Laptop Docking Station ?'s

[pally01]

Are there any docking stations that support 2 external monitors at the same time? I'm looking to hook up an Acer 5630 to a docking station and use an LG 22" l.c.d. and a 32" Samsung HDTV at the same time.

If such a device is not possible, can anyone suggest a quality docking station that supports one external monitor?

Thanks in advance...

[thefultonhow]

No USB docking station will do very well at driving even one monitor -- you'll essentially be using a USB video card, which means no hardware acceleration (it's possible such a card would even struggle at Youtube and DVD playback). If you want to use a docking station for anything except basic I/O (i.e. serial, parallel, PS2, and USB), you should really get a laptop that has a dedicated port for a real docking station (many enterprise-class laptops, such as ThinkPads, Dell Latitudes, and possibly some HPs will fit the bill).

[pally01]

Thanks, thefultonhow. I read that the resolution for video playback with this dock http://www.targus.com/ca/product_det...sp?sku=ACP50CA was recommended to be 640x480. Your reply explains why that is.

I checked the connections for the laptop (it's not mine) and It doesn't have a dedicated port to dock with. The owner hopes to use the dock to utilize one external monitor, while plugging a 2nd external into the laptop itself.

Any thoughts on how well will this arrangement work out?

[thefultonhow]

Probably not very well. Can the person use the laptop LCD as the second screen? That's what I do.

[pally01]

Well, I have no laptop experience at all so I'll present your replies and have them decide for themselves.

The monitor and t.v. are already-owned items. The Targus dock will be bought tomorrow (unless a higher-quality unit is out there somewhere) so I suspect we'll end up connecting things and see how it all performs.