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 Using
two monitors with Windows Vista
by Onuora Amobi 2/23/2007,
www.windows-vista-update.com
The tale of Best Buy, Circuit
City and Dual Monitors for Windows Vista
When the heck did Best Buy decide they were just going to kick
Circuit City's ass? Over the last Xmas holidays, I was in Best Buy
and since I just bought a house, I spent a LOT of money on new
appliances, home theater etc.. It was crowded, the attendants were
swamped by customers and items were sometimes on backorder but it
was still a relatively cozy place to shop.
The color theme.. just a sec,
oh yeah the disclaimer.. (I don't get any money from Circuit City or
Best Buy), like I was saying, the color theme at Best Buy is a
really nice Blue and Yellow a la the Los Angeles Lakers. The stores
have a nice fresh feel to them. Clean, spacious, organized etc..
They also seem to have an energetic feel....
Circuit City has less of a selection, bland & generic colors and
staff that seem to be less motivated...
What got me going and why should you give a rat's ass about either
of these stores? No reason really but I thought it would be a good
preamble for my story..
This week, I decided that it was time to get another monitor and use
the dual monitor feature on
Vista. As I have posted before, I have an
ATI 9850 Radeon card with a standard output as well
as a DVI output.
I have a
17 inch dell monitor but wanted a second monitor so I can
see better as I pour out my soul
to you guys every week.
So, I took a ride and decided to check out Circuit City for once..
They had a pretty decent selection of monitors but the customer
service was AWFUL. There were about 5
of us waiting for someone to show us monitors and (in my case) tell
me how much a monitor cost (missing SKU). While I was waiting, I
went to talk to the guy at the software desk about Vista.
His response was inspiring "Yeah it's alright I guess, not exactly
flying off shelves".
After that intellectual rush, I went back to the monitor section and
FINALLY got some help with a monitor, then came the fun..
I saw an
Acer 19 inch
widescreen monitor for about $149 (after rebate) which
looked pretty decent. The diagram on the box had a DVI port on the
monitor and it looked good. Problem: I couldn't tell if it had a
DVI
to DVI cable attached so I asked the attendant if they
could tell me what kind of peripherals were included in the box.
After 5 minutes of studying the box, he said no he wasnt sure. I
told him that I wanted to buy the monitor but I wanted to know what
kind of cables came with it so I could buy the DVI to DVI connector
if necessary.
"oh it's in there" says the guy. "Dude, no way it's in there with a
monitor for $149" I reply..back and forth it goes.
Here I am with a monitor I like and I know it's not gonna have a DVI
cable and they won't open the box or let me open the box to prove
it.
With a sigh and shrug, I pay for the monitor, take it to the car,
open the box up and voila!! of course, no DVI cable and (get this)
it has no DVI port!!!
I walk back in to return it for a refund and the lady there says "if
you want to return the monitor, there'll be a $30 restock fee"
I won't even tell you guys what my response was.
Anyway, I ended up exchanging the monitor for a
Gateway
monitor and no restocking fee necessary
(even though I cursed her in arabic and chinese).
Back to the home office, and the setup took 5 minutes
Here are Microsoft's instructions for
adding a second monitor to your Windows Vista configuration..
Add a second
monitor
To add a second monitor to your
computer, you'll need to make sure that you either have
a
video card that supports multiple monitors, or that
your computer has more than one video card. The easiest
way to determine if your video card supports multiple
monitors is to look at the back of your computer and see
if your card has two
video ports for connecting your monitors.
Once you have made sure that your video
card can support a second monitor, follow these steps to
add the additional monitor:
-
Turn off your computer and monitor.
-
Locate the video ports on your
computer. (See illustration.)
-
Connect the second monitor to the
unused video port.
-
Plug the second monitor into an
electrical power source and turn it on.
-
Turn on your original monitor.
-
Turn on your computer.
Windows
should recognize the monitor once the computer has
started. If you are prompted to install
driver software, see the instructions that came
with the monitor.
Notes
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Works real well...
Till next
time...
Onuora
If you liked what I wrote or thought I
sucked
let me know
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