Dual Monitors work great!

[John N]

Um. Yes! But... What did you do to configure your setup?

Thanks,

-john

 

[eluminator]

You probably don't need any special software. Just a driver for your video hardware. XP just might even have that driver also. It's got one for my Radeon 9250.

Probably when you plug both monitors in, you will see the same display on each one. Sort of a clone mode. By the way, with mine, I get this clone mode when I first power on. The BIOS displays on both. Your mileage might vary.

To extend the desktop onto the other monitor, go to the Settings window. I do it this way. Right click on the desktop. Click Properties > Settings tab.

You should see both monitors in the "Display" dropdown box. When you highlite the second one, you can check "Extend desktop onto this monitor".

By the way, you will likely get some kewl software with the video card to make it do tricks or something. My advice is, don't install it. One secret of having an OS that doesn't crash is to minimize the stuff that you install. You don't need a driver for your monitors either.

 

[John N]

Thanks! That's exactly what I wanted to know.

BTW, when you expand an application to full screen, does it go to the full screen on one screen, or across both?

Thanks,

-john

 

[eluminator]

I should let you figure it out when you get your hardware

Actually the full screen thing fills one monitor only. But if the window is not set for full screen, you can increase the width to fill both monitors by tugging on the edge with the mouse.

 

[John N]

Thanks. That's how I hoped it would work. I want to be able to full screen something like TV or DVD playback and let it use one monitor while continuing to work on the other.

Thanks a lot!

-john

 

[GadgetTravel]

Thanks. That's how I hoped it would work. I want to be able to full screen something like TV or DVD playback and let it use one monitor while continuing to work on the other.

Thanks a lot!

-john

On my setup you would have to do that manually. If I click the full screen icon in a window it goes across both screens, at least with Microsoft applications.

 

[eluminator]

I find using the "ClearType" thing will sometimes make the text characters considerably sharper on an LCD monitor. It seems to me I get sharper text than anything I've ever seen on a CRT.

You enable "ClearType" from the "Appearance tab".

Right click on the desktop. Click Properties > Appearance tab > Effects button. ClearType is an option under "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts".

 

[RA40]

Wow...this is putting ideas into my head.

I though the widescreen was nice but this would enable me to move the toolbars so I have a full screen for image editing. Man...not only do I have to resist flashlight temptaion but now multi-monitor set-up's.

I may not leave the pooter room.

 

[thesurefire]

This is a cool thread. I'm a bit behind the times as I still use one screen. Can someone point out the main advantages of using 2?

 

[BentHeadTX]

I run a 19" LCD and a 17" CRT and love it. The 17" CRT will be replaced by a 21" widescreen that can rotate vertical so I can read CPF threads better :thumbsup: My ATI motherboard has dual-head video onboard and my VIVO X700 Pro video card also has dual-head. They can run in parallel for 3 monitors and a TV if I want. The X700 will push the 19" for gaming with the 21" going with on-board for CPF reading etc.

When I return to the states, my plan is to do with two 21" wide screens with the internet on the 19", documents, email and that sort of thing on the 21" vertical and let my TV tuner go to work on the second wide screen. Good thing 21" wide screens are under $500!

 

[greenlight]

This is a cool thread. I'm a bit behind the times as I still use one screen. Can someone point out the main advantages of using 2?

I like having more than one project going when I'm on the computer. I use 2 browsers, email client, explorer, and I don't want to click thru to each window. I like to be able to see them all.

I have to admit that I prefer one monitor over the other, and I don't multitask all the time, either.

 

[IsaacHayes]

Nice setups everyone.
Jtice: is that mIRC I see?

Monitor drivers matter, at least for CRT, as if you don't have the right driver, windows won't allow you to go to certian resolutions and refresh rates as it doesn't know if the monitor can support it. I like 85hz min (75hz is annoying, 60hz makes me puke), so I make sure I can go that high. My 17" CRT is a trinitron and very sharp, so I've held onto it. Had it since 97 I think.

Only thing I don't like about dual monitors is it makes moving your mouse a pain since you have to move it across two screens to click on something. I dont mind clicking to switch between programs, as my pc responds uber fast and so it doesn't hinder time for it to pop up.

However for photo shop, it would be nice to have my palletes/tools on a seperate monitor.

 

[jtice]

yep, thats #CPF Chat on the upper left monitor.

 

[bjn70]

I just configured my computer at work for dual displays. Several of the other guys have dual displays with 19" LCD's, but I haven't convinced the company to buy that setup for me yet.

Recently my wife had wanted dual monitors for the checkout computer in her store, so I bought an Nvidia-based video card on sale at CompUSA. Of course then she decided she didn't really want the dual monitors so I had this video card just setting here.

Then 2 days ago another guy at work got a new LCD monitor and put his 19" CRT in the storeroom. So I brought the spare video card from home, put it in my computer, set his old 19" CRT beside my old 19" CRT, and cranked it up. It's pretty neat but somewhat hard to get used to.

We run CAD and some other applications that need to share data, so it is convenient to have CAD open on one screen and the other app open on the other screen. Much more convenient that having to switch back and forth. Sure, with one screen you can go to the taskbar to switch apps, or CTRL-TAB, but for some reason it seems to throw a break into the thought process and that interruption hurts productivity much more than it would sound like.

 

[Wingerr]

I find using the "ClearType" thing will sometimes make the text characters considerably sharper on an LCD monitor. It seems to me I get sharper text than anything I've ever seen on a CRT.

You enable "ClearType" from the "Appearance tab".

Right click on the desktop. Click Properties > Appearance tab > Effects button. ClearType is an option under "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts".

Good tip, just tried it out, and it makes it much smoother looking on the LCD-

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