I have a T30 Thinkpad laptop that I use primarily. I use an external monitor at 1600×1200 (UXGA for those of you that prefer obscure acronyms). The T30 also has a DVI output for direct digital video. So I got a Dell UltraSharp 2001FP 20.1-inch Flat Panel LCD Monitor to use with it.

It arrived yesterday. I plugged it in, and saw that I was getting a small window onto my screen, panning around with the mouse, as if the display had a lower resolution than 1600×1200. Digging into it, it turns out that the T30 is a bit crippled in this regard: Maximum Digital Video (DVI) Resolution is 1280×1024. This is baffling. 1280×1024 is lower resolution than the built-in LCD (1400×1050), and it’s being driven digitally. WTF? Looking some more turned up some dodgy sounding workarounds. I’m reluctant to start down the path of fiddling with drivers, especially if the proponents of the technique admit that there are still video corruptions.

For now, I’m using the monitor with analog video at full resolution, but I don’t think it looks as good as my old CRT. The anti-glare coating is much better, though.