zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

Not sure where to post this so please move if in wrong spot. I have a very old hard wired HP desktop computer that does not have enough hard drive and ram to do much photo editing, however the monitor is a fairly new 27 inch one, the original one died. I also have an HP 17 inch Laptop that belonged to my late husband. Is there a way to remove the screen part off the laptop and hookup the 27 inch desktop monitor to the laptop? I would like to be able to use the larger monitor for photo editing without having to buy another desktop computer. The laptop has windows 10 with enough ram and hard drive memory for my editing needs.

zuzanne

AlohaBob Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Most laptops will let you add an external monitor. Check the back to see if there is a connector that is compatible with your monitor. If so, connect it and right click on the desktop and look for screen resolution and left click that (windows 7, may be named differently in win 10). If you get to the menu, then you will see options about how to use the external monitor. Good luck!

hfb46 Loc: UK

You can hook up the monitor to the laptop without removing the screen. In settings you can choose to have the monitor and laptop screens active or only the monitor with the laptop blacked out - if memory serves correctly it should be fn/f5 to toggle between the different configurations. You will need to decide if you want to use the laptop keyboard and trackpad or use an external keyboard/mouse/pad arrangement. You should get the setup you want without any dismantling. Good luck.

Kuzano

The laptop should already have a port on the side that will drive the monitor, provided the input/outputs are compatible. Laptops for years have been given the ability to drive a second video output. You may need to have a tech or some knowledgeable person in your area look over the video port setup. This is fairly routine and does not require altering the laptop as a rule.

You should also be able to calibrate both the laptop screen and the external monitor separately for color matching and output of what you see on the monitor to match what you get on the paper. Otherwise such matching is trial and error often costing paper and ink to get what you hope to see on the paper.

In any event, that aspect of matching colors on printed media is true of any monitor/computer combo. It is not worsened by your use of the monitor with the laptop. Color calibrating systems for your own printing just goes with the territory of printing your images.

colinc1 Loc: Goleta, California

Hi Zuzanne, If your laptop has HDMI out and the monitor has HDMI in connecting the 2 together with the appropriate HDMI cable should produce a picture on your large screen monitor. It may also have the same display on the laptop. I think this should work.

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

Thank you all for your help. I will check the laptop to see if it has the compatible port. Will let you know how it turns out or if I need more help.

zuzanne

RichJ207 Loc: Sammamish, WA

Hi Zuzanne,
Could you post pictures of the end of the connector on the wire from the monitor (that would plug into a computer) and the connection options on your HP laptop?
That would help to identify whether an adapter is required.
Then there are web sites and tutorials on the web that come up if you enter "how to connect a laptop to a monitor" in Google.

OlinBost Loc: Marietta, Ga.

Also if the laptop is fairly new it may have an HDMI port to connect to displays with an HDMI port input.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I just finished upgrading my 2012 Dell for my son. Rather than buy a new desktop, he got a Samsung SSD for the C drive, a 2TB Hitachi drive for the D drive, and 16GB of memory. The computer has a core i7 processor, and it's not very old, so he got a competent machine for around $150 (We had the SSD already). After installing the hardware, I did a clean install of Windows 10. Just something for you to think about.

Bobbee

Typically you plug the monitor into one of the available ports for a monitor. Maybe the could isn't right but there are at least 3-4 types. The old VGA being the most prevalent and HDMI and Data Port being the newer ones. I have a 27" Samsung Curve which offers several interfaces. I ended up using the Data Port one which my Lenovo W541 offered. I have a docking station for my laptop. this allows me to 'pull' the laptop without having to unplug thins every time. When I am on the road I just plg monitors, presentation devices right into the VGA or HDMI ports and Hit Func/F7-F8. The F7/F8 on most computers is common for switching to the external monitor port.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Running a laptop using a larger monitor is done everyday and should be fairly easy for someone so inclined. I often take my MacBook Pro to my office and plug it into one of my desktop monitors. Best of luch, and happy Memorial day!

SwedeUSA2

The OP said she has an HP desktop. So how is your answer going to help her or anyone else saying you take your MBP to your office?

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

My point, which you obviously missed, is that plugging a laptop into a monitor, of any brand, is fairly easy as long as both have at least one similar port. Who knows the brand of her monitor or laptop, as neither is stated, so that's the best generic answer I came up with. Please, if you have a better idea, give it to her as I was trying to help without mislead. Have a GREAT Memorial Day weekend!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

First of all, the "old hard-wired HP desktop" might be upgradeable... without knowing the exact model, it's hard to say. But bigger and additional hard drives are easy to install... and cheap. Often it's possible to increase the RAM, too. It's also usually possible to add a graphics card to a desktop, to speed up graphics-intensive work such as photo editing. In fact, one of the advantages of a desktop PC is that it's the least expensive and easiest to upgrade.

I have an approx. 7 year old HP desktop myself and over the years have upgraded the operating system from Vista to Windows 7, increased it's RAM from 4 to 8GB, added a Geforce/Nvidia GPU with 2GB of memory (had another smaller one with 1GB at first, but it failed after about 5 years use), increased it's original single 500GB hard drive to two 2TB hard drives, and replaced the power supply with a larger one. I use it with an HP 2475w IPS monitor, which is excellent for graphics and calibrates well (and replaced a more consumer grade 22" flat panel that originally came with the computer). Works fine for photo editing.

In fact, if your HP desktop came with that 27" monitor, I'd wager it's some years newer than mine (that came with a 22") and is even more upgradeable.

I also have a 17" HP laptop, which has been quite good but was a lot more expensive to add memory and hard drives to.... it also has Win 7, 8GB RAM and two 1TB drives (which makes for short battery life.... only about 45 min. to 1 hour on a full charge... so it pretty much needs to be plugged in to an outlet all the time). I use my laptop when I'm on the road and need to do some previewing, checking, sorting and storing of images. But I never use it for the final image finishing work.... that has to wait until I'm back at my desktop (which on a few occasions I've actually packed up and transported to major location shoots, rather than rely upon the laptop). In fact, I have Lightroom on both my laptop and on my desktop... But only have Photoshop, which I always use for image finishing, on the desktop. No sense filling up the laptop's hard drives with Photoshop, since I won't be using the laptop for the finishing work anyway.

Yes, it is possible to plug a larger monitor in to the laptop... In fact this is a recommended strategy when wanting to use a laptop for photo editing work because it's very difficult to get consistent results on a laptop's own screen, due to moving the portable computer around into different ambient lighting conditions and closing/opening the screen to slightly different angles of viewing that dramatically effect apparent brightness. Instead using it with a separate monitor that remains in the same fixed location will make for much more consistent results (even better if it's calibrated regularly and there are some precautions taken to control ambient light).

However, it's hard to say if it will be practical to do so, with the particular laptop you've got without knowing the exact model and looking up its specifications. It may or may not have the correct connectivity... and it may or may not have a powerful enough built-in graphics card to support the external monitor. Some laptops can optionally be fitted with more powerful graphics cards... others can't. Most laptops only have two slots for RAM (compared to four or more in many desktops), and you need to buy specific type of RAM for laptops which tends to cost 1.5X to 2X as much per GB as more common desktop RAM. The smaller 2.5" hard drives used in laptops also cost about 2X as much per TB as the more common 3.5" in desktops. Faster Solid State Drives (SSDs) are available in the 2.5" format (can be used in laptops, or with an adapter in desktops)... but are about 5X to 10X as expensive per TB.

If it were me, I'd explore the possibility of upgrading the desktop first.... and only if that's not possible to an adequate degree, then consider using the laptop with the external monitor.

If you don't know the desktop's (or laptop's) exact model or specifications, there are several ways to find out.... One is to go to the Crucial website (sellers of high quality RAM memory and SSDs) and use their system analysis tool you'll find there. That can tell you exactly your computer model, what's installed now and will recommend possible upgrades (though Crucial stuff is quite good, but tends to be a bit pricey... you might want to shop around once you know exactly what's possible and compatible).

Once you get it all sorted out, if you will be doing a lot of photo editing, printing and are concerned about image quality, you might want to consider a calibration device & software suite, such as a Datacolor Spyers, Pantone Huey or X-Rite ColorMunki. Those are used to accurately set monitor brightness and color rendition. The device and it's software will eventually pay for themselves in savings of ink and paper, because re-calibration is necessary every month or two, since monitors color-shift and lose brightness over time and with use.

CaltechNerd Loc: Whittier, CA, USA

If you add an external monitor, as many of us have, you probably want to also add an external keyboard and mouse. There are plugs for these as well. Then you can close your laptop, set it behind the monitor or on a shelf behind your monitor, and have all the convenience of a desktop. Going one step further (which may not be worth it) you can get a docking station so that all the cords plug into the docking station and the laptop just sets on top, seating into the docking station and can easily be removed for portable use.