Dual external monitor compatibility

I tried asking the Geniuses about running 2 external monitors to my new MacBook Pro. They say it can only be done by buying a video card to insert in the expansion slot.
My question is if anybody else is doing this, and if so, what card would be recommended and how did you configure it?
I want to run 2 big external monitors and keep my powerbook closed when I'm working in my office.
They didn't seem to know what to recommend to me at the store since they didn't carry any.

I believe that it can be done because i've done it before. I have this small external box that plugs into the DVI port and with software it splits and extends the display so i can use 4 displays in total. I got it from Matrox
This one lets you expand up to two external displays.
http://shopmatrox.com/usa/products/datasheet.asp?ID=853
This one lets you expand up to three external displays.
http://shopmatrox.com/usa/products/datasheet.asp?ID=800
This is a link to the page with all of the expansion units on it.
http://shopmatrox.com/usa/products/categories.asp?CategoryID=80&Column=2

Similar Messages

New X220 support dual external monitors with mini dock plus?

Hi,
I need to purchase a new Lenovo laptop in urgent.
But we need to make sure it support dual display to two external monitors. (VGA)
My question is:
(1) we plan to purchase with mini dock plus, it have two HDMI port.
can it support two external monitors for Intel HD Graphics 3000?
( we will close the Lids when use in dual external monitors)
(2) Can i use DVI to VGA convertor convert to VGA for supporting two external monitors
(3) what is the weight difference for X220 SATA HDD and SSD HDD?
Please kindly help in urgent!
Rgds,
Sun
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Hi
Yes, it work.
It must need a Display port to VGA (F) convertor.
Thank you.
Cheers
Sun

Dual External Monitors with 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2011)

I'm looking for suggestions for using dual external monitors with new MacBook Pro's. The company I work for has started to puchase these for certain employees and we are looking for any good suggestions.
It appears that the display/thunderbolt port should be able to support many devices but I have not seen any way to hook up multiple displays. The idea is that these employees would be working with the macbook pro screen closed while in the office and use dual displays. The only option that I can find is to use a usb device to output video to a second display. I don't really like that because my experience with these devices is that they usally present a display lag and I know our graphic designers would never go for that.
One employee suggested that he use the VGA adapter and then get a VGA splitter. I'm not exacty certain that would work though. Wouldn't that just mirror the display on two screens instead of allowing an extended desktop? Also it looks like expensive Apple displays have ports so that you can daisy chain thunderbolt devices out of those monitors but this company will not go for the cost of those displays.
Am I missing anything? Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks!

Look into the Matrox Dualhead2Go DP Edition. If it works with Thunderbolt Macs, it will support two identical 1920 x 1080 DVI monitors as one extended desktop. Verify with Matrox that it is Thunderbolt-compatible and will suit your purposes before ordering.

Dual external monitor setup?

I'd like to use dual external monitors, ideally also plus the laptop screen for a total of 3 monitors, with my new 5th gen 17" MBP. I hear that USB-to-DVI options out there due have very poor poor refresh rates and picture quality. I'd like to use the ViDock2 expresscard/34 setup, which is a full fledged external video card, http://www.villagetronic.com/vidock2/index.html, but I understand it only works with MBP gens 1-4. Anybody know any other multi-monitor solutions that work with gen 5, other than poor quality USB options? Anybody know why the ViDock2 doesn't work with the MBP 5th gen?

Check out the Matrox dual head and triple head units, marc.
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/
My suspicion is that you will need the more expensive "DP" versions to operate effectively with the new model.
Cheers
Rod

Thinkpad T420 with Dock 4338 Dual External Monitors won't work

Hey Everyone,
I recently purchased a T420 with Dock Model 4338 and am trying to connect two external monitors. I want to have my desktop visible on my primary monitor with laptop closed and that desktop extended onto my second external monitors. Both external monitors are Dell 19", one is being ran through the VGA port on the dock and the other is a VGA cord that I put a VGA to DVI-D adapter on to run off of one of the DVI Ports on the dock. I can get my desktop to display on the main external monitor, and everything detects the other monitor fine, but the extended monitor remains black. The screen is on, and recognized as the button light on the monitor is green not yellow and i can scroll my mouse over to that window and i lose the mouse so it's extending just not visible. I have made sure that both monitors work by checking each individually in the VGA port and they are operational, but the DVI-D port doesn't seem to work on my second monitor.
I have done some pretty extensive searching and can't seem to get this to work. At my job I have a T430 with the same dock and dual monitor setup that took no time and works great. Does the T420 just not support this?
All help is appreciated.
Thank you all,
NickG
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DVI-D don't support passive dvi to VGA adapter. You are better off with a displayport to VGA adapter, as they are cheaper then a dvi-d to VGA converter.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Dual / External Monitor Problems

I have recently purchased a NB200/007 netbook, and wish to use dual monitors (mainly for displaying photos etc on larger screens)
It came preloaded with Windows 7 starter, after finding out that the Starter edition did not support dual monitor i upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium, however i am still yet to get this to work.
When the external monitor is connected, the netbook picks it up and sets up dual monitors, however the external display will not power on (it remains in standby mode) I have tried several different resolutions and also tried to use the external monitor as a single screen by selecting the option to have it as my primary display.
If anyone has a suggestion of how i could get this to work, i would be greatly appreciative.
Regards.

Al-ex,
Thankyou for your suggestion, however this did not solve the problem.
It is still like there is no signal getting to the external monitor, even though the netbook itself picks up the monitor.

T43 w/ Port Rep II - Dual External Monitor Setup

Hi,
I have a T43 with the ATI chipset. I am running it in a dual monitor configuration with the laptop LCD and an external monitor connected to the docking station. I would like to use 2 external monitors via the docking station's VGA and DVI connectors but I can't figure out how to get the system to switch from the laptop LCD to the DVI. Is this possible? If so, how do I do it?
I'm running XP.
Much thanks for any help!
Fred
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go into your bios, select vga+dvi+internal screen.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Dual External Monitor Solution

Hello,
I currently have a late-2011 MBP, which only has one Thunderbolt port for an external monitor.
I am used to using two external monitors for my workflow on my Linux machine, and would like to be able to continue to do the same thing with a MBP.
I ordered a Matrox DualHead2Go ME, thinking that would solve my problem. But the Matrox treats the two external monitors like one large monitor, which means I can't maximize on one screen, pop-ups appear in the intersection between the two monitors, and certain apps (like Lightroom) that have a second-monitor option for displays don't function properly. Completely doesn't work with my workflow.
I've read about a USB adaptor for an external monitor, but most of the posts I read about them seem to indicate there are lag issues – does anyone have any experience with these, and can they give a first-hand account of how severe the issues are (I don't use them for gaming, but I do use them 90% of the time for photo and video editing).
Finally, I looked at the late-2013 MBPs, which have two Thunderbolt ports. But it sounds like I can't swap out the HDDs on these newer models? The MBP I am currently using has two 1TB SSDs in it (one replacing the existing HDD, the other in an OptiBay where the Superdrive was). I don't like the idea of not being able to upgrade my SSD storage as storage options increase – is it possible but just difficult to replace the include hard drive, or is it actually soldered on to the motherboard, making future upgrades unfeasible?
My questions are basically:
1) Is there a solution for a late-2011 MBP to get two external monitors, where each is treated as an independent monitor (can you daisy chain monitors, for example?), using just the one Thunderbolt port.
2) If not, how bad is the lag on a USB->HDMI adapter?
3) Finally, if neither of the above are feasible, are the new MBPs really impossible to upgrade in terms of SSD down the line, or is it still doable?
An answer to the first would be ideal, but if there is truly no out-of-the-box solution that allows for two external monitors where each are treated as a separate monitor, the next two would be great.
Thank you!
Addendum: For reference, these are the external monitors I am using: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008A3KFB8/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&p sc=1

http://eshop.macsales.com/search/NWTVIDU
The worst lag problems occur when you try to use a Mouse on these screens. The feedback is slow and will drive you nuts.

Yosemite dual external monitors not recognized?

I upgraded my Macbook Air this morning to Yosemite 10.10 from Mavericks. Now, my Mac only recognizes one of my two external monitors. By this I mean that only one of my two external monitors appears in the Arrangement tab of the Display settings dialog box. This setup worked previously under Mavericks though the mouse motion was jerky on the USB monitor. Is this a bug or does Yosemite not support 2 external monitors? The external monitor that works for Yosemite is connected through the DVI port. The one that no longer works is connected through a USB port via an HDMI to USB adapter. I've rebooted my Mac and the monitor several times and tried the second USB port on my Mac. Both monitors are Samsung though they are different models. Suggestions?

Same issue - but I fixed it! I had the same issues with my MBP while running Mavericks. I tried updated to Yosemite (my co-worker runs Yosemite and has no monitor issues) to no avail. It still did not want to acknowledge any external monitors. Finally I did away with the HDMI connections altogether. I bought to DVI to Thunderbolt cords (Cable Matters, Gold Plated) from Amazon and BOOM! Fixed. Both monitors fire right up every time I plug it up.
I know its not a real fix...its still an issue that Apple needs to address, but it seems to be a great way to get around it until they do. Ive been using these cables for a couple of weeks now and still rocking. I hope this helps someone!
A little history for other to compare to.
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Refurbished Late 2013)
Scenario 1: Mavericks 10.9.5
                    Monitor 1: HDMI to HDMI
                    Monitor 2: HDMI to HDMI via Mini to Thunderbolt Adapter
Scenario 2: Mavericks 10.9.5
                    Monitor 1: HDMI to Thunderbolt
                    Monitor 2: HDMI to Thunderbolt
Scenario 3: Yosemite Update
                    Monitor 1: HDMI to Thunderbolt
                    Monitor 2: HDMI to Thunderbolt
Scenario 4: Yosemite Update
                     Monitor 1: DVI to Thunderbolt
                     Monitor 2: DVI to Thunderbolt

MacBook Pro 2011 Dual External Monitors/Displays.

Is it possible to connect and run two external monitors (non-Apple - with DVI input) from a MacBook Pro 15 or 17". (ie, close the lid on the MBP and have two monitors running). Do you need extra hardware?

needs, as of this date, a thunderbolt display, as you will not be able to daisy chain anything other then thunderbolt displays. So you would get a thunderbolt display and then can use that to connect a second display to it with a dongle of your choice.
But it will work, and is natively supported.
There are alternatives to this like DisplayLink which is used to make a usb hardware be able to connect DVI to usb and usb to your computer.
but they've been having some issues with Lion however it's only with earlier MBP models so you might be good. This would be a cheaper solution.
Google usb to dvi I have the Arkview adapter but they're all the same because they use the same drivers. Again, your best bet is a thunderbolt display or waiting for someone to make an adapter that lets you connect multiple display with minidisplay port/thunderbolt.

Dual External Monitor configuration

I want to connect two large external monitors to my MacBook Pro. I already own the monitors. One monitor has a dvi connector, the other has a vga connector (they both used to be connected to my "Dull" laptop computer).
One configuration that I have considered is the use of the following:
In the mini port, I will plug in the "Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter"
It is listed in the Apple Store from the following URL:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB570Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDA4Mw&mco=MTczNzE2NTY
Then I will plug into a USB port a USB to DVI Adapter from Diamond (it comes with a DVI to VGA adapter to dumb down the connection if needed).
http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-BVU195-Display-Adapter-included/dp/B002GHBW4S
The monitors would then be plugged into these adapters.
Can someone tell me if this configuration will work? Is there a better way?
Thanks,
SCott

Yes, that should work.
There might be some good information for you here:
http://daggle.com/macbook-pro-multimonitor-4-monitors-at-once-1577

T510 dual external monitors without docking station

Hi, didn't find this one in google or at this forum...
can I connect 2 external monitors with resolution 1600X900 to t510 without any docking station? (one to the VGA and the other to the HDMI port). do I need the Nvidia m3100 or some other graphic card to support this? or the internal intel cpu graphic card can handle this?
same question above about 3 external monitors...

I've got a T510 with the Optimus graphics (4313CTO), one monitor connected to VGA, the other connected to the DisplayPort. According to this: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-76617.html,
I should be able to connect two external monitors, but it only allows on active external monitor at-a-time. Is that support site inaccurate? I would assume having to video cards would allow two external monitors, but this seems to be an issue for this laptop.
Best Regards,
Mike

T420 dual external monitors

Hi,
Can a T420 with Intel graphics run 2 external monitors at 2560x1600 (via display ports) using a minidoc series 3?
Thanks,
-Emran
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It worked, I have experienced it with my own eyes. 2560x1600 on both 30 inch monitors using one Displayport on the mini series 3 docking station and one Displayport on the side of the laptop.
Thanks :-)

T440p + Dual external monitors without a dock?

Hi,
Is it possible to use two external monitors with my T440p (20AW-A08500) with Intel HD Graphics withou having to buy a dock? I normally use my laptop at home with the lid shut and two monitors attached.
I used to have X1 (still do - now up for sale) and that was happily connected to two monitors via HDMI and via a MiniDP to DVI adaptor.
I wrongly assume when I bought the T440p that I would be able to somehow power my existing two monitors from the single MiniDP port.
I have seen their is a Lenovo DisplayPort to DualDisplayPort adaptor - but this talks about ThinkCentre usage - no mention of Thinkpads. Plus the price of this adaptor is pretty steep.
Any tips / advice appreciated.
Thanks!
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Just an FYI update:
I bought a Lenovo Pro Dock after reading the specs on the Lenovo website.
However, it turns out you cant connect two digital monitors at the same time.
When it says:
1x DisplayPort 1.2 (Exclusive use with DVI-D)
1x DVI-D (Exclusive use with DisplayPort)
It actually means mutually exclusive with each other - ie only one can be used at one time.
Very disappointed in this - just glad I did not pay the full RRP of £150 - otherwise I would be gutted that Lenovo have knobbled the port in this way.
My current workaround is to just use one monitor on the dock VGA Port. and one into the DVI I could plug one into the laptop MiniDP but then I would just cause wear and tear on the laptop port through the plugging and unplugging. For some reason in my head the MiniDP does not look as solid as say a VGA or DVI port.
The other thing I noted is that despite trying to different adaptors / cables I cannot connect a monitor via its HDMI port to either the DVI or DisplayPort - just causes Windows to crash. I have the latest dock firmware and the latest graphics drivers installed. Luckily the monitor has a DVI port so I use that instead.
Serious, serious limitations on the part on Lenovo. I have a cheap Dell laptop from work and the dock allows me to connect in every possible scenario / adaptor / conversion situation without any issues.
I think Lenovo are seriously looking to lose loyal customers. When we first migrated to Dell equipment (from IBM) at work I was really disappointed as the initial batch of Dell laptops were pretty naff. How times have changed, my current work laptop is a Dell Latitude E6220 and I have to admit is a suprisingly reliable, efficient and usable laptop. The spares and accesories are much cheaper too. I am now considering a Dell as my next home laptop. A year ago this would have been unthinkable and almost considered heresy for this Thinkpad diehard!

Enabling the DisplayPort for dual external monitors on my X201?

Just got my new Win7 X201 and am trying to connect my 2 19" external monitors. The VGA connects fine, but the other monitor connected via a DisplayPort 2 DVI converter is not recognized by the X201. How do I get this going?
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Pls ignore this post - turned out to be a connection problem. Operator senior moment!

Dual external monitor compatibility

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