Is this the right 27" monitor for me?

xy16644

xy16644

xy16644

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Hello Everyone

The time has come for me to finally buy a BIG monitor to connect to my laptop! I have been thinking of getting the following monitor:

Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey [210-31179]

I currently have a Samsung R710 laptop (just over 2 years old) and it has an HDMI port on it. This laptop has an Nvidia Geforce 9600M GT video card with 512MB memory. I won't be using it for games.

Is this laptop and the monitor going to work ok together? Am I going to be able to run the monitor at its maximum resolution and be able to watch 1080p BluRay movies on it ok?

Appreciate any thoughts/comments on this :D
 
Sorry I forgot that I had asked that there.

I have looked in the laptop manual and on the Samsung website but theres no mention anywhere of the HDMI version.

Is there a way I can check this? Maybe with a software utility? Looking in device manager didn't seem to help.
 
Thats what I found, NO info on the HDMI version anywhere!!

Surely theres a tool or utility you can run to find out what version of HDMI you have?
 
Surveyor said:
I've searched high and low but can't find anything about the HDMI port on your laptop other that it's HDMI!

This might be a mute point.

Click where it says "Setting the Maximum Resolution" on this document:

http://supportapj.dell.com/support/edocs/MONITORS/U2711b/en/ug/operate.htm#Setting%20the%20Optimal%20Resolution

According to that the U2711 will only go as high as 1080p over HDMI.
Click to expand...

I have just gone to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

to check the HDMI versions. I see HDMI 1.3 was released June 22, 2006 and 1.3a on November 10, 2006.

I bought my laptop in February 2009. So I *assume* I have HDMI 1.3? Usually Samsung are quite cutting edge with their products when they are released.

I just don't wanna buy this monitor and find that I don't have HDMI 1.3 and can't use it to its full potential :(
 
Hi,

I dont know if this bit of info helps or not.

Despite boasting a Blu-ray drive for high-definition movie playback, the screen only has a 1,440x900-pixel resolution, so you can't watch movies in true 'Full HD' without linking the laptop up to a 1080p TV via its HDMI port. The screen also falls slightly short in the brightness stakes -- it's noticeably dimmer than the likes of the HP HDX X16.

http://www.notebookforums.com/forum/thread/223795/samsung-r710-hdmi-help

I looked at amazon and it says ¦ 1 x audio / video - HDMI - 19 pin HDMI Type A and this thread on 19 pin HDMI Type A.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/home-theater-general-discussion/26544-hdmi-19-pin-hdmi-type.html
 
themul said:
Hi,

I dont know if this bit of info helps or not.

Despite boasting a Blu-ray drive for high-definition movie playback, the screen only has a 1,440x900-pixel resolution, so you can't watch movies in true 'Full HD' without linking the laptop up to a 1080p TV via its HDMI port. The screen also falls slightly short in the brightness stakes -- it's noticeably dimmer than the likes of the HP HDX X16.

http://www.notebookforums.com/forum/thread/223795/samsung-r710-hdmi-help

I looked at amazon and it says ¦ 1 x audio / video - HDMI - 19 pin HDMI Type A and this thread on 19 pin HDMI Type A.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/home-theater-general-discussion/26544-hdmi-19-pin-hdmi-type.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for that but my laptops screen has a resolution of 1920x1200. I just checked :D

It is proving hard to find any info on this! At this stage I am just assuming it has 1.3 or better due to the age of the laptop?!
 
Hi,

Cant you just plug it into a friends hd tv or sneak into curries and try it in one of there tv sets, while your friend distracts the sales guy. lol
 
How does that help him? He needs to know if his laptop will support higher resolutions than 1920 x 1080.
 
Found this, http://uk.insight.com/en-gb/productinfo/laptops/SAYA06CWO

Looking at Expansion / Connectivity section

1 x audio / video - HDMI - 19 pin HDMI Type A


And type A are defined as HDMI 1.0 specification, for 1.3 you need type C, as Samsung upgrade this connection to 1.3, I don't know.

But,HDMI will support 2560x1440 as long as it's HDMI 1.3 or later. Earlier versions will only go up to 1920x1200.
 
Surveyor said:
I've searched high and low but can't find anything about the HDMI port on your laptop other that it's HDMI!

This might be a mute point.

Click where it says "Setting the Maximum Resolution" on this document:

http://supportapj.dell.com/support/edocs/MONITORS/U2711b/en/ug/operate.htm#Setting%20the%20Optimal%20Resolution

According to that the U2711 will only go as high as 1080p over HDMI.
Click to expand...

Hasn't anyone looked at the link I posted?

It doesn't look like the monitor can display anything higher than 1080p over HDMI

It doesn't matter what resolution the laptop can output unless it's for a different monitor that can work at a higher resolution over HDMI.
 
I did discuss the possibility that Dell purposefully limited the U2711H's resolution over HDMI somewhere but I couldn't find where. As it happens it was by email! But yes the link that Surveyor posted is an important one. You could try using an HDMI to DVI Dual Link cable if you have to as it may not be your laptop at fault at all.
 
PCM2 said:
I did discuss the possibility that Dell purposefully limited the U2711H's resolution over HDMI somewhere but I couldn't find where. As it happens it was by email! But yes the link that Surveyor posted is an important one. You could try using an HDMI to DVI Dual Link cable if you have to as it may not be your laptop at fault at all.
Click to expand...

The OP hasn't got the monitor yet.

This is a theoretical exercise to see if his laptop can produce the full resolution on the monitor.
 
HDMI doesnt support 2560x1440. You will need to use the dual DVI cable

Fantastic monitor, picked up a new one a few weeks back for £590 inc

Still tempted to try and remove the anti-glare but dont want to break it. Cant notice it that much anyway, only on white screens really
 
Surveyor said:
The OP hasn't got the monitor yet.

This is a theoretical exercise to see if his laptop can produce the full resolution on the monitor.
Click to expand...

You mean people actually think such things through before buying a £600+ monitor? Wow. :p

Seriously though. I think some of the information on this thread is misleading and will just confuse the OP. HDMI 1.3 and above does indeed support the WQHD resolution of the U2711H (take note 'Guest 2'). The problem is, as highlighted above, that the U2711H is very fussy when connected via HDMI and regardless of sufficient bandwidth will 'lock' the resolution at 1920 x 1080 in some instances. I have found this myself but have also found that on reasonably modern devices that lack DVI ports a converter cable (DVI Dual - HDMI) will allow you to run the U2711H at its native resolution by using the more forgiving DVI port of the monitor.
 
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