Pics of Z 690 with external monitor?

I bought a Z 690 a while ago and thought I would be taking it with me nearly everyday to work. I ended up inheriting a netbook from my wife so I take that instead and my laptop just sits on my desk. I was thinking about getting a 21" external monitor for it but my desk is pretty small. I was wondering if anybody has any pics they can post of their set up so I can get a visual of how it would work out. I'm thinking I would need a 2 tiered desk to put the monitor up high other wise my laptop screen would be blocking the bottom part of the monitor. I suppose I could close it as far as possible so that it sits just above my knuckles when I'm typing. Here is a pic of my current set up.

 

I would just get an external keyboard and put the Z off to the side closed.

 

Thanks for the tip! I'm very green despite my "evangelist" ranking. Lol! So a bluetooth keyboard I assume to go along w/ my bluetooth mouse? And then I can keep the laptop closed?

 

Anyone else have any thoughts or pics to share?

 

Bluetooth is nice and clean but you have battery/charge hassles. Just get a nice keyboard and mouse you like and like JVVR said, close the notebook and tuck it in the corner. There's a few threads with recommendations on keyboards and mice. I like the apple keyboard, some like the keyboard sony sells.

 

Ok thanks for the tips. I'll look in to this. I just hooked up my upstairs flat panel monitor for kicks. Trip. The screen is off center. I think I like the big screen though. Cool. I have a new project!

 

So which port do I want to use for me new monitor? HDMI, USB, VGA or i.Link? I suppose I'd want a monitor w/ speakers so I can ditch my externals and make the set up look a bit cleaner. Should I get a docking station so that everything can be plugged in to that instead of my computer? Does it offer the same outputs/inputs as the ones on the computer itself?

edit: Yikes! According to these reviews the docking station is terrible.

 

I just did a quick search because the jury never has consensus on issues like this. I am by no means a videophile, and would have guessed VGA (DVI being the best option), but it looks like HDMI gets the most nods. To be fair I guess HDMI and DVI are very similar as far as I understand it.

In any case, monitors with both DVI and HDMI are easy to find these days (and converting DVI-VGA is easy as pie). I have loved my Asus VW246H, using it regularly for both my computer, and even more often with my Xbox. Though I am not a videophile, I did come down from a 140" hi-def projector, so I am not completely clueless . Though it would never hurt to get some experts opinions, I do however love the Asus I have.

Built in speakers tend to suck, on top of which it is one more thing that can break without being easily replaceable. I would keep your desktop speakers unless you really do not care at all about sound quality (compare built in speakers to your laptop speakers probably).

The main benefit of a docking station really is that you can grab your laptop and go, and when you come back you set it in the docking station and you are good to go. The alternative is sitting down and plugging in everything, AC power, monitor, mouse and or keyboard, etc. Since you are mostly keeping it on the desk, I see no reason a docking station would be beneficial.

 

Thanks A lot JVRR! Appreciate the feedback and I'll check out the Asus.