# Dual monitors rock!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dual-monitors-rock/277975>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 3, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dual-monitors-rock/277975 "2004-12-03T22:35:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dual-monitors-rock/277975/21 "2004-12-04T07:22:56Z")

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I have 2 CRTs on my home system, with a single video card. My ATI Radeon has 2 outputs, one for a digital TV, but they include an adapter to allow CRTs. I couldn’t actually use it until I upgraded the power supply in my system, but it is nice to have it working now. Of course, now I want to upgrade the old 15" monitor that is my second to something that is larger and more versatile. 😛

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**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dual-monitors-rock/277975/22 "2004-12-04T07:39:26Z")

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On a similar note, you can run x2x, x2vnc, win2vnc, or one of many similar programs, and control two (or more) computers with the same keyboard and mouse.

Also very cool.

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dual-monitors-rock/277975/23 "2004-12-04T09:25:22Z")

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> [@DirkGntly](#):
>
> On a desktop system, don’t I need a second video card to make this fly?
> 
> I haven’t tried it, but I think my Dell laptop will support it by displaying monitor 1 on the LCD and monitor 2 on my external CRT…but I could be mistaken.

> [@mhendo](#):
>
> I have a Dell desktop and a Samsung 19" 997DF monitor. What, exactly, would i need to do in order to connect a second monitor to this system? What else would i need to buy?
> 
> Also, i do own an older 17" monitor. If i have two monitors connected, can i adjust the settings for each one individually from Windows?

Just to clarify from the earlier posts - yes, if your video card doesn’t have dual-monitor support, you need a second one. And of course, it has to be a PCI card, because there’s only one AGP slot. And also try to get a matching chipset, to minimise the chance of problems. So it might be easier to get a new card with dual heads. Either way, yes, you can adjust them easily within Windows via display properties - and often the bundled software with the card will give extra utilities.

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