I hate technology

[andrewducker]

Spent two hours trying to persuade my laptop to talk to my monitor in its native resolution. As the only graphics connector on the laptop is VGA, and the laptop didn't seem to recognise that the monitor could even handle 1680x1050, let alone that it was the native resolution, this was less than useful. I eventually managed to talk it into it, with the help of Powerstrip, which has a godawful interface, but with a bit of tinkering was able to persuade Windows to work with it.

The next laptop is going to have either DVI or HDMI output.

Comments

[call-waiting.livejournal.com]

Now, you see, if only you'd been running Linux instead, all you'd have had to do would have been to hack that resolution and sync rates and porch timings into your xf86config file and you'd have been done!

[andrewducker]

Sadly, that wouldn't help with my end-goal of "Playing Settlers 7 on my larger monitor".

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

I would have thought your HP had one already! Mine has HDMI output.

[andrewducker]

Sadly not. One of the few things I didn't think to check.

Mind you, I'd then need an HDMI->DVI converter, as the monitor isn't HDMI.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

Ah, the fun of external displays!

My advice is do not go for HDMI if your priority is ease, simplicity and reliability of interoperation between different pieces of kit. It's designed to be 'secure', so that if any device in the chain isn't totally happy it's *supposed* to cry uncle and stop the whole show. What could possibly go wrong?

DVI is a bit less nightmarish IME, but beware of DVI-D/DVI-A/DVI-I incompatibilities and tricksinesses. One would hope it'd be less of a problem on modern kit that wots not of DVI-A, but I've been bitten a few times.

My experience of DVI-HDMI interoperation is not entirely positive, let us say, though I have had it work, FSVO 'work'.

[andrewducker]

Well, the current monitor (which is quite nice enough) has DVI input, so I'll try to just go for that next time and keep my fingers crossed!