Dual Monitors - Comments

I had not heard of the MaxiVist solution. Curious. Myself, I have an ATI 9600 with a DVI and a VGA port. Basic. The DVI does my main LCD screen, the VGA to a second. The second screen is also on a KVM switch so I can jump between several computers. So the extended desktop can also be 2 computers with one keyboard and mouse. And the second screen has video input ports so can be used as a TV or a monitor during video editing. Net result, the setup allows me to use the dual screens 4 different ways, depending on needs.

The disadvantage to using 2 different port types is its very difficult to colour match them. So if you use Photoshop or similar, keep the work on one screen.

If you're using multiple monitors on Windows, I'd recommend also purchasing Ultramon from ultramon.com - it adds buttons and extra menu items plus lots of configuration options. The buttons make it easy to push a window from one screen to another, optionally resizing it as it goes. Very convenient.

Hello Mr. Rankin. This is a very interesting article, and I see the big advantage of working on a dual screen setup. However, my budget does not allow to recreate the setup from this article in my home. What I do have is a normal desktop PC and an older laptop standing side by side on my desk (the screens anyway). A setup that is quite common in a lot of households I like to think. This got me thinking that there have to be solutions for creating a dual screen setup without breaking the bank.

Now I did some searching and I found a piece of software that enables me to share the mouse, keyboard and clipboard between both machines. The software is called 'synergy' and is an open source solution. And I have to tell that it is almost perfect for what I intended. The only drawback from this software is that you cannot share the 'real estate' from both screens (moving a window from one screen to another).

My question is this, can you see if there is software out there that can actually share screen 'real estate' between computers? (I had trouble enough finding 'Synergy')

EDITOR'S NOTE: MaxiVista does all that, free trial, only $30 if you like it.

I've been using dual 21" LCD monitors for almost two years and found UltraMon shortly afterwards. The biggest feature is that it gives you a taskbar on each monitor. Typically, you only get a taskbar on your primary monitor and you have to drag windows from one screen to the other. UltraMon adds a button at the top of the window next to the minimize button that allows you to quickly move windows from one screen to the other and the taskbar button moves too! UltraMon allows you to mirror your main monitor to a secondary monitor, which is great for presentations. It also supports unique backgrounds and screen savers on each monitor.

Once you go dual, you'll never go back. You'll also want some better background wallpapers to look at and I highly recommend vladstudio.com. His unique artwork comes in single monitor, dual monitor, and single extra wide images. Monitors are cheap! Go dual!

I was using the dual display mode cloneing my computer to my entertainment system When I opened display two monitors appeared and I was able to tell it to clone. Somehow I have lost my dual display when I open display. I have been told to download drivers reinstall the original etc. I have spent days on this. I have nvidea 6200se turbo cache tm.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Did you download and re-install the drivers?

Bob: I recently purchased a Dell Demension 8100(4 yrs old?)1.3 processor,128 mb ram.i wish to add much as 1 gig ram and I bought a WD 60 gig harddrive.Since it has windows 98,I want to put Windows XP home on it. My computer has EP home and sp2.Do I put the new hd in my computer and put XP on it and transfer to het Dell? or can I use my EP CD on the Dell? Will I have to buy a new XP CD? Thanks,David

EDITOR'S NOTE: Your note is a little confusing -- not sure what you mean by "EP", and whether the old drive or the new 60 gig drive has Win98 on it. If your current drive has XP, I recommend using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to move everything to the larger drive.

I have two monitors, one of which can be turned 90 degrees to give me a vertical space. I'd like to use this for editing text documents. (Anyone remember the old Radius screens?) But I can't see how to make the computer understand that the monitor is turned - and it's plenty hard to read the screen (and control the cursor!) when it's displayed at 90 degrees.
Dell OptiPlex GX620 (about 18 months old), XP Pro, Dell monitors...Thanks for all help.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I would check in the Display settings under Control Panel. Failing that, look for a PDF of the user guide online.

Thanks for this informative article. What were the features that convinced you to buy Gateway? Did you have problem with useless bloatware software and how did you deal with it?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Gateway offered the combination of price, performance and features I was looking for. I've also owned Dell, IBM, Sony and Toshiba machines. I don't think any of them has a corner on the quality market. Name any big company, and you can find someone with a "horror story" to tell. But the majority of satisfied customers don't make a lot of noise. As for bloatware, go to Control Panel and use Add/Remove Programs to nuke the ones you don't need.

Is it possible to use a DVI to Component cable to use a Television as my second monitor?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sounds like exactly what you need, if your video card has DVI outputs...

Hi. How do you get two screen to make it into one big screen.Like watching same movie with two monitors in one big screen.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's magic... really. The operating system treats the multi-monitor config as one big monitor. You can drag windows from one to the other, or make one window larger than a single monitor.