2 Monitors: More Space, Less Cost
For many years, Mac users have been able to run two monitors off a single machine. PC users can do the same, but it’s not widely known.
With Windows 98, Me and XP, it’s possible to connect two or more video cards to the same machine and plug a separate monitor into each card. Or, there are video cards designed to support multiple monitors.
I have a Radeon VE Dual Display Edition graphics card from ATI Technologies plugged into my PC and am now seeing double. Microsoft Word is on the monitor in front of me, and my Internet browser and e-mail program are on another monitor to the right. It’s like having two desktops--one for the work I’m doing right now and another to store material that I might need at a moment’s notice.
Matrox Graphics’ G200 Multi-Monitor Series, which I have not tested, includes boards that let users hook up four monitors to a single adapter. It’s even possible to plug in four adapters for as many as 16 monitors. That’s overkill.
But having two monitors is a cost-effective way to get more work space. Two 17-inch monitors are less than half the price of a 21-inch monitor and can display about 30% more information.
The same is true with liquid-crystal display screens. Two 15-inch LCD screens cost about $800 and display nearly 200 square inches of data. A single 18-inch screen can easily cost $1,000 but will display only 166 square inches.
Even after adding in the $99 for the Radeon VE Dual Display--with 32 megabytes of video memory--users are still ahead.
It’s easy to move documents between screens. When you move the mouse, the cursor jumps from one monitor to another. Software allows users to adjust for the relative position of each screen so they are lined up properly.
Why bother? Most people probably are perfectly happy with a single monitor. The ability to work with several programs at once or have multiple Web sites or documents on display at the same time isn’t something everyone needs.
And just because a PC can do several things at once doesn’t mean the person operating it can. It takes awhile to get used to two monitors. I sometimes find things a bit confusing as windows pop up on one monitor and then the other. I’ve gotten used to working in this environment, but, like anything else, there’s a bit of a learning curve. Also, an extra monitor takes up extra room on the desk, though two small monitors don’t take up that much more room than one big one.
For some, the benefits of two monitors can be enormous. It’s a great way to compare two versions of a document or to edit a Web page on one monitor and sample what it will look like on another. Graphic artists can keep images on a side monitor and move them onto the main screen as needed. When doing online research, it’s easier to display several Web pages and grab data to paste into a word processing document.
Professional stock traders love multiple displays because they allow them to monitor several securities or markets at the same time. That setup also can benefit those who, literally, want to do some trading on the side.
Of course, all of this can be done by displaying separate windows on a single screen, but an extra monitor offers lots of extra space.
If two distinct views of the world aren’t enough, the ATI board comes with software to create as many as five virtual desktops. Users can load as many programs or documents as can fit into memory and switch between them by clicking on the “multidesk” control panel.
Although it’s cool to be able to expand horizons to a second monitor, most of the time I would just as soon use a single screen. I have enough visual stimulation between my PC, my TV and the world around me. Two PC screens can sometimes be a bit much.
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Lawrence J. Magid can be heard between 2 and 3 p.m. weekdays on the KNX-AM (1070) Technology Hour. He can be reached at larry.magid@latimes.com.
