I own an older monitor that has only has VGA and DVI port and I want to connect it to my deck for daily use.
In theory this should be as simple as getting a DVI to HDMI converter cable and then connect to a dock that has a HDMI port, right? Or perhaps a DVI to display port adapter instead? I’ve read about people having trouble with DVI monitors so I checked multiple dock vendors and their statements boil down to “we don’t support it”, ie they don’t deny or rule out that it works but don’t want to give guarantee either.
Is anyone in a similar situation and can recommend a dock? I want to resolve the monitor situation first and then worry about additional stuff like USB ports, etc.
My monitor is a Samsung SMT 2333T (https://www.samsung.com/us/business/support/owners/product/2333t-series-2333t/)
Edit: I got it working and it was quite simple, here’s my steps:
- I checked the port at the back of my monitor (reference chart) which turned out to be DVI-I dual link.
- then I purchased a HDMI <–> DVI adapter cable which supports my monitor’s resolution (1080 p). This costs around 10 €.
- connected that cable to the official Steam Deck dock and my monitor and it works without any further setup
- while in the Deck’s Desktop mode you can go into the system settings --> display and make your external monitor the primary display. Primary means that your start bar is located there, new apps will launch on this screen by default, etc. In the same settings menu you can also turn off the Decks own display while the external one is connected. I do this because I can’t comfortably look at it anyway while it’s in the dock and also to save energy.
Tldr: you’re better off just buying a new monitor, and don’t go down the road paved with adapters and vague vendor promises. That way lies madness.
I’ve tried several combinations of docks and adapters, and if you do go that way, only get a dock which natively outputs something your monitor accepts and stay the fuck away from Targus, their display link implementation will add a whole new layer of frustration to your troubleshooting.
Adapters often require power, and sometimes the dock can’t supply that power in the long run. I have had setups work for 4months before suddenly a monitor dropping out randomly. As in working fine, then no connection and a few seconds later back online. After 3 docks and 4 sets of adapters, the only thing that worked was dropping the adapters and getting new monitors.
I’ll give the adapter a shot. One costs < 10 € and a good monitor is easily 200+ €.