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Two Monitors Are Better Than One

written by John Chow on May 8, 2007

Build Your Online Business Now

Since writing about my photo session with BC Business Magazine, I’ve received a bunch of comments and emails asking how I run two monitors at the same time and what monitors I was using.

Coming from a tech background, I was quite taken back by this. I figured everyone knows that Windows can support more than one monitor. Most video cards today have two video outputs, which allow you to hook up two monitors. To enable the seconds monitor, you just go into your display properties and turn it on. There are several options to run your dual setup. For example, you can have monitor two display the same information as monitor one. This is good if you’re giving a presentation – you work on monitor one and the customers watches from monitor two.

You can also span your desktop across the two monitors so it becomes one big monitor. This will allow you to drag windows from one monitor to the other. Having a big desktop and running multiple windows at the same time really improves your productivity. Many people think that dual monitors are just for showing off but once you’ve gone dual, you will never go back to a single monitor setup.

The LCD Monitors I Use


The monitors I use are from Dell. They are 20.1″ wide screen units that offer 1680 x 1050 resolution. When combined together, they create a 3360 x 1050 desktop. That is enough to put four 800×600 windows side by side. While most people run their dual setup like my BC Business photo session, I have tried it this way.

Dual Dell LCD

The above actually works very well. The screen on the left can still be used for viewing movies or playing computer games, while the screen on the right is great for reading web pages and working with MS Word files. Another nice advantage of right screen is it allows for a much better view of certain types of wallpaper. :twisted:

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If anything, you can buy an extra monitor that has a TV tuner card. Talk about multitasking...

Ha, I assume what's pictured on the monitors are two of your favorite things, eh?

I am counting the hours until my second monitor arrives -- can't wait! :grin:

Hi John,
Could you please post up the full high-res version of that picture of your dual set-up. I really like the background of the uh.. Koenigsegg.

-Vinay

I dual monitor between my laptop screen and LCD monitor, and your right once you get used to this setup you will never want to go back to one screen.

Here is my setup with 2 dual monitor cards...
http://www.dehtrader.com/stuff/monitorsfront.jpg
And I now have 5 flatscreens. 1 more to go.

That's quite a lot of graphs you got there, Glenn. Do you really need six of those? You know what, John could have a contest on the coolest looking workspace; that would be awesome. With 5-going-on-6 monitors, I'm pretty sure you'll be getting a lot of nods. :cool:

I think 3 is enough for me, but that looks cool! :)

I like to have this card

I know a lot of professional poker players who keep three monitors up... just to keep track of all their games.

I'm not one of them

Lol, I've seen a video of 7 monitors with 3 operating systems in Youtube, all powered by Synergy, take a look:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Id3GHAruhAk

I have been running dual monitors for a few years now and they are great! I would never even consider going back to a single monitor setup. I have two 22" widescreen LCDs on my main work system.

http://shawn.ocia.net/photos/workarea1.jpg

If you do any type of work on the internet, I would highly recommend looking into dual mons.

Looks like your dorm Shawn...what machine do you have...the casing is slick?

Gotta love that Mountain Dew...pretty cool set-up you got there, Shawn. Now I REALLY want another monitor. :mrgreen:

So does a laptop already had the ability to run two monitors at the same time? Considering it has one installed, and another monitor port in the back? I use my laptop as my main computer and rarely move it, so this could work. I'm assuming the video card within the laptop can already support two monitors. Anyone know for sure??

I use my two 20" monitors to multi-table poker games but they are fun to have for other daily dealings also.

Nice wall paper you got on those screens John :-)

The car is making me salivate, that's for sure; not too thrilled with Miss Mandy in a bikini though.

shows you how much I know, I thought it was Jessica Alba :o

This is actually a little bit of a shock. I would figure more of your readers would know how to do simple things like this.

I was thinking the same thing. But then again, there must be a lot of Mac users that doesn't support dual screen.

I guessing you took the photo of your wife and kids of the left one just for this post? :)

I use one 19 ince and another is my laptop screen...but i have been thinking to move to a 20 inch wide....but i guess you need a more powerful machine(dual core) to supprt the load

why would you need a more powerful machine?

Machine specs have really nothing to do with what monitor you use unless the video card can't support the resolution.

You could be running like an old AMD K62 500Mhz with 3, 20" WS LCDs if you had a video card that would work with the system, and I know Matrox did in those days ;)

hhmmm thats good to know. :smile: ..currrently i m runnin a P3 733Hz(i know old school) so things kinda slow down at times on one monitor so i m guessing i need a upgrade before a dual monitor could provide a good experience

I like how you adjusted the second screen. :smile:

I have a three screen setup like this:

http://www.massmultiples.com/products/c17/c3p17d.h...

Once you've had two monitors you never go back. I'd go wild and buy three!

Now that would be a hellofa video card there.

I run dual 19" monitors at work. Can't work without it, if I had the money I'd have dual monitors at home too.

I tried setting up 2x 20.1 WS Dells like Johns but one of my video cards is too old and can't support the resolution is needed.

So I have to stick to the dual 19s until I get better cards.

You may want to read my post "buy a bigger display", with data on why a bigger display and better, links to research etc.

Hey John -

I'm new to the blogging world and I'm trying to learn as much as I can as quick as I can. I subscribed to your blog just a few weeks ago, because well, you're blog rocks. Since you've given me a wealth of information, I want to contribute a little something by recommending a little piece of software to everyone that uses dual monitors - UltraMon.

http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

I use three monitors to get through my day (yes, just like Bill :grin: ), and UltraMon has made my "multi-tasking" life so much less painful. Basically, UltraMon will extend your task bar across your monitors so that the windows will be minimized on the appropriate monitors. This is mainly what I use it for, but in addition to that it has many other features. I'm pretty sure you can just demo it to see what you think...

Keep up the good work!

~ Ronbo

Yes I use Ultramon. It's great for adding separate wallpapers on each monitor.

Hello there John, Long-time, no comment. I like your setup but I think still prefer my 32inch lcd monitor from poloroid. It makes my 19inch monitor at the office look really small!
Anyway, I wanted to thank you for helping me learn to make money online. I have followed your formula and it has paid off. Although joshkaufmanblog.com has screeched to a halt, the Video Tabs Archive is thriving and growing everyday! Between TLA and adsense I am now making almost a few hundred a month. Perhaps you could write a post about how one could fill more ad spots on TLA.
Furthermore, I am planning starting a small network of niche video sites based on the same model as the Video Tabs Archive.
Keep up the amazing work here and I'll see you in another comment soon.

Remembers me the discussion of last year, two husbands was better than one. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I use to run multi-girlfriends but that required a lot of maintainants.

:eek: dos esposos equivale a dos billeteras

:eek: dos esposos equivale a dos billeteras :oops:

Nice wallpapers! :), I will have to consider having two monitors just for that, my actual wallpaper is a BabyTUX (The Linux pet) :).
At least my 5 year old daughter likes it :)

When you're ready to upgrade to 30", I know a guy in Dallas that will gladly "Reuse" those 20's. :razz:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle right?

lol...you've been listening to too much Jack Johnson! lol :grin:

I'm sure John will sell you his old ones when he upgrades :)

I'm surprised no one is drooling over the background with the CCX...but with a pic of Mandy Moore distracting them I guess who can blame them...? :cool:

What there's something on the other monitor? ha ha

There are some software packages out there that improve your multiple monitor setup.

I've written on my blog about the benefits as well as some recommendations on software to enhance the setup - most of which is free!

Increase Productivity with Dual Monitors

Enhancing Dual Monitor Setup with Software

My setup is not as good yet. I got a Samsung 20.1" monitor and now I'm working on the "wings" of my setup. I use my setup for analyzing stocks/trading. I have one window that permanently has my trading platform up. Another window for charting, another for news, and yet another for docs. I will add another monitor (as soon as I clean my desk).

It is worth noting that Dell makes a 22" widescreen version of the monitors you are using... they are pointless. If you are shopping for monitors, avoid them because they run the same 1680x1050 resolution as John's 20.1" monitors.

Coming from a tech / photography background, two monitors makes a ton of sense. The abilit to use one for image editing and manipulation and the 2nd to put all the Photoshop tools, aim, Firefox, etc. is great.

Great post John.

In the stock trading environments, multi-monitor setups are common. We keep rolling out more and more screens. Most trading stations have 3 or 4 monitors now.

We also use this nifty tool to control multiple computers from one mouse and keyboard without the use of an external KVM switch. Works great as long the computers are on the same network. At work, I have a permanent setup between two multi-head computers. I even use it at home so I can control my laptop from my main workstation's keyboard and mouse. You can even cut, copy and paste between the two machines and it's cross-platform. You can read more here: http://charlesgagnon.com/stoploss/?p=129

When I earn as much as you then I'll do the same :lol:

This last Christmas I got a 22" widescreen (1680x1050) and a 19" widescreen (1440x900) that replace my old single 15" screen. I don't know how I even worked on that little thing. I could never go back.

Those Dell 20.1" monitors are great. I'd recommend them to anyone looking to buy a new monitor.

great idea with the monitor on the right.
with lots of firefox extensions and toolbars the space left for text seems to get smaller and smaller.