Switching off laptop-tft

alienjones

Hi there.

This is about a Dell Inspiron 8600 Laptop with Windows XP Pro installed.

I wonder if there is a way to switch off the tft-monitor by any keyboard-shortcut or something like that.

I checked the manual on this problem and it says that the shortcut <Fn><Esc> will execute the preset chosen from Windows energyoptions. There I can only choose from "do nothing" to "standby" and "shutdown" for this keyboard-shortcut.

There is an option switching off the tft-monitor after (for example) 5 minutes untocuhed when the laptop is supplied by battery. There seems to be software-methode to switch off the tft.

Is there any chance for my to use this method manually and on my demand?

RT Cunningham

Perhaps Windows Vista will include something to control a TFT or LCD monitor, but from what I could find, XP doesn't have any hooks for it. If this is a laptop, you only need to close it to turn the monitor off.

Here in the Philippines, we have brownouts quite frequently and sometimes lasting for hours. When that happens, and I happen to be online downloading something, I close my laptop. The battery is supposed to last an hour or so with the monitor on, but I counted more than 4 hours with the lid closed. In fact, I have never had the battery completely drained yet.

alienjones

Yeah, simply closing the Laptop is a "hardware-soultion" Wink

It must also be possible one the software-side as XP actually uses it in its energy-saving-mode.....

ocalhoun

Dell laptops have the charming trait of switching from tft to vga out manualy.
Normaly, this is annoying, but it might suit you just fine.
There should be a function key labled something like 'CRT/LCD', for me it's <fn><f8>, but my dell laptop is a bit old.
This will switch the display output to the vga port, which will make the tft screen shut off.
*tries it*
Doh! It would seem that you have to have a monitor connected in order to do this. Perhaps you don't have to?

Another thing you can do is set it to turn off the display (and do nothing else) when you close it's lid.

Jaan

Try going to display properties/power saving settings. There you can change the options. But on my IBM, it's fn+f7.
Really dunno m8. Cheers.
should be in the manual/quick start of your laptop.