Laptop with Dual-Link DVI port

By the way, having multiple monitors makes all of the pain worthwhile.  It is wonderful to have this much desktop space.  I just wish that Dell would get with this trend, and work out the kinks, so we know exactly what to buy and how to set up the configurations.  I really wanted to support multi monitors from the laptop, because I also need to travel with it, and wanted it to be as simple as undock and go.  There are alternatives (such as Digital Tigers Sidecar) that claim to already have the kinks worked out, but it is really expensive.  I have spent hours researching before buying, and  messing around with the system once it arrived, trying out various multi monitor management utilities, and through trial and error have managed to get my four monitor setup working (one monitor is the laptop's display).  I am not a technical expert, but I did have some programming experience in the past.  My husband and I are retired, and he needs the multi monitors to manage our financial portfolios.  We do not do gaming, and I don't think this would be a good setup for gaming, but I have tried a movie DVD on the system, and it shows fine.    Good luck.

I just researched this subject and was unable to find a laptop with dual DVI link graphics card.  However, if you buy the D-Dock, you can install another graphics card in the PCI expansion slot and get up to three external DVI connected monitors. I have the ATI FireMV 2200 multi view graphics accelerator in the D-Dock, and the 512MB NVIDIA  Quadro NVS 120M TurboCache in the internal system of my Latitude D820.  I ordered the D820 wiith 2GB of memory.  Once it boots, all works perfectly, but I am having problems with booting - it can take anywhere from 2 to 5 tries to get the system to boot all the way.  This makes me very nervous, and I am trying to discover why it will not boot on the first try.

Janone,

I appreciate your response.  Would you happen to know if there is a PCI card (not PCI-Express) that has a Dual-Link DVI port or if this is even possible?  If it is, then perhaps I can get a D-Dock and install that PCI graphics in it.

Thanks for your help and suggestion. 

I think all these graphics cards are for desktop PCs.  I did notice that there is a Dell NVidia GEFORCE 7800 GTX in this list which seems similar to the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX that is available for the Dell XPS M1710 laptop system. 

Is the NVIDIA Geforce Go 7900 GTX  (laptop graphics card) a Dual-Link DVI graphics card?

Can someone verify that the DELL 30 " LCD works with the DELL XPS M1710 and NVIDIA Geforce Go 7900 GTX?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm afraid your questions are way beyond my technical knowledge, but I can tell you a little about the card I installed in my D-Dock.  It is an ATI FireMV 2200 multi view graphics accelerator, and was recommended by a Dell sales rep after I sent him the specs of what I was trying to do.  You can do a Google search and read up on it.  It does have support for dual DVI-I.  The spec says that it is a DMS-59 to dual DVI-I for dual DVI output.  It also has DVI-I to VGA adapters for dual VGA output.  And DVI and VGA can be output simultaneously. The card plugs into the PCI bus in the D-dock - an easy installation.  It has 64 MB DDR graphics memory.  Max DVI resolution is 1600 x 1200 per display.  Max analog resolution is 2048 x 1536 per display.  Our system is not used for gaming - strictly business and financial applications, although I did view a DVD on it and it worked fine as far as I could tell. 

If you are not yet working with a Dell sales rep, they may be able to help you.  I contacted one with a question, and subsequently faxed a schematic of what I was attempting to do.  He then consulted other Dell folks, and helped me configure the system. Since I was interested in a Latitude, I contacted the Small Business Division, and those folks are here in the United States.  I think the support is in the United States too.    I have three external DVI monitors, and they all connect to the D-Dock.  One of those monitors uses the NVIDIA card that is internal to the Latitude D820, and the other two are driven by the ATI card.   

Message Edited by janone on 05-08-200604:29 PM

Thanks again for your input Janone!  I went ahead and called Dell Business Sales and the representative actually communicated directly with laptop department and they said that there is currently no DELL Laptop / graphics card setup that can support the 30" LCD's resolution.  I'm sure in the near future there will be.

The dell 30" will work on an xps gen2/m170, but only up to a rez of 1280X800 since it is not a dual link card. I know i found out the hard way. I doesnt work on the 7900's as well im told. not very happy with dell.

costersall,

Thanks for your response.  You're right, there are DELL laptops that do work with he 30" but at half the resolution (1280 x 800).

I thought I'd mention for those who really want a laptop now that will work with the 30" at its max resolution (2560 x 1600), Alienware's Aurora m9700 and Aurora mALX will work (according to the Alienware rep I spoke to).

Yes! Well dell just lost another customer! oh wait dell owns alienware...do'h! :P

Message Edited by costersall on 05-17-200611:57 AM