hey guys,

the other day i was in comp usa. i noticed they had a powerbook with a monitor attached to it. so it basically had two screens. what do i need to make this setup work with a dell desktop. i have two monitors, and i would like to use them both if possible. giving myself a little more space would make multi-tasking easier. if its relatively simple i will do it...but i don't know what i need and am too lazy to go back there and ask. thanks

 

I think all you need is a graphics card that will support dual monitors. When I ordered my dell, I got a (forget the model) 128mb graphics card, and it comes with dual monitor outputs, and an S vid output. Radion has a nice new one, 9600 I think that has TV tuner and everything. Might see what everyone else thinks though...

 

You're talking about laptops only, right? On Dells and other laptops it's possible to connect an external monitor and leave the built-in monitor working as well. You have to press a couple keys to activate it. This is done all the time when people are giving presentations using their laptop. You can keep the external monitor on only, both monitors on, or only the built-in monitor (even with the external one connected). If you look at your function keys, you'll probably see a little blue monitor icon or somethig that says CRT. It's one of those (on Dell). You have to hold down that key and another key down lower on the keyboard (ctrl or something - should be something else marked in blue I think)...and you can switch back and forth. It's not really a 'dual monitor' function like on a video card on a desktop PC. This is a common laptop function that people use to activate the video connection to a projector, for example. Hope that answers your question.

Oh wait...I see you said you want to do this on your desktop PC, not a laptop. In that case, you'll need a video card that supports 2 monitors. The thing with the laptop I described above is standard on most if not all laptops.

 

Well, you gave little details but I'll assume your Joe User that just surfs for ****, pays bills, writes some documents & stalks children online. For this, you don't need anything fancy, go buy a video card with the GeForce4 MX chipset. Well under $100 w/ great dual-monitor support.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce4mx.html

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=...r=&sa=N&tab=wf

 

Or a docking station that way you can have everything you need (monitor,printer etc) hooked up and when you want to go mobile you can just unhook from there and go> Just a thought.

 

He said "what do i need to make this setup work with a dell desktop".

I almost missed that, too.

 

actually i am trying to cut back on my **** intake. its hard...(no pun intended) but its getting better. as for stalking children, not my style. i prefer grown women. but seriously now, i use my comp for photography. photoshop is open at all times and i would like to throw that on to one monitor while i am "surfing for ****", playing music on winamp, and sending files back and forth using AIM on the other. (oh yea, and writting things up once in a while...)but yea.

thanks for the links and the info guys. but one more question. so when i start the computer, one monitor should look as it always does....while the other is just empty desktop space?

a tv tuner. sounds sweet. but then i would really never leave my office!

 

Odds are both monitors will come up with the same image until the video drivers load in windows, then you'll get the true dual desktop..

EDIT: Oh yeah, and for PS, you don't need a mega-graphics card. Most of it's functions are performed by the CPU. That's where a true P4 with a gob of RAM will help.

 

Ok I totally missed that sorry, thats what happens when you let work get in the way.