Gloat: I just got a 24" monitor.

[sparkeyjames]

It's tax return time so I just picked up a NEW* ASUS 24 inch wide screen LCD monitor model VW246H for my computer. I must say it's quite a bit nicer than my old CRT 19 incher. I paid $199 with a $10 off promo code final $189 with free shipping from Newegg.


*Emphasis on new. Not a refurb.


EDIT: the price of large quality LCD monitors have finally come down to a very affordable price range.

[LCHIEN]

I just bought a used 20" Acer 1920 x 1080 LCD monitor that matched the one I've had for a couple of years... I'll have a dual monitor system. Hope it works OK, got it for $90 including shipping.

[sparkeyjames]

The weirdest thing is occurring to my perception when using this monitor. I position the browser in the center of the screen and open it to about the same size it was when I had it on the 19" CRT and at the top and bottom of the screen horizontal lines and graphics appear bowed in toward the center a bit. Yet a straight edge tells me they are indeed dead straight. I wonder if this is just an effect of years of using a monitor that is slightly curved like my CRT.

[dbhost]

Not to brag here or anything, since that is a good deal. About 2 years ago my old Viewsonic 19" CRT gave up the ghost. I bought a new Dell 24" flat screen to replace it, and paid about what you did. Not sure the model #, not the top end, not the bottom. Plenty of screen real estate that's for sure...

Funny thing is, I have been using a PC in the dining room table I am working on to catch BT3Central lately... (CentOS 5.5 doing some LONG recompiles of apps I am working with). That has a 19" flat screen...

[Cochese]

I'm going to be in the market for one soon, although I'm not sure 24" is the right size for me. Keeping an eye on the sales.

[leehljp]

I just bought a used 20" Acer 1920 x 1080 LCD monitor that matched the one I've had for a couple of years... I'll have a dual monitor system. Hope it works OK, got it for $90 including shipping.

I used dual monitors from the mid 90's and loved it for detailed graphics work in PS! I love the dual monitor setup!

[os1kne]

I used dual monitors from the mid 90's and loved it for detailed graphics work in PS! I love the dual monitor setup!

I started using a dual monitor setup at work about 5 years ago. Dual monitors quickly became an industry standard. About 3 months ago, I started testing a 3 monitor setup to see if it improved productivity. After 2 months, it was decided to upgrade every FT member of my team to a 3 monitor setup. The productivity gains far outweigh the cost. After you get used to multiple monitors, it's hard to go back. I even have dual monitors on a computer at home that I use for times that I work from home.

[jhart]

Probably a dumb question, but how do you go about setting up a dual or triple monitor on you computer?

[lebomike]

I have the same question as jhart. How is it done and what advantage does it give you? I have an extra 18" monitor here, never used.

Mike

[pelligrini]

The majority of video cards out have dual ports, they have for quite some time. If you're using a computer with onboard video it probably has only the one. You can add a video card to get two or more ports. Many motherboards out now can support multiple video cards.

I've been using dual monitors for quite some time. I have a pair of Samsung 23" wide screen monitors on my desk at home. I like them as the frame around the screen was small. I have 3rd 22" CRT to the right of my duals at home. It's hooked up to another computer mainly for TV & movies. It's also the monitor on my KVM so I can have my duals up and work on another computer when needed. Troubleshooting or fix pages up on my main machine & readable while working on the afflicted PC. I'm still stuck with a pair of 21" CRTs at work.

With multiple monitor setups you can have several documents/programs open and not have to switch between them to see it. I love it for my Autocad; one nice big screen for drawings and the other screen for toolbars etc., or a code page, or a scanned sketch. Spreading out a timeline for video or music editing is pretty sweet too.

[leehljp]

Erik gave a great explanation. I am not totally sure how Windows work with duals, but most Macs with dual monitor outputs or with an additional display card installed, this allows for a separate external monitor or two - to be attached. Some cards require software to be installed. I think Windows works the same.

At this point, under "display preferences" there are the choices of:
1. "Mirror," which puts the same image on both screens;
2. Side by side or over under, which allows the choice of which is the primary screen for menus, and which is for secondary. This allows you to choose which way to make the pointer arrow to flow effortless from one screen to the other. IN some cases, or with additional software, you can put the menus on both monitors.

Also, in this choice you can choose to have one monitor above or below the other. On the Mac, while in display preferences, you just drag the two monitor icons to the place you want them to be, then the real displays act in relation to what the preferences show. I think the PC preferences and actions allow the same.


This might shed a little clarification on the concept - for some: Last week I did some PowerPoint presentations. Of course PP mirrors on the projection screen what is on the laptop screen.

However, PP allows for the laptop display to show the PP frame with notes and also the next frame preview, but not on the projected screen for the audience to see. For me, In preferences, I inadvertently got these reversed. The projection screen showed my notes and next frame preview along with the actual PP, while the laptop showed only the PP that was meant for the audience.

All I needed to do was go into display preferences and reverse the displays.

This is similar to the way that dual displays work or can work. Through the display preferences, make one display show one thing and the other display something else, plus allow for proximity to each other and interaction with each other.

[pelligrini]

I'm not sure about the new flavors of windows, but in XP and 2000 in Display Properties go to the Setting Tab. Once you have your second monitor hooked up you can select which will be the primary monitor and or extend your desktop to that monitor. Different manufacturers have different drivers and configuration controls too.

UltraMon is a good app that a couple guys in the office use. I haven't used it though. The drivers and controls from the manufacturer have been good enough for me.

My computer in my upstairs bedroom is set up for dual monitors. My main monitor is another Samsung 23" hooked up to the side of my bed and the second is my HDTV on the other side of the room. Works great for playing movies on my PC, games too.

[vaking]

Professional traders have been using multi-monitor setup for years. At a trading desk every trader is sitting in front of a special stand holding 3-4 monitors like below:
http://www.multi-monitors.com/product_p/ergotech04.htm
One monitor where trader actually enters his input, another displays current prices of securities this trader is watching, third shows most active stocks at the time, etc. Trader needs to see multiple sources of information at once and does not have time to be switching applications frequently. Certain manufacturers make video cards with quad outputs, Matrox for example.
There are many ways to setup dual-monitor display.
At work I have a desktop with 2 monitors attached. Desktop has on-board video but when user needs dual display desktop support team disable on board and install dedicated video card with dual output. It is a corporate standard and user have no say on the matter.
At home I have my personal computer and a company laptop. Personal computer has more power but corporate policy prohibits use of personal computer for work. Laptop has its own 15" wide screen. At home I also have a docking station for that laptop with another screen of similar size attached to it, so it is a dual-monitor setup at home and single monitor on the road.
There was a time I used dual monitor on my personal computer as well but no more. Large size monitors have become affordable and I find a single large monitor to work better than 2 smaller ones. (Single 32" monitor has as much real estate as 3 19" monitors for example and it costs about same too). I think the time for dual-monitor setups for non-professional use is coming to an end.

[os1kne]

I have the same question as jhart. How is it done and what advantage does it give you? I have an extra 18" monitor here, never used.

Mike

Like others have said, adding the second monitor is usually done with a video card. Many video cards are capable of supporting 2 displays and they will have 2 ports. If your computer has onboard video (no dedicated video card) it probaby only has 1 port. To add a second display, you'd either need another video card - or a USB solution (here's one that I've had good luck with http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-UV-16-Plu.../dp/B00191GZ8U). Most laptops have 1 video port and can do the built-in display +1 easily (the usb solution is the best way to do +2+ that I've found.)

Whether or not there's an advantage to you really depends on what you do with your computer. (While I think that it's great to have multiple screens because they help me do what I do more efficiently, my wife thinks its worthless because it doesn't help her do what she does - so, it's not for everyone.)

If you need to key information into some type of software from an electronic document, or need to do some analysis from multiple sources of electronic information - it is much more efficient to have both screens available simultaneously.

As more industries go paperless, "screen space" becomes more valuable than desk space.

[LCHIEN]

most video cards in the last 5-6 years supported both DVI video output connector and a VGA video connector. Most flat screen monitors in the last few years also support VGA and DVI. So you can hook up two monitors to a card (if you don't have video on the motherboard) using two kinds of cables (DVI and VGA).

Windows or video screen managers (right click on your desktop) either display Properties settings or video-card provided utilities such as Catalyst by ATI will show a window allowing you to specify a second monitor and its properties separate from the primary monitor (so you can have different size aspect and resolutions)

Whats nice is placing them side by side and simply moving the mouse seamlessly between them - you can drag items and windows to the extended desktop. As the mouse moves off the right side of the left screen it will appear on the right screen along with whatever its dragging, items can be split across two screens. You also have options of placing them top and bottom if you like. In the display managers shown below you can drag the outlines around for relative positioning (where the mouse crosses) and specify the types and properties of the two monitors. These examples are from my laptop as i'm on the road.

What its good for:
if you browse a lot of windows, you can see more instead of tiling them.
If you are cutting and pasting from one document to another it sure beats flipping the panes over each other going back and forth. Reading a manual while working with a new program, being able to see the manual uncovered on the second screen is great. Editing a big wide graphics, you can spread it over more screen width.

If you're kind of a one-tasker instead of an avid multi-tasker then it won't be of much interest to you.