Got an old compaq laptop, wanna use the display...

[Lonemagi]

Got a 486 Compaq contura 400c, lookin for a way to wire up a vga connector and run it off of another vid card for a project i want to do. Is it feasible? (cost wise as well?) i havent pulled it apart yet, so I dont know anything really bout the display yet, but want to know if it can be done fairly easily.

Once I thought, then I <A HREF="http://www.warroom.com" target="_new">learned</A>

 

[GoSharks]

Is it possible yes! Is it practical no! The trick to using a laptop screen and a stand alone video card is converting the analog or the DVI signal to the parallel data the laptop screen requires. Since most every laptop design is slightly different you would need to have the laptop panel input schematics then build an analog or DVI to laptop panel converter. Not a simple thing to do. You are better off purchasing a stand alone LCD monitor IMHO.

Jim Witkowski
Chief Hardware Engineer
Cornerstone / MOnitorsdirect.com

<A HREF="http://www.monitorsdirect.com" target="_new">MonitorsDirect.com</A>

 

[hammerhead]

Agree with GoSharks. I tried this myself. My project was to integrate an old laptop screen into the case of a DHCP server/firewall box. Basically, the machine didn't need a monitor but it would have been nice to have a visual display of its status.

Didn't take long to realise it was a very complicated task and not worth the effort. Shame really, it would have been neat.