Maximum Multiple Monitors with ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 - 170W (4338-30U)

Bit of a multi display novice, with a question:
What is the maximum number of external displays that can be utilized with the ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 - 170W. As I understand it, you can baseline connect three external displays without adapters, so with the laptop that is three monitors (1+3).
Then say you start getting creative and start using adapters, can you go up to five or six external displays? Are there performance issues? Does the computer have trouble recognizing displays, etc.? Would it benefit from a screen management program like UltraMon?
This is for simple excel jockeying, and business productivity, (for instance I would want to have a display for each instance of Excel 1, Excel 2, Excel 3, Word, Outlook, PDF), and would use the NVidia Optimus Card for the displays.
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Depending on which ThinkPad you got, you can get 3 screens up and working (the W530 i tested could drive 4 external + 1 internal without using things like DP splitter or USB display adapter).
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Similar Messages

ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 UK / Italy difference?

Hi,
I'm interested in the new T520.
I'm in Germany and the german shop offers 2 versions of the ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 (UK or Italy)
Whats the difference between the UK and the Italy Version ? Both countrys have other power-plugs than we have in Germany. So which one is right for me?
The description fir the Moni Dock Plus says: "Multiple video ports: 1 VGA monitor, 2 DVI, 2 DisplayPort (Note that the video controller allows for any two video ports to be used simultaneously)"
Is that 2 ports in adition to the ThinkPad's display? Can I use 3 Screens (Thinkpad + 2 at the dock) or only 2 (any configuration).
Thanks
Tino

I think the difference would be in the power adapter plug type, but each should be compatible with your machine.
The series 3 plus dock came in 3 flavours in general:
1. 90 w adapter type
2. 135 w adapter type (for the W510 machine and also compatible with machines used on the 90 w type).
3. 170 w adapter type (for the W520 and compatible with the 135 watt and 90 watt adapter type machines).
You can support 4 screens if your T520 came with Nvidia Optimus technology, in that case you can use the 1 vga, any 2 of the DVI/Displayport, and one internal LCD (or displayport on the laptop).
If you get the intel version, then you only support 2 external LCD, or one external LCD with one internal LCD.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

W520 with Mini Dock Plus Series 3 won't detect Dell U2412M Monitor

I have a W520 Thinkpad with a Mini Dock Plus Series 3 with USB 3.0.
Until this morning, I was able to use it with my two external monitors connected via DVI to the Mini Dock.
The two monitors I have are:
Acer V243H
Dell U2412M
The Acer works fine regardless of which DVI port I plug it into.
The Dell refuses to work on either port.
Again, both monitors were working fine as of yesterday.
Any ideas on what might have caused this or what I can do to fix it?

I have the same problem with the minidock and display port monitors. It will not recognize them at all on power up. If I then put the w520 to sleep and wake it up a few times, it will then recognize them and allow me to use them as "projectors".
Before I upgraded the BIOS and nVidia drivers, it would always recognize one of the two, and I used to have to pull the cable out and in again on the second. Now this technique doesnt work - sleep wake is the only work around.

T420s + Mini Dock Plus Series 3 with USB 3.0 90W - USB 3.0 works as USB 2.0

Greetings!
I am most probably not the first one who is interested, but I failed to find the same topic in the forum.
I have Lenovo T420s plugged into ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 with USB 3.0 90W. The problem I have USB 3.0 port on the dock (blue one) works as USB 2.0. The laptop port works fine. I am checking it by plugging Seagate mobile HDD - when the HDD is plugged into the blue port on the dock station Windows (7, 64-bit) complains 'Device can perform faster', using laptop's port doesnt trigger the message.
USB 3.0 driver is installed.
BIOS version is 1.37.
Intel Chipset drivers are updated.
Device manager shows the connection as a chain of two 'Generic USB Hub's, if HDD is connected to the laptop's port its chain of 'Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 blah-blah'.
Please help! If this combination is just not supported, please point to the relevant link.
Thank you!
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Excellent, thank you!

Mini Dock Plus Series 3 with USB 3.0 - 170W causing uab/wireless keyboard issues

W530 here, win 7 64 bit, 32g ram. When plugged into the Mini Dock Plus Series 3 with USB 3.0 - 170W, all external keyboards (wired/wireless) don't work. Keyboards appear to be properly recognized devices and drivers are installed, but I can't type using these keyboards and am limited to the laptop's keyboard. Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jan C.

Hi, Jan C.,
I did some research and found this thread by a user named Sssith, who was experiencing a similar issue with using a keyboard with a docking station. His issue stemmed from the USB hub drivers not being correctly installed. I would recommend updating these drivers and your BIOS just to make sure. The USB drivers can be found here, and the BIOS here. If neither of these work, then you could try Sssith's method of removing the drivers and letting Windows install the generic ones.
Hope it helps,
Adam
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Thinkpad mini dock plus

Would the always on feature on the usb port of my t420s still work (always on) through a thinkpad mini dock?
Thanks

the Always on Port is the yellow port on the laptop itself, the dock doesn't have these 'always on usb ports'.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Advanced Mini Dock Plus - Design Issues

I have purchased the Thinkpad Advanced Mini Dock Plus for my T410 but have a couple of concerns that I wonder if people have experience with:
- The Vent design appears to be most illogical - the CPU Vent is on the left back/side of the T410. When in the dock, this is where the solid locating corner is with the power switch. The clearance is around 5mm on the left intake, although I see the fan does vent through a grill in the dock at the rear. My fan always runs faster when docked - is there a thermal/airflow issue here?
- When docked, the laptop leans at around 20 degrees from the horizontal. Hard drives are actually only within specification when operated at <5 degrees from one of the 3 planes. I have concerns this design will cause premature drive failure.
Has anyone used a dock extensively and have feedback with these two items?

Hi warder!
The T410 uses Series 3 docks. Per the tabook, any of these are compatible:
ThinkPad Mini Dock Series 3 433710U
ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 433810U
ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 (Mobile WS) 433820U
The ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus for Mobile Workstations Series 3 433820U is compatible with the T410 but optimized for the W510.
The Advanced Mini Dock 250410U is the T400 dock, and not compatible with the T410.
Which do you have?
I don't work for Lenovo. I'm a crazy volunteer!

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
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi
Yes, it work.
It must need a Display port to VGA (F) convertor.
Thank you.
Cheers
Sun

Can i have multiple monitor with my mac mini ?

Can i have multiple monitor with my mac mini like i do with my PC ? 2 differents screens.. not mirror.

There's lots of Mac Mini models since 2006 or so. What do you have?
Most support two monitors but how you do it is different depending on model.
Put this phrase into Google
dual monitors, mac mini
and you'll come up with the solution needed based on which MM you have.

I can't use my Philips monitor with Mac mini

I can't use my Philips monitor with Mac mini, I am using a HDMI to VGA cable to connect them. But no signal on my Philips monitor.
My Mac mini is in a good condition, it can connect with my HDTV, the BENQ monitor at my office, but I can't make it connect with my Philips monitor.
I dun know what happen.
Please help!
Thanks!

The two are incompatible, HDMI is a digital signal and VGA is an analog signal. You need a monitor with a HDMI port or a DVI-I port, these are both digital signals. DVI-I gives the best output.

Thinkpad mini dock 4337 + thinkpad Х220

Здравствуйте.
Недавно я приобрел комплект из thinkpad mini dock series 3 4337 и БП АС 90вт 20В (lenovo).
Вопрос вот в чем, родной БП к моему ноуту Х220 идет 65Вт и 20В, с которым собственно я и использую dock 4337.
Могу ли я использовать БП который шел с dock 4337 (т.е. АС 90вт 20В) , когда ноут в док станции???
Он на 90Вт, а когда то я читал что непосредственно с ноутом такой БП лучше не использовать…

Не знаю, как Вы отнесетесь к моим словам. По приведенной фотографии БП имеет несколько явных признаков подделки. Поскольку с похожей наклейкой продается много зарядников (см.ebay, например), речь идет о массовом производстве подделок. Причем наклейки друг от друга немного отличаются. Просто в данном случае "умельцы" поленились хотя бы срисовать фирменную наклейку.
1. Проблемы со значками, обозначающими registered trade mark ® Lenovo (их просто нет)
2. не смотря на кучу значков и надписей на китайском, в самых нужных местах этих надписей нет. Как и надписей на английском.
3. Гораздо серьезнее - на наклейке 3 надписи, обозначающие part number БП: 92p1158 (это должен быть p/n при производстве БП, т.н.assembled p/n), 92p1157 (сервисный p/n, т.е. FRU), 92p1107 (на штрихкоде, здесь должен был быть производственный p/n, т.е.как и #1, 92p1158)
4. 92p1158 (92p1157) - более вероятно, что это p/n БП на 65 вт.
5. На наклейке нет обязательной даты выпуска БП. Она должна быть в самом низу, над тремя крупными символами в кружкАх. Причем эта дата должна совпадать с датой, закодированной в штрихкоде. К сожалению, эта часть не видна из-за блика фотовспышки
6. Наконец, сама наклейка сделана настолько грубо, что даже не совпадает по размерам с местом для ее приклеивания (смотрите правый нижний угол). Да и приклеена со смещением.
И это только навскидку, даже без сравнения с действительно оригиналом.
x220 | i5-2520m | Intel ssd 320 series | Gobi 2000 3G GPS | WiFi
x220 | i5-2520m | hdd 320 | Intel msata ssd 310 series | 3G GPS | WiFi
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Dock Plus Series 3, Mic doesn`t work

As I use Skype a lot, I bought Dock Plus Series 3 to solve the issue with mic jack at Lenovo`s stupid engeneeres "designed" for t420s model. No one profesional pmanufacture produces mic for this kind of jack, and it is always Pain in the Ass to connect external mic to the machine.
Dock Plus Series 3 has normal, industry standard mic jack. I hope it will soleve the issue. But it is not! No one mic doesn`t work if i plug it Dock Plus Series 3. Please advice, how to make it works!
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE !

Hey Baramburum,
I could not find any drivers for your docking station, what I can suggest is that you update your audio drives from the link below and you update your BIOS. If you do the update please remove the old drivers first completely and then install the new ones.
Audio driver: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS014918
BIOS: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS014992
Best Regards,
Hiro
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Problem with T61 and DVI External Monitor (via Advanced Mini-Dock)

Ever since I upgraded to Vista SP1 on my ThinkPad T61 (with an Intel integrated 965 series graphics card), I've been having problems when I try to use an external monitor via the DVI port in my Advanced Mini-dock. I'm curious if other people have experienced this problem.
The problems surfaces when I first boot up, or sometimes after my ThinkPad has been running for awhile (particularly when I do something graphics related, such as right-clicking to open display properties). The picture starts to flicker (or disappear and reappear, like the screen does when changing graphics resolutions). I also hear the "ba-bum" sound that you hear when disconnecting a piece of hardware, followed by the "bum-ba" reconnection sound - these two sounds happen repeatedly (sometimes as fast as once per second). If I don't do anything, sometimes I'll get a bluescreen.
Not long ago, I found a fix of sorts: to stop the flickering/reconnecting, I just open Task Manager and stop the process called "igfxpers" (an Intel driver problem). The problem always disappears after I do this, although I have to remember to do it every time I reboot or else the problem comes back. So it's not an ideal fix.
This problem doesn't happen when I connect an external monitor using the analog VGA port, or when I'm just using the notebook LCD. It's limited to just the DVI connection. I've tried two different digital monitors (one LG, the other BenQ) as well as two DVI cables - the problem is still the same. So it seems like a driver problem of some sort - unfortunately, the Intel drivers haven't been updated since last February.
I should also note that I've tried reinstalling my OS two or three times, and the problem always comes back. Has anyone else had this problem, and is a fix on the way?

Error Message:
Input signal out of range. Translation:
You will see this on an otherwise blank screen. Assuming that the data cable is plugged in correctly, the video card is feeding the monitor a signal stream in excess of what the monitor can accommodate. The two main causes for this are that the user has set either the resolution or the vertical frequency rate too high. For example, you might set a new graphics card to display at 1,280 x 1,024, but if the monitor is only capable of 1,024 x 768 resolution, you’ll get a Sync Out of Range error. This is especially common in 14-inch monitors.
Solution:
Because you obviously can’t make settings changes from within regular Windows, you’ll need to reboot into Windows Safe Mode. When you restart the system, there is a point during boot up when the system switches from reporting diagnostics and detected components to loading Windows. This point is usually accompanied by a beep and the screen going black. Just before this point, you want to start repeatedly pressing the F8 key. This should bring up a menu of Windows boot options. The one you want to pick is Safe Mode.
From Safe Mode right-click the Desktop and select Properties. Go to the Settings tab and use the slider to drop your resolution a notch or two. Reboot and let Windows try to go into Normal mode. If this still doesn’t work, go back into Safe Mode and get to the Settings tab of Display Properties. Click the Advanced button, go to the Monitor tab, and check your refresh rate. The lowest advisable rate is usually 60Hz, although this works better for LCDs (liquid-crystal displays) than CRTs (cathode ray tubes). Apply the change and reboot.

Multiple Monitors with T440p and Pro Dock

Hello: I recently recieved my new business computer from our company offerings. I got a T440p with the Pro Dock station. Previously I had something similar that I got two years ago. On the old system I was able to connect three monitors to the docking station (VGA, Digital, Display Port) and I could use any two at a time. On the new system, if I plug anything into Display Port (even with that monitor turned off), the Digital port becomes disabled. So I can't seem to use my "any two of three monitor" scheme without unplugging in one and plugging in another to the docking station. Is there another solution for this? Thanks. mbb.

According to this: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd029622 I also have a Pro-dock (judging from the port layout) and it should be possible to use 3 monitors in any combination. But I can't get windows to activate VGA, DVI + Display Port. I got VGA + Mini Display Port + DVI working, but not reliably: When undocking and using the laptops build-in monitor, the multi display configuration can become invalid. Getting this configuration to work is a hassle, as multiple tries are needed and the configuration information in the Intel configuration dialog is wrong and the one in windows is ambiguous. Configuring Display Port + VGA works with-out problems. Display Port + DVI is difficult to achieve. Any help is approciated.

ThinkPad Mini Dock (75y5730) Support Gigabit 10/100/1000?

Hello,
I have been trying to find the tech specs for my docking stations but have had no luck.
Some of my employees have said that the network connection is slow for them and the only thing they have in common is all 3 of them use the same Lenovo docking station.
Below are all the numbers/details i could find for the specific dock that we use:
Type: 4338
P/N 75Y5730
FRU P/N 75Y5731
Any help would be greatly appriciated!

I am really sorry you are experiencing such issues. What makes me really mad is the fact, according to your words, that Lenovo support is directing you to this forum for help? This forum works on volunteer basis, so you might have a luck or not. I mean, you are living in the USA which is the most important market for Lenovo so if I would you, I would escallate the support issue.
Meanwhile, there are two options you might try out:
You could check if the firmware utility driver update helps, http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd028011
or you might try out your luck with the native nVidia drivers, see http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/Quadro_Certified/334.95/334.95-quadro-notebook-win8-win7-64bit... . The latest helped me to run internal and 2 external monitors with 135W dock http://www.lenovoquickpick.com/deu/accessory/40A20135EU/thinkpad-ultra-dock-135w-eu.
ThinkPad W520, i7-2820 CPU, 32GB RAM, NVidia Quadro 2000M 2GB GPU , mSATA Samsung Evo 840 1TB + 2x Samsung SSD EVO 840 1TB & Lenovo Helix i7 8GB RAM & ThinkPad W540, i7-4800MQ, 32 GB RAM, NVidia Quadro K1100M, OS on M.2 2242 Transcend MTS400 256GB + 2x Samsung SSD EVO 840 1TB

Maximum Multiple Monitors with ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 - 170W (4338-30U)

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