The Dual Monitor Stronghold

[Amit]

I have finally converted to the elite group (of faggots) on the internets who use more than one monitor. This thread is where we hang out and babble meaningless witticisms on our richly furnished and extravagantly outfitted yacht.

In front of me is a Samsung 19 inch CRT (at 1600 x 1200) which I am using for AIM, Winamp, and other menial programs. Slightly to the right is a Dell 20.1 inch widescreen LCD (1680 x 1050) where I am using Firefox/movie watching/video games.

The Dell is the primary display, but I am wondering...Is there any way (or program) to set applications (specifically games) to launch in the other monitor?

Not all games run in 1680 x 1050 >*<

[g°®†]

The programs usually open up where you leave them when you close them ... usually.



I'm planning on coupling up my 20.1 Dell widescreen with another for some doubley-awesome/pro-efficiency PC Karnage (note the K).


This is mainly for graphic design and such though ---- for optimal workflow.

[Amit]

yeah i'm probably going to get another 2005fpw i love this monitor

[BJ_maddog]

i have two 40 inch LCD tvs, with one that I use for games linked to a projector, and the other linked to a floodight that continually shines my personal logo into the night sky

[Amit]

lmao

[RockStar]

I'm with the oldschool 17" CRT's FTW!

When I stop spending money on other things I'll get 2x19 LCD's. nothing spectacular.

[hantge30]

sorry for the noob question but i am interested in doing this
what kind of cables or/and hardware do you need to set it up
thanks

[semi]

depends what you have. you need dual outputs on your graphics card. they also need to match your monitors i.e rgb for crt and dvi for lcd/tft. what do you have right now? look at the back of the pc and tell me any monitor outputs or if you know the name of your graphics card. and of course you need two monitors.

[Zakath]

What a bunch of faggots.

[Reactor158]

So, do you run both the monitors off of one computer, or do you have seperate computer for each monitor?

[semi]

both monitors on one computer. look at my screenshot it gives you like one huge desktop spanning both monitors.

[Voyage34]

When I'm at home I run my 17" TFT as my main monitor, with my old 17" CRT as secondary. When i'm at uni I leave the CRT at home though, to save on space / carrying stuff.

I do the game plus music player thing, or when not in game i'll just have firefox or whatever running on the main screen with winamp on the other.

I haven't got around to setting up dual monitors for my Linux installation yet.

[Pastorius]

I wouldn't mind doing something like this once I have the money, and once I've moved into my new house.

How much does it cost roughly?

[Voyage34]

It costs the price of a new monitor ;)

If you've ever bought a graphics card on its own, and if it has two outputs, you probably have the required cable converter that you need to put on the end of the secondary monitor's cable.

[Pastorius]

Well, my current one has 2 slots on it, and it's factory.

EDIT: Bollocks, only one of them is a monitor slot.

[Kithkin]

Well...

On my right I have a 19" crt running windows stuff.

On my left I have a 12" iBook running mac stuff.

If I had the desk space, I could have a third monitor or a tv attached to my desktop, but I think that would be pushing it...

[semi]

by monitor slot you mean the card in the back right? the monitor "slot" might still have two outputs. two bits you could plug in a monitor. often there is three if there is a tv out but that one is round. look at this:
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/9800256/R9800PRO%20256%20BOARDhighres.jpg
see the blue and white plugs with the round black one in the middle. or you may just have one built onto the motherboard. usually the blue rgb/crt kind. if you have two you can get a second monitor (probably cheap since its your secondary and you might want to go for a crt. about £20 second hand these days)

[Pastorius]

Yeah my slots look exactly like that actually.

It's a GeForce 6600GT if that makes any difference...

What's the white/black one for?

[semi]

on that. the blue one is monitor for crt. analog output.
the white is dvi. used for crt and tft monitors usually. digital.
the black round is for tv out. for a tv.

you have a crt now right?
if so what you want to do is use the little convertor that should have came with your graphics card or the pc itself somewhere. it will change the white dvi to a blue rgb so you can plug in another crt monitor. if you dont have that convertor you can probably buy one:
http://www.digimate.co.uk/index/convert.htm

[Pastorius]

I plug my TFT into the blue one...

[semi]

well i said usually tft/lcd use that. some tft just use rgb. anyway the other white free slot you need that converter for then to run a crt or other tft with the rgb plug. or if you get a tft/lcd it might have a dvi plug not the blue kind in which case just plug it into the white plug.

[Pastorius]

Excellent!

I'll come back when I need to work out how to get different things on different screens.

[semi]

heh i wish i could get mine to work.
i can have it with both monitors the same i.e clone but not spanning desktop. it just turns off the second monitor and the main one has my desktop but i cant click on anything. its all over on the off monitor that i can move the mouse to but not see obviously.

[Pastorius]

Go to a geek forum or something, they should be able to help you.

[semi]

i tried. linux irc channels are icy. especially compared to somehwere like mx where everyone is so nice. and couldnt find anything relevant on forums.

[Pastorius]

True, you will get absolutely slated if you ask any question in any way on a geek channel.

[smart blockhead]

What a bunch of faggots.
You've got that right.

[Light Fantastic]

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/8282/sx3pu.jpg

and you know people who use macs cant make good decisions....


http://aristotle.******.com/img.php#sig.gif

[Pastorius]

Ha ha that's ridiculous!

[semi]

thats pretty cool i gues...

[Light Fantastic]

I have a dual output gpu, but I don't know if it's more of a waste not to use it or to have lots of space I won't use.

Maybe once games start to use it in a more usefull fashion...

[semi]

just get a cheapy crt its worth it. i ended up using it tons. i just had the monitor on my desk upstairs cos i got the 19" then kept it for another p3 pc then i gave that to my friend so just had a monitor and thought why not put it on this desk and actually use it.

[Light Fantastic]

I have another monitor, I just don't know what I'm going to use the extra screen for.

[semi]

you find the use once you hook it up. i had a tv on as well for a day or so and actually used it too. but i thought that was getting a bit much with three and all crt so power and heat. its useful to have stuff open that you just glance at or check. and you wont exactly span a single window over both but other than that you have double the desktop space thats gotta be good.

[Light Fantastic]

I suppose I could keep track of irc and stuff better while I play games.

Maybe I'll try it when I'm bored.


^_^

[semi]

yup its great for that. unless the game decides to be silly and turn off the second monitor. but i just moved anything i needed to watch over there so i never had to exit the game at silly times just to check on sends and temps.
yeah just try it.

[Pastorius]

So when a game loads up, like, fills the whole screen.

When it loads up with duals (CS lol) does it fill the both screens?

[semi]

ive never seen that. for me games have always just filled one screen and the second stays on windows but you cant go to it with the mouse just watch stuff. that or it shuts down the second monitor.

[Amit]

I have another monitor, I just don't know what I'm going to use the extra screen for.

the lcd has s-video, composite, and component hookups so i play gamecube on it while i can check AIM and stuff on the other monitor =)

[g°®†]

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/8282/sx3pu.jpg

and you know people who use macs cant make good decisions....



I think I just creamed myself.


:naughty:


That's a sexy setup

[godspeed]

i am happy with my two LG monitors:

http://www.247mediastudios.com/office

[The Haitian]

I have dual monitors. Sup

[g°®†]

I'll have my dualie setup in a day or two. :cool:

[Jim Hull]

Yep im a dualy. Although one of my monitors broke the other day, so I had to use my old 15" one. I hate having my primary 17" 1280x1024 and my second monitor 15" with a max resolution of 1024x768 :(

[angry armadillo]

i have a 19" CRT for my main moniter, which i run at 1280x1024 and i have a flatscreen 17" to the left sitting on my stereo amp

i mostly use 2 monitors for webdesign, ill have dreamweaver, ps and so on, on the 19" while i view what my sites look in on the 17" on small resolutions.

[g°®†]

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8107/mahdesktopbabyw00t3or.jpg

bam ... just got it setup today.


While it may not be as aesthetically pleasing as other's here ... I'm absolutely loving it!

:D