Church Laptop

My Church needs to buy a new laptop but it needs to be able to run a
projector. My experience using dual screens is limited. The Desk top that
they presently have has dual video cards one to run the Monitor and one
to run the projector. this is the laptop I am presently looking at.

EVEREX XT5000T NoteBook AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50(1.60GHz) 17.0" Wide XGA+ 1GB DDR2 533 100GB 5400rpm Dual layer DVD Burner NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600.

The question is "if we plug the projector into the S-Video Port will it just
Blank the screen and use the projector instead?"

If this is the case how can I get a laptop to run dual screens?:confused

 

I don't know about how that S-Video Port will work. [will this post be deleted? ] If you were asking about using the DVI port instead of the S-Video Port, I'm quite sure you could run dual displays. So, just wondering, is using the DVI port for the projector an option or does it require an S-Video Port?

BTW, that laptop looks like a good choice; it's got good reviews on newegg.com.

 

If you are going to have a laptop, why do you still need to run the old pc screen, won't the laptop screen do?

Most laptops have three settings; internal screen, external screen, both.

If your projector is Svideo / composite only then some laptops will run svideo and their own screen concurrently, but you need to check with the supplier or manufacturer first. Preferably see it working.

Also if you wan this then go for a 4:3 laptop not a 16:9 laptop screen or the picture will be totally wrong on one of them.
When composing stuff on the pc to project keep a goodly margin all round the edges as the pc standards do not correspond exactly with video and some of the edge is always lost.

Finally for the purist Pixels in pc graphics are square, those in video are oblong, which is why computer graphics are sometime disappointing when shown on video.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tvbranding/picturesize.shtml

 

What? Where did he mention still needing to run the "old pc screen"? They're replacing an old desktop computer with the laptop.

 

Unless the projector in question is (composite or separated) video only it is best to use the computer inputs.

If the problem is simply DVI output to VGA input you can get adapter leads / plugs.

If the problem is wanting another (remote) monitor then you can get vga splitters (or s video splitters) to run more than one screen / projector from one pc output. I often set up this arrangement in training rooms.

Please clarify your requirements.

 

For USA standards see

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/PixelFrames.aspx

 

rbeane1
if the church is using the projector to run something like a powerpoint presentation on a screen, yes that laptop will work. they will have to go into the settings to switch between the laptop display and the projector. my wife lets her church use her laptop for this very thing. it is a simple procedure to configure but I have not been there to do it. surely you or someone in the church could do it. under DISPLAY PROPERTIES, I think. but, yes, it'll work just fine.

 

Thanks for all the input. I have messed around with my own laptop and figured
out how to run split screens with both s-video and the VGA outputs. You have
to dig pretty deep into the display controls but it is there.