I want a laptop with a separate larger monitor

[Courk]

I want a new computer, I'm l leaning toward a laptop for the portability, but I hate laptop monitors, they're too small. What googling I've done shows that it's possible, but I'm not sure what questions to ask to make sure I get everything to work right. I also want to be able to connect my laptop to my hdtv with an hdmi cable -- is that as easy as it sounds, or are there more questions I need to ask on that front, too?

[MNOWAX]

Most brand new laptopts have an hdmi connections that allow you to port video (and sound unlike VGA and DVI connections) to a hdtv. its relatively easy to do, jsut make sure the tv / monitor has hdmi input and you should be fine.
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MNOWAX

[wordcross]

Make sure the laptop has the ports you need. If it does, then Windows 7 is fairly straightforward about setting up multiple screens. I've got a desktop with a 22" monitor plus a 32" television so I can watch TV over the internet. My video card has a VGA port for the monitor and an hdmi port for the TV. The motherboard actually came with both, too, so if I'd wanted to i could have done it with just that.

If you have any discretionary funds to put towards something special in a laptop, find one with a good video card. They'll give you more resolution options and recognize your television easier.
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Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[jesternl]

So, to sum up, make sure it has a port like this to connect it to a TV:

And one like this:

(preferred), or this:

(slightly less good) for hooking up an external monitor

[MatthewV]

Or a projector

[extropalopakettle]

[Zag]

I use a Thinkpad running Windows 7 as my primary work machine. (I do work for IBM, after all.) I have it set up so that I use it just with the laptop screen when I'm not at work, and I plug it into a docking station at work, where I use a large screen and the laptop screen simultaneously. I put my email on the smaller screen and use the larger one for work. It works out great, and I'm impressed with how well it transitions between one and two screens without me even powering down.

[Quailman]

After you connect the cable, be sure to reboot.

[Courk]

[Chuck]

You can simulate a larger screen by reducing the text size and leaning forward.

[MatthewV]

The multi-screen setup is very easy to manage in any OS. You set up the location of the screen in a control panel to be how they are in real life. So if you have you computer screen "C" and other screen "O" the setup of [C][O] and you move your mouse to the far side of the computer screen, it will pop up on the other screen. So you could drag an open window from one to the other-- it just expands your space. There isn't any problems with different resolutions, widescreen etc.
Windows does know it is two different screens. So if you maximize a window it will take up all the space of that screen.
The screens may also be mirrored so that the same image appears on both screens. In this case it is best to have both screens be of the same proportion.

The increased video processing requirements for two screens is -very- low. As in almost non-existant. I remember a slight issue about 10 years ago but I seriously doubt a video card with specs that low could be found new! The limitations of the graphics card will effect your ability to play games that require quality rendering.

You really only have to make sure that you have the correct ports and cords.

[Courk]

[MatthewV]

I don't know... Windows can do some strange things sometimes.

Depends, are you playing Doom, Return to Zork, and Myst still... or have you switched to <list of new games>. If you are a serious gamer then you wouldn't want a laptop! My point is the "normal" usage of the computer won't require anything beyond a normal graphics card.

[extropalopakettle]

[Courk]

I'm not a serious gamer, my newest game is Civ IV, though it's not unlikely that I would buy a newer Civ in the future. But I would want to be able to play what itunes videos I have on my tv in hd. Will a normal graphics card be ok for that?

[Scurra]

Yes. Most new midrange graphic cards (laptop ones especially) are starting to be optimised for things like YouTube HD video because the makers know that that is what they are most likely to be used for.

What bugs me the most at the moment is that the games writers seem to be getting less and less efficient at writing good engines for their games because they assume that people will have top-of-the-range systems so there is no need to optimise them whilst adding more and more pointless bells-and-whistles. The result is that even games that don't need OTT effects run horribly on midrange cards (and yes, Civ V is a prime example of this.)
Although this is not entirely the programmers fault, as a lot of the processing is now passed to the cards from the processor itself, and there isn't a fallback if the graphics card is less than capable.
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[ralphmerridew]

Also, how your laptop works with an external monitor can vary. Mine can be set to "Show only on laptop screen", "Show only on external screen", "Show same thing on both", or "Extend laptop screen".

[Courk]

It's fantastic! Thanks, all!

I have a question about one more minor detail: Is there a way to make the icons on my TV bigger, but not bigger on the laptop?

[groza528]

The Windows property manager allows for different resolutions on the two displays, but I don't know how well this would work if you were just cloning it.

[Courk]

I have them set up differently, but the tv is something like 1920x1080. I can zoom in on web pages, and the icons themselves aren't bad as long as they're distinctive icons, but I can't read the text under them, nor can I read the address bar on web pages.