Connect monitors to new Surface Laptop

kration · 10 Mar 2023 at 16:34

I've got a work MS Surface Laptop (I think it's a Surface 2) which I connect to 2 monitors:

Philips Brilliance S272B, via the magnetic surface adapter port and dock, then a USB-C to the monitor. This monitor then acts as a hub to other peripherals including printer, network connection etc.
Benq GL2460 from the mini-displayport via an adaptor to the DVI-D on the monitor.

I've tried daisychaining the Benq monitor from the Philips before with no success (via HDMI or displayport on the Philips - not sure which).

I'm now getting a MS Surface 5 15" laptop, but this doesn't have a mini-displayport.

I think the Philips will now connect via the USB-C, not via the Surface Connect Port.

Can anyone advise on how to connect the Benq?

Snapshot · 12 Mar 2023 at 08:50

If there's more than one USB-C port then you can buy a USB-C to DVI adapter. I have one that is actually DVI-DL and gave 2650x1440 on my old monitor.

radderfire · 12 Mar 2023 at 09:01

kration said:
Can anyone advise on how to connect the Benq?

Well how many ports have you got on the laptop (plus dock if you have one) that support monitors do you have?

If you don't have enough, you can buy external USB-C laptop docks / dongles / monitor adapters (or whatever you call them!) that will allow you to connect multiple monitors via it.

Williammm · 3 Apr 2023 at 17:11

The catch is, your new laptop doesn't have a mini-displayport, so you'll need to use other ports instead. Here's what you can do. Since you previously connected your Benq monitor to your old laptop through an adaptor to the DVI-D on the monitor, you'll need a new adapter for the new device. You can either get a USB-C to DVI adapter, which will allow you to connect the Benq monitor directly to the USB-C port on your new Surface Laptop. Another option is to get a USB-C to HDMI adapter and connect the Benq monitor to the HDMI port on the Philips monitor, as long as the Philips monitor supports daisy-chaining.