X1 Producer on a laptop + 2nd monitor

Hey all,

Is anyone running X1 on a laptop along with a 2nd monitor, and has the 2nd monitor set as the primary display in Windows?

I'm looking to buy a 15.6" laptop for when I'm working away from home and, ideally, I'd like to be able to use my 24" monitor as the primary display showing the main X1 window, and have the laptop screen show the multidock for prv editing, plugins, etc. 

Monitor res is 1920x1080, and the laptop will be 1366x768.

I haven't used a multi display setup before so I thought I'd check if this was possible before I buy the latop.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hey Timo thanks for the reply. That's just what I wanted to hear.


Now to pick a laptop...

Thanks for the info synkrotron.

I've had a look but I'm on a very tight budget & their laptops go over it for the spec I want. I can get a off-the-shelf brand laptop for a little bit less than their custom ones with the same spec. Plus I don't need to wait 8-10 days on it either.

I still have a 4ghz i5 tower pc than I can fall back on when I get home, so the laptop doesn't need to be ultra powerful as I'll just freeze synths & effects when it starts to choke.

It's a good site though to keep in mind for future builds though, as with a bigger budget I'd have a field day :)

As for the sound card I'll probably go for the Focusrite VRM Box again. I need to work on headphones almost 100% of the time & the vrm effect does help when mixing levels, etc. I had one before that I used with a previous laptop, and it worked fine. 

I remember having a Sonar specific issue with this when ProChannel first came around. Basically it was bugged to hell if my external monitor was set as the primary. I don't know if that is still an issue.. However, it wasn't a problem as I could simply keep the laptop as the primary but have the edit window on the external etc :) The only difference being the start menu was on the console window.

Sadly it won't let me use the laptop display when both are plugged in.

Are you sure? That seems unusual. Did you try Windows+P and select Extend?

CakeAlexS


Yep. Its a limitation of the onboard graphics card. Two displays at any one time and that includes the LCD display.

Same here, FWIW.

Yep. Its a limitation of the onboard graphics card. Two displays at any one time and that includes the LCD display.

That's odd, I have a Dell Vostro 3750, and I can use the laptop display, AND the VGA AND HDMI .. so that makes 3 video outs.. 
but then, I have 2 video chips (on-chip intel+Nvidia), and both can run at the same time. 


One thing for sure, to answer the initial question, make sure you have a dedicated video chip if you intend to run dual monitors. choose wisely !


Cheers ! 


V

i did this for awhile a few years ago but i used this:
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Toshiba-dynadock-U3.0-Universal-USB-3.0-Docking-Station/2589172.aspx?cm_mmc=ShoppingFeeds-_-GoogleBase-_-Notebook/Mobile%20Devices-_-2589172_Toshiba%20dynadock%C2%AE%20U3.0%20Universal%20-%20USB%203.0%20Docking%20Station_TOS-PA3927U-1PRP

a docking station,and i used 2 monitors and not the laptop screen at all unless i needed 3 monitors for large projects.
a docking station has 2 outputs 1=vga / 1=dvi
it uses a usb port and gives you 4 more usb ports as well.
i acutally had great results with that mobile unit.

I've been wondering about my Win7hp 64 bit, ASUS G74sx i7-2670qm, with a docking station. The 4 usb ports (3-usb2 and 1- usb3) are now routed to Tascam US1641 I/O, usb mouse, Virus Ti2 (though I am just installing this and have other issues to solve), and the usb 3 port is for my 1Tb external library and backup drive (+ 2 internal drives). I just bought a vga cable to hook up my old P4 XP setup's 2nd Dell FP1703 to the laptop, and haven't read anything on dual monitors, yet(I assume that is easy enough).
    The laptop will have to be my X2PE machine for a bit (I intend to build a new studio desktop as budget is available), and since I just got, both a Fender Super Champ X2 and Mustang Floor with usb options, the "one unit per port" idea is going to be a matter of "one (unit)at a time".  Any suggestions-advice, will be very much appreciated. I am still adjusting to 64 bit Win7hp, and the leap from Sonar 5.2PE to X2PE. Well..... "adjusting" is a bit of a stretch..... trying to find my way is more like it! LOL 
Thanks Michael
Most of what I own now, is "new", as in recently aquired and I find myself wondering how to best set it up without a mixer and patchbay, which I can imagine how to use.
     

CakeAlexS


I appreciate there's a budget, second hand laptops though I wouldn't recommend. Often asking for trouble. Laptops never last as long as desktop PCs by a long way. Any PC or laptop I would buy new to be honest.  Not what you wanted to hear, sorry....

That's alright  I have a 1 year warranty with it, so if it lasts that long hopefully I'll be able to replace it with something better.


I won't be using it every day, as I have my desktop for that. 3-4 times a week at most I expect. That might stretch its' lifespan a little.

Everybody will have their own experience with their own laptop. Laptops may vary (see the small print). I've probably dealt with 100's of laptops, there comes a point where most just die, and they certainly die a lot quicker than desktop PCs (as a generalisation). Glad you got a warranty smart move. Cheers Alex.

I've had a few laptops over the years and to be honest only problems they've developed after time have been 1) reduced battery performance, 2) problems with the lid hinge or cracks appearing on the lid, and 3) problems with the screen, usually related to problems with the lid hinge. 

The first problem can be solved by getting a new battery, and the other two are pretty much dependent on the build quality of the laptop. If they're made with flimsy materials then opening the lid from the top with one hand usually results in a cracked lid and/or screen problems over time. You get more life out of them if you open them with two thumbs on the lower half of the lid. 

Hey...ummm, Charlie....any chance I could get in on that book deal? Pretty please?? I'm getting pretty close to a build, as my Dell XPS 410 is probably on her last leg in the next year...lol

MoodyB


Now, as for using the laptop as a 2nd display along with my pc I tried the MaxiVista demo. This  works over a network & is ok if a little sluggish. Ideal for the PRV display but probably not for using the console. 

The only other app I've come across is Air Display, which claims to be faster but there isn't a demo. Does anyone here use it ?

Turns out there is an Air Display demo. You're given 1 hour to test it out.


Compared to MaxiVista, the screen refresh on Air Display over a WIFI connection is slightly slower. That's using their accelerated beta drivers too. Didn't try it using a network cable, so you could get better performance with that.


It's still more than useable though, and when you consider it's 1/3 of the cost of MaxiVista it's not a bad compromise really.