12in Laptop+24in Monitor Questions

[crispswish]

Hi, I currently have a 2.5 y/o 12inch Toshiba laptop ([email protected] Duo Core, 3 gig ram, Intel 945GM Express GC). Before I bought that, I swore to myself that I won't get a new computer until it dies. It runs perfectly fine and smooth but I'm kind of sick of the small size of the screen (I still like the flexiblility and convenience of laptop). So I'm planning to get a 24in monitor (1900X1200) to make my view are MUCH bigger by connecting my laptop to it thru VGA. However, my laptop native resolution is 1280X800. And yet it seems like I could still output 20??X1???.

1. Do you think by almost maxing out my resolution output will slow down my laptop? If so, would it be significant? (I'm planning to do normal multi-tasking i.e. opening several internet windows, 6-7 folders, and playing music at a time.

2. I don't game but I do watch videos on my laptop. I found out that my laptop could only handle 720p videos and definitely have problem with lag on 1080p videos. Do you think it's a waste of a 24in screen to play 720p videos?

3. I do minor photo editing. If you do think it would be a waste to watch 720p videos on my laptop thru the 24in monitor. Do you think the hugh aspect of have a hugh screen to photo edit on would compensate the watch 720p video aspect?

The more of the response and answer would help me greatly. Thank you very much! Sorry for my grammars!

 

[Zatharus]

1) Resolution will have little affect on your over all computing speed unless you are dealing with 3D acceleration. The only way that a high resolution could affect you in this case is with extra system RAM being used by the IGP. You will be more limited by your available RAM and CPU speed in multitasking than by your graphics processor.

2) The larger the screen size, the larger the image. While you won't get any greater resolution on 720p material, you may enjoy being able to see the existing detail better. I would not consider a larger monitor a waste in this sense.

3) Not quite sure what you are asking here... Having a larger monitor for photo editing and multitasking can be a great asset.