I have an old Acer-V731 laptop that has been very good over the years. I
mainly use it now to watch sports programs (mostly tennis) and connecting it
to my large screen TV thru the HDMI port. What I'd like to do (if possible)
is turn the laptop monitor off when connected to the TV or a large monitor I
have. I have gone through all the settings I can find, but see nothing to do
this. Since it stays plugged in, I can close the lid, but then it has a
tendency to slightly overheat when watching long matches. I tried an
external fan that's supposed to help with the overheating, but that was a
dud.
Any ideas?

TIA,
--

SC Tom

SC Tom <sc@tom.net> wrote:
> I have an old Acer-V731 laptop that has been very good over the years. I
> mainly use it now to watch sports programs (mostly tennis) and connecting it
> to my large screen TV thru the HDMI port. What I'd like to do (if possible)
> is turn the laptop monitor off when connected to the TV or a large monitor I
> have. I have gone through all the settings I can find, but see nothing to do
> this.

The laptop probably has a special key to switch between 'PC screen'
and 'Second screen only'. On my HP laptop, it's a key on the top row
with an icon which looks like a screen/display, with a vertical line on
each side. So look in your *hardware* documentation.

> Since it stays plugged in, I can close the lid, but then it has a
> tendency to slightly overheat when watching long matches. I tried an
> external fan that's supposed to help with the overheating, but that was a
> dud.
> Any ideas?

My wife's laptop (also an HP) is used as a kind of desktop with a
large monitor and seperate keyboard and mouse. For the overheating
problem you mention, I have two little carton blocks on each front side
of the laptop, i.e. to the left and right of the touchpad. These blocks
are about a centimeter thick, so the lid/display is open for that height
at the front. No overheating problems.

"Frank Slootweg" <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote in message
news:uu1l0a.qc4.1@ID-201911.user.individual.net...
> SC Tom <sc@tom.net> wrote:
>> I have an old Acer-V731 laptop that has been very good over the years. I
>> mainly use it now to watch sports programs (mostly tennis) and connecting
>> it
>> to my large screen TV thru the HDMI port. What I'd like to do (if
>> possible)
>> is turn the laptop monitor off when connected to the TV or a large
>> monitor I
>> have. I have gone through all the settings I can find, but see nothing to
>> do
>> this.
>
> The laptop probably has a special key to switch between 'PC screen'
> and 'Second screen only'. On my HP laptop, it's a key on the top row
> with an icon which looks like a screen/display, with a vertical line on
> each side. So look in your *hardware* documentation.
>
>> Since it stays plugged in, I can close the lid, but then it has a
>> tendency to slightly overheat when watching long matches. I tried an
>> external fan that's supposed to help with the overheating, but that was a
>> dud.
>> Any ideas?
>
> My wife's laptop (also an HP) is used as a kind of desktop with a
> large monitor and seperate keyboard and mouse. For the overheating
> problem you mention, I have two little carton blocks on each front side
> of the laptop, i.e. to the left and right of the touchpad. These blocks
> are about a centimeter thick, so the lid/display is open for that height
> at the front. No overheating problems.
--
Thanks for hotkey clue. Function F6 did it on mine. Shouldn't have the
overheating with it left open.
Thanks for the quick response!!

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Wed, 27 Mar 2024 12:15:16 -0400, "SC Tom"
<sc@tom.net> wrote:

>I have an old Acer-V731 laptop that has been very good over the years. I
>mainly use it now to watch sports programs (mostly tennis) and connecting it
>to my large screen TV thru the HDMI port. What I'd like to do (if possible)
>is turn the laptop monitor off when connected to the TV or a large monitor I
>have. I have gone through all the settings I can find, but see nothing to do
>this. Since it stays plugged in, I can close the lid, but then it has a
>tendency to slightly overheat when watching long matches.

Point it facing away from you.

Drape a newspaper over the screen only.

I tried an
>external fan that's supposed to help with the overheating, but that was a
>dud.
>Any ideas?
>
>TIA,

On 3/27/2024 2:15 PM, micky wrote:
> In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Wed, 27 Mar 2024 12:15:16 -0400, "SC Tom"
> <sc@tom.net> wrote:
>
>> I have an old Acer-V731 laptop that has been very good over the years. I
>> mainly use it now to watch sports programs (mostly tennis) and connecting it
>> to my large screen TV thru the HDMI port. What I'd like to do (if possible)
>> is turn the laptop monitor off when connected to the TV or a large monitor I
>> have. I have gone through all the settings I can find, but see nothing to do
>> this. Since it stays plugged in, I can close the lid, but then it has a
>> tendency to slightly overheat when watching long matches.
>
> Point it facing away from you.
>
> Drape a newspaper over the screen only.
>
> I tried an
>> external fan that's supposed to help with the overheating, but that was a
>> dud.
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> TIA,

There's an F-key that controls video output mode on a laptop.
A,B,Span A+B, A,B,Span A+B...
That's the sort of sequence it goes through.
It is a toggle, and if you press it enough times,
it comes back to "Main Panel Only".

One of the modes should be suited to sales presentations,
and you can connect a mini-projector to the video-out port
and shine Powerpoint slide sets on the wall next to where
the salesman and the client are seated. Sales people could
not live, without that presentation mode being available.

Paul

Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
[...]

> There's an F-key that controls video output mode on a laptop.
> A,B,Span A+B, A,B,Span A+B...
> That's the sort of sequence it goes through.
> It is a toggle, and if you press it enough times,
> it comes back to "Main Panel Only".

I've seen this happen quite a few times before, so I need to ask.

Is your newsfeed delayed so much that you don't see responses of the
last few hours?

My - same - solution was posted more than two hours before yours and
SC Tom confirmed my solution one and a half hour before your post.

OTOH, if you've seen other people's solutions/posts, but want to add
something, then please acknowledge those earlier solutions/posts.

In this case, that could have easily been done by responding to my
post or to SC Tom's response to my post (instead of to micky's post as
you did).

N.B. There were only four posts in the thread when you responded, so
it wasn't a case of not being able to keep up with the traffic.

[...]

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

> I've seen this happen quite a few times before, so I need to ask.
>
> Is your newsfeed delayed so much that you don't see responses of the
> last few hours?
>
> My - same - solution was posted more than two hours before yours and
> SC Tom confirmed my solution one and a half hour before your post.
>
> OTOH, if you've seen other people's solutions/posts, but want to add
> something, then please acknowledge those earlier solutions/posts.
>
> In this case, that could have easily been done by responding to my
> post or to SC Tom's response to my post (instead of to micky's post as
> you did).
>
> N.B. There were only four posts in the thread when you responded, so
> it wasn't a case of not being able to keep up with the traffic.
>
> [...]

Sometimes having to read through all the subthreads is a real pain.
Lots of noise to filter through, especially since way too many posters
never trim before submit.

Could be the impetus to help overcomes checking other subthreads.

Another possibility is due to filtering: if your reply is in an ignored
subthread, it may not be seen unless someone comments in another
subthread about the contents for the one you hid. For example, I
started filtering out micky a while ago, so both Paul and replies under
that subthread would normally be hidden unless I change the view from
"Hide Ignored" to "View all" which I sometimes do to check my filtering
effects.

We'd like peering between Usenet providers to be instantaneous, but that
doesn't always happen. You're using individual as am I. I gave up on
ES as my primary Usenet provider, because too often he has problems with
his hosted server, hardware goes bad, no one at Hetzner is monitoring
Ray's server, and it's not until Ray notices or someone tells Ray there
is a problem before it gets addressed. His is free and why it's popular.
I decided 10 euro per year was worth a more reliable setup.

Some "Usenet" providers operate NNTP-to-mail or NNTP-to-HTTP gateways.
They're really a web-based forum or mailing list that leeches from
Usenet. Those incur longer delays, but not much if running smoothly.

Then there is the time to compose the reply. Even a simple response may
take a lot of research to then proffer a solution. As you see, I'm far
from terse. By the time I start a reply, do the research, read manuals,
or whatever to compile the reply, it could be sometime before I submit.
In the meantime, someone already provided the same or sufficient answer.
I submit, and whenever my client refreshes, then I see someone got there
before me. My client (40tude Dialog), by default, does NOT refresh its
message list in a newsgroup. It loads on startup, and then the list is
static thereafter, because the client doesn't check for new messages. I
had to add an event-based script to add a polling interval to the
client. Many NNTP clients do have a polling interval, but the user can
change it to make shorter or longer.

My guess, and just a guess, is Paul didn't read the other subthread
before composing and submit. I'm guilty of that at times, too.
Probably everyone is.

To add to the duplication and some clarification, the OP said they have
an Acer-V731 laptop. No such thing. There is, however, an Acer Aspire
V3-731 laptop. I gave up hunting via nav links at Acer's web site to
find a manual on this old laptop, and instead did a Google search that
led me to:

https://www.manualslib.com/products/Acer-Aspire-V3-731-2989397.html

Not until page 222 (4-6 using page numbering in the manual) does the
manual mention hooking an external monitor, and switching between
internal and external displays using Fn+F5. I wanted to mention the
page showing the keyboard, so the OP could see what the icon looks like
above the F5 key, but their keyboard photo is far too low resolution.
Even most Google Images are crappy. I found one at:

https://down-ph.img.susercontent.com/file/055ca9e01deca9bd0e20efdc8453f947

The icon looks like a rectangle: one side black, the other filled. It
is under the F5 label instead of above it.

The manual does a poor job defining just what the Fn+F5 key will do.
Could be a single toggle between internal and external display. Could
be a multiple toggle between internal only, external only, or both
internal and external. From the minimal mention in the manual, my guess
is only the 1st option is available: toggle between internal and
external, but not both.

The OP may find the video resolutions available for the laptop's screen
are way lower than what his external monitor or TV can show. This could
result in color tinging, loss of focus, and other video artifacts.

On 3/27/2024 3:00 PM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
> [...]
>
>> There's an F-key that controls video output mode on a laptop.
>> A,B,Span A+B, A,B,Span A+B...
>> That's the sort of sequence it goes through.
>> It is a toggle, and if you press it enough times,
>> it comes back to "Main Panel Only".
>
> I've seen this happen quite a few times before, so I need to ask.
>
> Is your newsfeed delayed so much that you don't see responses of the
> last few hours?
>
> My - same - solution was posted more than two hours before yours and
> SC Tom confirmed my solution one and a half hour before your post.
>
> OTOH, if you've seen other people's solutions/posts, but want to add
> something, then please acknowledge those earlier solutions/posts.
>
> In this case, that could have easily been done by responding to my
> post or to SC Tom's response to my post (instead of to micky's post as
> you did).
>
> N.B. There were only four posts in the thread when you responded, so
> it wasn't a case of not being able to keep up with the traffic.
>
> [...]
>

It has more modes than you alluded to.

I pointed out it is a "toggle" and if you
press it enough times, you are returned to the
original operating condition ("Main panel").
This is important for individuals who press it once
and get a black screen. And they panic.

Some of the keys are not a toggle. The volume Up button,
hitting it a million times still results in Max Volume.
You need the Volume Down button to return the volume
to a comfortable level. Other keys are Toggles, such
as Airplane Mode or the Video Output Mode key. The design
is likely defined to some extent, by a defacto standard.
Certain of the key designations seem to be standard, while
others may not be.

On a laptop with two video output connectors, the
definition of the toggle could be different.

Paul

Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
> On 3/27/2024 3:00 PM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> > Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
> > [...]
> >
> >> There's an F-key that controls video output mode on a laptop.
> >> A,B,Span A+B, A,B,Span A+B...
> >> That's the sort of sequence it goes through.
> >> It is a toggle, and if you press it enough times,
> >> it comes back to "Main Panel Only".
> >
> > I've seen this happen quite a few times before, so I need to ask.
> >
> > Is your newsfeed delayed so much that you don't see responses of the
> > last few hours?
> >
> > My - same - solution was posted more than two hours before yours and
> > SC Tom confirmed my solution one and a half hour before your post.
> >
> > OTOH, if you've seen other people's solutions/posts, but want to add
> > something, then please acknowledge those earlier solutions/posts.
> >
> > In this case, that could have easily been done by responding to my
> > post or to SC Tom's response to my post (instead of to micky's post as
> > you did).
> >
> > N.B. There were only four posts in the thread when you responded, so
> > it wasn't a case of not being able to keep up with the traffic.
> >
> > [...]
> >
>
> It has more modes than you alluded to.
>
> I pointed out it is a "toggle" and if you
> press it enough times, you are returned to the
> original operating condition ("Main panel").
> This is important for individuals who press it once
> and get a black screen. And they panic.

Yes, that's the "but [you] want to add something" case, I mentioned.

That's ofcourse perfectly OK, but, as I said, a simple acknowledgement/
quote of the other poster's solution (i.e. in this case mine) would have
been nice.

[...]

SC Tom brought next idea :
> Any ideas?

https://i.imgur.com/AkBbwCt.png

activate "Show only on 2"

--
/-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
............ [ al lavoro ] ...........