Number 307 - December 2008

When Two (Or More) Is Better Than One
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@comcast.net Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
My old CRT monitor was bulky, heavy, and generated too much heat. So I swapped it for a wide screen flat panel display. Shortly after, I decided to ditch my desktop because it was bulky, heavy, and generated too much heat. Investigation into the current crop of portable devices available on the market led me to say nay to all of them. Instead, I commissioned a local computer store to build a 17" laptop for me. It was the only way I could get a machine with the exact mix of hardware, software, and performance capabilities I wanted without all the extra "junkware" that commercial vendors load onto their systems.    Plugging my flat panel display into the laptop's video output gave me a pleasant surprise. With no foresight, planning or intention, I now had a dual monitor system. Since nothing that's worthwhile having in this life comes without effort, there was still some work to do.    Until you get to the Display Settings dialog box, there is no way to know which of your monitors is #1 or #2. Either one can be the left or right monitor, and either one can have low, medium or high resolution. It doesn't end there. Either one, but only one can contain the Taskbar. You decide by checking the box that says This is my main monitor. In the illustration, the main monitor is # 2. If you want #1 to be your main monitor, left-click on the 1 and check the box. Windows will automatically uncheck the box which made #2 the main monitor.    With #2 as the main monitor, getting to #1 is as simple as dragging your mouse pointer off the right edge of #2 and see it magically appear at the left side of #1. Drag the mouse from right to left to return to #2. To get the display to match the actual physical relation of the monitors to each other, drag the monitor icons to match the physical positions of your displays. Experiment with the settings, and while getting everything to work the way you want, you will discover that control is unexpectedly intuitive.    Laptops are much easier to set up with a second monitor because Windows automatically takes care of the hardware. You never worry about which monitor is which if you have to disconnect the second monitor temporarily. Default settings consider a second monitor as an additional output to use in place of the laptop's display. You don't need to mess with the display	toggle option as you would when using a projector. The familiar Display Properties dialog box easily does the job.    Dual monitor setups with desktops are more complicated than laptops. That's the drawback, but you don't need to be a geek to set it up. I'm tempted to say "Even a caveman could do it", but let's not go there. You need two monitors and two video outputs on your computer. Check your user manual or look at your motherboard to determine what kind of video capabilities came with the machine. If you have a low end machine, it's most likely equipped with integrated video on the motherboard. If that's the case, you'll need to disable the video on your motherboard and install one video card with two video outputs or two video cards. One video card with dual outputs is in most cases a superior solution to dual cards. Multiple cards bring up the specter of video driver conflicts and poor video quality or crashes as a result of these conflicts. A single video card eliminates driver conflict issues along with additional complications. The more powerful your video card, the more power it consumes, and the more heat it generates. A second card may stress your power supply to the point of breakdown. Even if it doesn't, you still need to find a way to remove the excess heat. Unless you really want the additional performance that only a dual card setup can give, go for the single card solution.    Choosing a flat panel monitor avoids the bulk, weight, and heat of old fashioned CRT monitors. Flat panels have the additional virtues of being more stylish, and have you ever tried hanging a CRT display on a wall? Having two monitors the same size avoids having to resize applications when moving from one to the other even though it's a minor inconvenience. Make sure the video outputs from your computer match the video inputs on your monitor. A VGA output goes to a VGA input. Newer monitors will have DVI or HDMI    Copyright 2008. This article is from the November 2008 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication.
Number 307 - December 2008