Ok so you’ve been using your computer all this time with just one monitor. What’s wrong with you?

Trust me once you get two monitors on your computer you will love it!

There are sooo many tasks that are just made easier with multiple monitors. I use mine all the time. With two monitors you can have two full windows open at the same time.

Examples:

Have the essay your working on open in one monitor with the internet research you are doing in the other. 
You can keep track of your instant messaging in one window while your working in the other.
Have a video tutorial running while your following through the steps in the other window.
Watch your stocks stream while you plan your next move.
Zoom into a photo in one screen while looking at the whole picture in the other.
Dragging and copying files from folder to folder is easy to keep track of with both folders open in seperate windows.

Have I convinced you yet?

What if I told you you could easily accomplish this for under a hundred dollars? (likely less)

The easiest way to do this is with two monitors and a video card with two outputs. If you’re on a tight budget a second monitor is usually pretty easy to get a hold of, most people can’t even get rid of old CRT monitors let alone sell them. If you go to a smaller local computer shop they would probably give you one for free or 20 bucks. Check recycling websites (freecycle etc.) as there are plenty of free ones to be had.

Entry level video cards start out pretty cheap (50 to 100 dollars) and can get very expensive and confusing fast. If you just want it to set up two monitors you just need to make sure that it has atleast 2 VGA outputs or one VGA output and a DVI output. The VGA is the standard monitor output for a computer and the DVI port is of a similar size but looks different (its square and the pins are flat instead of rounded). With DVI you will likely need a DVI to VGA adaptor that usually comes with the video card or can be purchased for four or five dollars.

If your just looking for a run of the mill graphics card you would want a PCI express card. PCI has to do with where you are installing your card in the computer. Inside the computer there are various expansion slots of various types, the standard one in computers is the PCI slot. Most computers have a few slots for extra sound/video cards. When you get into higher end graphics cards they require more unique slots for better performance. If you are buying a higher end card you need to be more aware of what type of slots you have inside your computer.

Installing a video card into your computer isn’t that hard. If you bought it from a smaller store they might be nice enough to install it for you. Otherwise I’m not going to explain the full details to you but you shouldn’t be affraid to try it. All you need to do is put it in any of the open slots that it fits in, put the case back together, connect the monitors to the card, start up the computer and run the install CD that should have come with the card.

Most drivers that come with newer video cards allow you to set up multiple desktops from within the software. If not it can be configured from within windows throught the display settings. Right click on the desktop and navigate to display properties.

From the display setting you can set up the multiple monitors. You can adjust which one goes on the left/right, or above and bellow if you wish. If bother monitors are displaying the same output rather then the extended desktop just make sure that the option is check off to extend the desktop to the second monitor.

Once you get all the settings up and running using multiple monitors is pretty easy. Any window that is not maximized can be easly dragged form the top of the window onto either monitor (or both at the same time). When you maximize a window it will maximize to which ever monitor it is currently being displayed in.

After using multiple monitors I’m sure you will realize how benifitial they can be to your productivity while using your computer.

Going beyond two monitors can be a little more difficult. There are video cards that have three outputs but having more than three monitors hooked up requires a little more work.

If you have any computers hooked up with more then 3 monitors I would love to hear how you did it. Send me a message to let me know how.

Mr. Vaughan