Can Surface pro run dual external monitors?

Anonymous
2013-02-05T22:36:00+00:00

With the ports configuration and specs of the announced Surface Pro, can one run  dual external monitors? By that I mean connecting two external monitors, one for primary display and one for extended display. Irrelevant what shows on the actual Surface screen.

This is the current configuration I have for my heavy laptop (with docking station) and want to recreate it if I swap to the cool Surface Pro.

I don't mind buying some port replicators, as long as the set-up works seamlessly once connected. I saw some other threads and no docking station is planned by Microsoft at this stage

Thanks for input

Surface | Surface Pro | USB-C

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Anonymous
2013-02-06T01:53:48+00:00

Greetings ManlioV,

That's a great question. Because the Surface Pro is running Windows 8, you could get a USB port hub and USB video cards and the Surface Pro would be able to install the drivers so you could hook up multiple monitors that way.

Hope that helps.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-05T01:48:56+00:00

    Before you claim how great an external DisplayLink is, try running something like Netflix, XBOX Video, or HULU.

    I am looking for an external display adapter that DOESN'T use DisplayLink drivers. They have issues, DisplayLink knows about it, but have no idea when they will fix it. (They say Q1 2013 - now).

    http://www.displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2046

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-03-01T00:45:56+00:00

    You can use the HDMI port and the DisplayPort on this docking station below. You can even connect to the built-in miniDisplayPort on the Surface Pro to get the 3rd monitor.

     

    DisplayLink Enables Docking Station Expansion for Microsoft’s Surface Pro Tablet

    http://www.bloomberg.com/article/2013-02-19/arYbDgKzPvVk.html

     

    Picture of the USB 3.0 Docking Station

    http://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=358627&vid=5&download=1

     

     

    I actually found that there is an HP branded one (OEM is DisplayLink) but you will need to download the latest drivers from DisplayLink as I could not find it anywhere on the HP site. It works great!

    The cheapest I found online is for US$128.48 with free shipping. See link below. They only have 250 quantity as of right now. (Other sells it for as much as US$250.00): 

    http://www.costcentral.com/proddetail/HP\_3005pr\_USB\_30\_Port\_Replicator/H1L08UTABA/11701490/

    The drivers are found on the DisplayLink site. Surface Pro comes with the 64bit version Windows 8 Pro so make sure you download the 64bit Windows 8 drivers:

    http://www.displaylink.com/support/index.php

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-02-20T18:35:27+00:00

    Most manufacturers are moving away from proprietary docking station since they are very specific to each model. It is rare that docking stations are compatible with newer model and it is not very cost effective to keep building new versions. USB 3.0 docking stations allows 3rd party manufactures to provide the generic docking stations. It also allows device manufactures shrink their motherboard footprint and making them lighter and smaller.

    USB 3.0 has a higher capacity to handle the data compared to USB 2.0. Most devices don't fully utilize all the USB 3.0 bandwidth anyway so it is a great solution for a universal docking station.

    Apple went with the Thunderbolt ports solution which can even handle a faster throughput and wider bandwidth than USB 3.0 but I believe the PCs will eventually add Thunderbolt ports as standard ports on newer models as costs go down. Currently it is only currently available on select high end PC laptops.

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