I have just read a conversation on the Oz Teachers List regarding the issues of connecting up a new laptop to the IWB/Projector combination in a classroom. As many readers of this list may experience the same issues at some point in the future, I have copied it below for you:

Will do, but won’t be for two weeks now. Cameron

Chris Betcher wrote:
> Yes that’s true. I was keen to try this mode, thinking it would be
> the ideal solution for our teachers… they could have the IWB up on
> the secondary screen, and their own work on the local screen.
>
> We tested it and found it didn’t really work as expected. ActivStudio
> did not play nicely in this mode and was constantly moving the
> toolstore back to the main screen for no apparent reason. Floating
> palettes would not do what you expected them to do, and there were
> other niggly issues that I can’t recall in detail right now.
>
> Basicaly though, it was a solution that sounded like it should have
> solved the problem but we found in practice it didn’t.
>
> Let me know how you go though, as I’d really like to find an answer to
> this one…
>
> Chris
>
> On 21/03/2008, *Cameron Bell* <bell.cameron.p@edumail.vic.gov.au
> <mailto:bell.cameron.p@edumail.vic.gov.au>> wrote:
>
> Most newer laptops should have a dual screen mode where the LCD is at
> native res while the VGA output can be an independent resolution to
> match the output device. The Lenovo R61 does and my Macbook does.
> We have just got in some widescreen R61’s (yesterday) and I look
> forward
> to trying this feature on the IWB’s.
> Just make sure you have dual independent display in the specs.
> Cheers
> Cameron
>
>
> Chris Betcher wrote:
> >
> > Hi Berkeley
> >
> > Great question. I don’t agree that any modern laptop will do,
> in fact
> > I think most modern laptops are a pain in the neck if your
> primary use
> > for them is to drive an IWB… here’s why…
> >
> > Early PCs ran a screen resolution of 640×480 (VGA), and then we
> moved
> > to 800×600 (SVGA), and then to 1024×768 (UVGA), then 1200×1024
> (XGA),
> > and so on as the specs on computer rose… Many modern, late model
> > laptops run much higher than that. This is a problem, because many
> > projectors will not run much higher than UVGA, so the higher
> > resolution laptops have to downsample their output to run on the
> older
> > (or cheaper) projectors. You can buy high res projectors but
> they are
> > typically quite expensive. What you’ll notice about all these
> screen
> > resolutions though is that their size is 4 units wide by 3 units
> high,
> > often referred to as a 4:3 format. This works well because IWB
> screen
> > are also 4:3 fomat. So if you get a 4:3 format computer, and a 4:3
> > format board, and a projector that matches the screen res of your
> > computer’s output, it all looks fantastic.
> >
> > But here’s the other big problem you’ll face… Most current
> laptops
> > run a widecreen WS-XGA screen… meaning they are not only a very
> > high resolution, but they are also not a 4:3 format… they are a
> > widescreen format that does not match the 4:3 format of the IWB.
> > Problem here, because either the projector will have to project
> a wide
> > image (and many won’t) and you’ll lose a strip at the top and bottom
> > of the board, or your screen will resize itself to a lower, more
> > stretched mode and while the IWB image will look great, the computer
> > screen looks crappy. If you are like my school, where teachers are
> > connected to the IWB all day, this makes working on the computer
> (for
> > checking mail, typing documents, etc) a real pain. The computer
> > screen looks awful.
> >
> > We just upgraded some laptops from ones that had a 1024×768, 4:3
> ratio
> > screen, to new tablet PCs with a widescreen, high res display, and
> > most teachers will tell you that while it’s nice to have a new
> > computer, the new machines are not as good for using the IWBs as the
> > old ones.
> >
> > Also, developing teaching resources using ActivStudio on the
> > widescreen models often means that it looks quite different when
> > projected on the IWB.
> >
> > Not sure what the answer is… the newer computers are nice to work
> > on when not connected to an IWB, but are not as good when you do.
> >
> > just something to think about.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> >
> > On 19/03/2008, *Berkeley Fitzhardinge* <edgecb@gmail.com
> <mailto:edgecb@gmail.com>
>
> > <mailto:edgecb@gmail.com <mailto:edgecb@gmail.com>>> wrote:
> >
> > Hi everyone,
> > I have been asked to buy 6 notebooks for use with IWBs in a
> > Kimberley Aboriginal school.
> > I remember a few years ago hearing that a school was having
> > trouble getting a notebook to display via their Projector. At
> > that time I was buying a couple of notebooks for use with IWBs.
> > At the time advice was I should purchase a notebook with say an
> > Invidia or AYI graphics adapter rather than say the Intel one.
> > This meant purchasing a more expensive notebook – but there were
> > no problems.
> >
> > The school’s budget is around $1400 per notebook for the 6 new
> > ones. The requested operating system is Windows XP.
> >
> > What’s your experience and advice?
> >
> > Berkeley
> >
> > –
> > http://www.westcourt.wa.edu.au/home/berkeley

Hope someone finds this of use.