[SPlutard]

I'm curious what it's like to have dual monitors? How does it work? Do you just use one mouse for both screens? Is the second one basically an extension of the screen you already have, or is it independent? I truly have no idea.

If there is an FAQ out there that might answer questions like these, I'd love to check it out - I searched around for a bit and didn't find what I was looking for.

Sorry for the dumb questions....

[Nova Dragoon]

The most common configuration is to use one mouse for all the screens.

When the mouse moves off one screen, it appears on the other.

Its like your desktop is twice as wide.

[SPlutard]

So you can just manipulate things the same - just as if the two screens were connected? Cool.

Is it complicated to set up?

[Thorian]

as long as it runs windowed. If you are playing a game the second monitor usually turns off.

[dbfootballa3]

You can do many things with Dual Screen.

Anyways, your room WILL get hot really quickly with two monitors.

But multitasking is a lot easier with Dual Screen.

[SPlutard]

I bet. Is it worth it though?

[Thorian]

absolutely I even thought about balancing a keyboard on my lap to fit both 19 crt's on my new work space. the monitors fit on the desk but nothing else. and it was almost worth it.

[born2c0de]

Cool...I'll try it myself.

[pioSko]

dual monitors is great... just make sure you get two monitors that are identical or as close as possible... i had one crt and one lcd and it was baaaad... i lasted 10 minutes before trashing the old crt...

[Fygar]

It's pretty hard going back to a single monitor if you are used to two. If you have the money it's very much worth the investment.

[SPlutard]

I think I'll try it if I can manage to scrounge up enough $$. Do you have to have two vid. cards - one for each monitor?

[Nova Dragoon]

you can use two video cards, or one video card if it has two heads

[Mrafcho001]

No most video cards support 2 monitors...

But if you are running a mobo video card you might want ot get a new video card.

[MarkoDaGeek]

I had dual monitors for a long time and went back to a single when I got my Mac, it drives me nuts not having that 2nd monitor.

It's definately worth it if your a power user that needs the space, there are a few games out there that can take advantage of 2 monitors, Microsoft Flight simulator is one of those games, its nuts with multiple screens...

Like others have said most modern video cards will support a 2nd monitor, otherwise you can get a cheap Geforce 2 or something for the 2nd display.

Very easy to configure with Windows XP or I think nVidia has their own app too called nView...

[1lacca]

MarkoDaGeek, on 17 Jan, 2006 - 10:09 PM, said:

Very easy to configure with Windows XP or I think nVidia has their own app too called nView...

Yes, and ATI, too (its name was Hydravision a few years back, maybe its still the same).

Btw, did anyone could stretch video playback across multiple screens? For me it seemed that only one overlay surface can be present in Windows (XP Pro with ATI Radeon9600), and it cannot stretch across multiple screens.

Anyway its really worth a try, it helps a lot while programming (as you can see more of your code, etc), but its even better when editing graphics and things like that. I was using it for a while, but had to revert to one monitor and sometimes its really a pain.