Multiple monitors with a laptop

[Memnoch]

Hello everyone, I've got a minor issue which is annoying me at the moment. I just bought myself a Samsung 915N 19" 8ms LCD monitor (yaaay!) for use with my Sony VAIO laptop. Here's the setup I want to have:

FOR HOME:
I want to use the external Samsung LCD as my PRIMARY monitor when I'm at home, and not use the laptop monitor at all.

AT SCHOOL:
I want to use the laptop monitor (obviously) when I'm not at home.

I set up the display as follows:



So basically I set up the LCD as my PRIMARY monitor, but extended the desktop to my laptop (which is useless as I'm not using the laptop monitor at home - not enough desk space). It seems to work ok...but sometimes the icons on my desktop default back to the laptop monitor and I have to do it all over again.

So I unticked the box that said "extend windows desktop on to this monitor" on the laptop monitor and that fixed the problem, but when I unplug the laptop from the main monitor to take it away, there's no display appearing on the laptop (because the bloody setting is still set to not extend the desktop to it).

Anyone know what settings I need to easily do what I need?

[Timber Loftis]

"Extend" the setting means "treat the 2 screens as one big screen." I use it at home, because when doing legal work it's handy to be able to put one document on one screen and another document on the other screen. Otherwise, the "extend" option should be turned off.

Now, with any laptop I've had, there is a F key that will toggle between your laptop monitor and any windows monitor. You switch, using the Fn+(appropriate F key -- often F5) between 3 settings: both on (double-display of the same image), external monitor only, laptop monitor only. Sometimes flipping through these may cause the sizes you set up in control panel to get reset, particularly after a system crash. But, with patience, you can go to the "External monitor" setting, set your Crtl panel display options, flip over to laptop screen, repeat, and then flip back to make sure everything is working right.

Now, the monkey wrench in all of this is if your video card has its own program preset in on the laptop, such as the damnable NVidia program that frustrates me to no end. If that is the case, I still try to use Crtl Panel --> Display, but often to no avail. My work computer is like this, and I just said screw it and quit trying to get it to do the cool "Extended" view.

Good luck.

[Bungleau]

I'll echo what Timber said. Extending the display is not what you want.

Just plug in the monitor and boot up. You should have a function key that lets you toggle between laptop display, monitor, and both. On my machine, it's got a small picture of a monitor -- a square with a rounded monitor display in it. Hold down your function (FN) key and press that, and it should toggle.

I've seen it as F5 and F8 (on Dell machines). Yours may vary.

[Memnoch]

Hey mate. I can do the extended view no worries. My VAIO also has a button that allows me to switch between multiple (extended desktop) and dual (same image on both) view. Dual view is what I want. But when I use this bloody button to set dual view, it works - but I can't reset my 19" LCD to 1280x1024, it's stuck at 1280x800 which is the same resolution as my laptop screen.

I can get around it by using the Multiple Monitor option in Windows XP Display screen and making my 19" LCD the primary device, but it's a pain in the sphincter as each time I use a fullscreen application and finish it all the icons that were on the 19" LCD go to the laptop screen.

What I would like is to be able to

a ) have the screen default to the laptop 1280x800 screen when the external monitor is not plugged;
b ) have the screen default to the 19" LCD 1280x1024 when the external device is plugged; and
c ) not have to frig around with settings each time I do it.

Any help would be appreciated!!

BTW, I might be heading to Chicago to visit a cousin later this year - I might catch up with you for a drink or ten when I do so.

[Timber Loftis]

Good call on the drinks in Chicago.

Your problem is different than how I initially read it. With mine, my laptop has one of those weird 1650 longish views, and it frustrates me to no end that when I get a crash event, I have to go to the laptop screen, set settings, go to external, set settings, and then cycle back to make sure things aren't getting reset. The most frustrating segment of this dance is when I go to the external screen to find it set at 640, and only 1/4th of the actual display showing -- fun fun fun. But, after I futz with it a time or two, it works out. The only time it fritzes back on me is when I play certain games, like the old Axis & Allies, that were originally DOS-based. Which sounds like it may be a problem similar to yours.

I also get a regular reshifting of the icons. They don't get moved from the external to the laptop. Rather, they will get readjusted to fit the laptop's landscape setting, and this will cause them to get all shuffled when I switch over to the external.

[Bungleau]

I'll back out then. I know diddly about the extended monitor stuff... I've never had a real reason to get interested in it.

[Timber Loftis]

LOL!! Totally [img]graemlins/offtopic.gif[/img] but I use Firefox on my home CPU, and I gotta tell you that Memnoch's "Mr. Dangly-Thing" sig avatar graphic is running his little Genie buns off!!!