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T-series able to drive two 24" screens ?

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:16 pm
by southof40
I want to buy a thinkpad able to drive two 24" screens (via a dock)

I have a T61 I need to replace (system board has died).

Currently the T61 sits in a "ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock" (39T4596) and drives a Dell Ultrasharp 24" running at 1920 x 1200.

I'd like the replacement to be able to drive two 24" screens (similar to the existing one) - what should I buy ?

Re: T-series able to drive two 24" screens ?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:08 am
by dr_st
Any T will drive two 1920x1200 screens. If you want to reuse the same dock, buy a T6x or Tx00. If you want a newer system that can drive two digital LCD outputs (your dock will only allow 1 digital + 1 analog), get a Tx10/20, but you will need a new dock too.

Re: T-series able to drive two 24" screens ?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:19 am
by LegendaryKA8
I concur with dr_st. If you want to keep your dock, you can go for another T61; you can also use a T60, T400, T500, or W500. I think the Z61 will also work with your dock. If you're going to buy a model with switchable graphics(standard on W500, optional on T400 and T500), you must turn the discrete GPU on before you can use the DVI output on the dock.

I'm driving two 1920x1080 monitors via my Advanced Mini-dock, one's a 23" and the other's a 21". They work just fine. One majorly helpful trick I've learned is to adjust the clock and phase settings on the VGA monitor separately to overcome the common 'fuzzy text' problem when using a high-res monitor on a VGA input. The site I list below includes a test pattern and instructions on how to do this:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/clock_phase.php

Re: T-series able to drive two 24" screens ?

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 3:11 pm
by shalliday
For the last number of years, I have used my T60p thinkpad docked in an ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock, with an x1300 card, to drive two 24" HP monitors at 1920x1080 resolution and it has worked like a charm! Fantastic resolution and great performance. Its been a great setup! Recently purchased a T500 and it is a straight drop-in to replace my T60p in the docking station. Both the T60p and T500 work great with this setup.

Hope this is of some help.

All the best,

Scott Halliday