I still love my Z2. And as a stock trader, I have 3 monitors hooked up to it at home. It has replaced my old powerful desktop.

And I completely agree with rmcx. I was tired of keeping two configurations...one for laptop and one for desktop. As a trader, I constantly have to roll forward options and futures contracts. I keep changing technical indicators. It's nice just doing it on one machine rather than two.

Every computer has a wish list of things it could do better. I would have liked to see a more powerful PMD with dual link for 30" monitors and the ability to landscape. But I'm still happy and impressed with what it can do. If I had to do it all over, I'd still buy the Z2.

 

I suppose it's a matter of what works for you - but what I am saying is that the idea of what works for you may not be everything you've yet explored. I have more than the means to explore every possibility and the 'laptop as window' is what I've arrived at - but obviously, the amount of resources you're willing to commit to a complete solution is also a factor.

There's also the 'invest now, reap later' aspect in that a more initially complicated solution yields benefits down the line, instead of what is expediently achievable right now.

FYI I still have dedicated quad-monitor machines for Bloomberg, along with Anywhere subs. Not a trader, however.

 

From what I read on the AMD web site, the PMD's graphics card is able to do dual-link DVI. Of course the PMD doesn't have a DVI plug and it is limited to 1920x1200 via HDMI.

Keep in mind that, in a three monitor configuration, one of the monitors is plugged into the VGA port. What's the max resolution for VGA? I only run 1920x1200 x 2 so I've not needed to try VGA.

 

I just tried VGA. On the internal graphics the max was 1024x768. On the PMD VGA, the max was 1600x1200

 

Well- there are dual-link capable implementations of HDMI. Has anyone tried using an HDMI -> Dual-link DVI adapter?

 

Hmmm...I'm running 1920x1200 off the PMD VGA port.

 

Speaking of connectivity on the road: Here I sit in my hotel room with their "free" wi-fi that's a sometime thing. Works for a couple of minutes and then dies.

At the moment I luxuriate in the correctness of my approach. (correct for me, anyway)

 

^..I was in Cancun last October and the WIFI in my hotel was also a PITA..switched to WWAN and no problem with connectivity dropping..

 

I hadn't really considered that mere mortals don't travel with two cell modems, three data contracts and a satellite modem and never go near any form of public wifi since I'm serious about my access

(Though TBH I very rarely have to use the satellite in developed countries - I often don't even unpack it, and sometimes leave it out - but I am never without the USB modem and Mifi, as well as a tetherable phone)

OK, scratch my bright idea...

...for now.

 

Yes, mere mortal I.

I do have the WWAN option but haven't activated it yet. Debating that vs LTE access.

 

Quick update on my progress; took the plunge and ordered a full setup as described in my initial post. I ordered a Dell U3011, 2 x Dell 2007FP (found them second hand at a good price), and for the fun of it, a Samsung 40" LED, which will also be used for TV/movie watching.

So far i recived the U3011 and the Samsung 40". Both are currently hooked up via HDMI (U3011 is connected to the PMD via HDMI and the Samsung directly to the HDMI port of the labby).
Initially (and as expected), the 2560x1600 resolution was not avaliable for the U3011 - but after i added a custom .inf file made by Computercowboy, as posted in another thread on this forum, did a quick reboot, it worked like a charm (although at 35Hz currently, but i can live with it for now).

Starting next week i should recieve the 2 x 2007FP's - they, ofcourse, are going to be connected through the 2 remaining VGA ports (laptop+PMD). I will keep you posted on the results

 

On my "normal," Sony provided configuration, the VGA port on the laptop is not active when the HDMI port is in use. I can use three ports at once -- 2 hdmi and the PMD VGA.

 

Wait....so you have 4 external monitors (including 40" TV)? You can't hook up 4 external monitors. Only 3 are possible. As rrm998 said you can't use both the VGA output AND the HDMI output directly off the laptop at the same time. It's one or the other, but not both. But on the PMD, you can use both VGA and HDMI, and one video port off the laptop. That's 3.

 

Now that you mention it, i actually do recall that. But it's now biggy - the 40" is mainly for play, so i will switch to that (and suffer one of the 20") when needed.

It makes no difference that I don't use the monitor on the laptop? When home, i don't use the monitor on the laptop, and keep the lid closed and the laptop placed under my desk on a pull-out keyboard "trey".