what do you do with your dual monitor setup? (or what would u do if u had a dual monitor setup)

[dinde]

i was on the thrown, where i do some of my best thinking (u guys out there understand). anyways,im thinking of getting a new monitor, since mine is pretty shity for gaming. i was just curious, what do you guys do with your dual monitors? can you play a game on 1, and maybe surf teh web or chat on another? (like when ur dead in cs?)

 

[XBoxLPU]

You can't do things on the second monitor while playing a game.....


I have a Hitachi CML 174 LCD which is used as my primary monitor. Internet, games and everything....
Dell P991 is my secondary monitor and I use that to place Trillian, Winamp... and sometimes applications. Also to watch TV.. ( have a tuner card ), while I surf the net on my primary monitor

 

[xXgambitXx]

i use my second monitor for graphic art programs. like director and illustrator, it's nice to be able to keep all the tool windows on the secondary and leave the main monitor free to see what i'm working on.
that's about it though. you can't do anything on it while playing games because pretty much all new games have screen lock and if you click off the main monitor than the game will minimize or do something wierd.

 

[mechBgon]

At home, I would be able to have two browsers open at once so I could type a reply while referring to another website, or a motherboard manual in PDF document, or a different thread. Or IRC plus a browser. Or IRC plus a game of UT

At work, the possibilities are endless. Combine any two or more of the following: Word, Outlook, Excel, Access, McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator, Computer Management, Internet Explorer, Network Neighborhood, Windows Explorer, PhotoImpact 6, HP PrecisionScan Pro, Acrobat Reader...

 

[ChefJoe]

Twice the porn.


Well, ok, really, it's just nice to have your windows at full size and not have things buried. AIM chat windows can be away from what you're actually doing.

 

[dinde]

Originally posted by: xXgambitXx
you can't do anything on it while playing games because pretty much all new games have screen lock and if you click off the main monitor than the game will minimize or do something wierd.

+

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Or IRC plus a game of UT

= ????

 

[Shooters]

You have to alt+tab out of the game if you want to do anything on the second monitor, or just don't run the game in full screen mode.

I have to do a lot of labs for school, so I usually have all of my data and spreadsheets open on my secondary monitor and I type up my report on my primary. It's a lot easier than switching between windows.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: dinde

Originally posted by: xXgambitXx
you can't do anything on it while playing games because pretty much all new games have screen lock and if you click off the main monitor than the game will minimize or do something wierd.

+

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Or IRC plus a game of UT

= ????

UT can run in windowed mode.

me, i hook another computer up to the other monitor (actually 2 on a kvm)

 

[onelin]

I keep IRC on my 17" at all times pretty much, except in the rare event that I want a browser on one screen and an IDE or normal editor on the other. Even if you're in a game, at least you can see what's going on in the channels. I'm on 2-3 different irc servers + channels regularly, so it takes up some serious space.

 

[moonshinemadness]

If i could afford to do it Id have a 21" Crt monitor for playing games and a 19" TFT for surfing the net and chatting, mount the TFT on the wall out of the way and the CRT on the desk.....mmmm expensive!

 

[onelin]

heh, definitely. if I could afford it + had the room, I'd buy a a couple LCDs in addition to my current setup ...it just happens my 17" was really old (5 years now?) and I kept it when I bought my 19" last year....it's not perfect, but hey.

 

[0roo0roo]

makes drag and drop, comparing two windows of whatever, ability to multitask and keep an eye on something, watch a video full screen while doing something else. load a slow loading site while reading another etc. its just damn convenient. windows is based on multitasking and multiple windows, having more then one actual screen is very natural. no more resizing damned windows so u can see more then one at a time, u know thats a @#% pain to do!

in my opinion is better to get one small lcd and one large crt at this time if your on a budget. that or two large crts. u can get a very good crt for 260~ bux. but only a reasonable 15" lcd with 16ms response time for 300 dollars. unless your in a really tight space the real space savings of a lcd isn't much, space behind a monitor isn't really usaful space

double 19"'s are a nice way to go. best to have two monitors of simliar size from what i've experienced, makes transitions between monitors more natural.

 

[Confused]

Gaming, internet, TV, DVDs, DivX, IM windows, IRC etc

Combination of any/all of those, on both monitors, depending on what you're doing at the time. Normally it's internet on my 19" CRT, and IM windows on the 17" CRT. If i'm watching TV or a video, then that'll go on the 17", and use the 19" for internet/im etc


Confused

 

[techfuzz]

If I'm not working on 2 computers at once I'll use the dual monitor setup to surf the web on one monitor while I have like Winamp open on the other with Windows Explorer and my email or maybe a Word/Excel document I'm working on. I would love to do that here at work too, but they being penny pinchers around here and I only have a single 21" monitor to do all my web development stuff on. I really need a second!

techfuzz

 

[mechBgon]

Remember, Win98SE deals with multiple monitors differently than Win2000 or WinXP

 

[RyanM]

I have WinAMP and Trillian open on the second monitor. All web browsing and mail reading is done on the first, unless I'm working in photoshop, maya, or illustrator, in which case I move the web windows to the second monitor. It really does increase productivity, I'll say that much. I feel neutered when I work on a single monitor rig.

 

[SearchMaster]

When I work from home, I keep the session that is connected to work on one screen, and keep messenger and any local development on the other.

If you're doing real work on your computer (not just playing games and surfing the web), go with two monitors: you'll never go back.

 

[Deskstar]

Real work is much, much easier with a dual screen setup. Managing multiple documents or spreadsheets on two monitors allows much more visibility and cut/paste without errors.
Or keep the TV on on one screen and surf AT Forum on the other.
Or...etc.
I have a pair of Dell 18" LCDs that replaced my dual 19" CRTs (Iyama) just fine.

 

[MikeMike]

porn on screen one, hmwk on screen 2

 

[dpopiz]

the reason I haven't used dual monitors since I dropped $280 on my 700IFT is that I'm afraid of the magnetic fields and such of the two monitors interferring like when they turn on or whatever, so I don't want to risk damaging the razor-sharp text I currently get with the 700IFT

 

[dinde]

can anyone comment on te magnetic field thing? is it dangerous?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Remember, Win98SE deals with multiple monitors differently than Win2000 or WinXP

Win98SE has lots of other problems that significantly outweigh whatever small "benefits" it may have in the multiple monitor arena.

Now, when I was running dual monitors on my computer (unfortunately, I'm not running them any more; why the fvck did my parents think that they needed to browse the 'net on my 2nd computer so badly anyway? ), with Windows 2000 Pro, I could play a game full-screen on one monitor, and view a chat window or several on the other. However, I could not type anything into the chat windows unless I alt+tabbed out of the game (which subsequently minimized it).

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: dinde
can anyone comment on te magnetic field thing? is it dangerous?

It's not dangerous to you, but it might be dangerous to any magnetic media (floppies, Zip cartridges) that you happen to have too close by, and it can mess up the image quality on one or both monitors.

 

[dinde]

permanently mess up? or just while they are together? and also, is there maybe something u can put in between them to stop this?

 

[nyoman]

I hook up my 21" TV to S-Video out of my R9000 and a 17" CRT to the VGA out. I can type email, browse the web, the "Theatre Mode" of ATi driver enable me to display DVD (or VCD/SVCD) fullscreen on the TV.

nyoman