Multiple Monitors on a Notebook
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I've just ordered a new Notebook and will probably use it as my main development machine. One thing I'd like to do is use multiple monitors, one for debugging, the other for editing etc. Someone told me you can get PMCIA Video Cards and that's what I need to do. This sounds about right to me. So does anyone have any experience with using multiple monitors on a Notebook and any recomendations for PMCIA Video Cards? Thanx. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. Version 4.01 just released, with a C++ Class View that actually works. www.getsoft.com
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I've just ordered a new Notebook and will probably use it as my main development machine. One thing I'd like to do is use multiple monitors, one for debugging, the other for editing etc. Someone told me you can get PMCIA Video Cards and that's what I need to do. This sounds about right to me. So does anyone have any experience with using multiple monitors on a Notebook and any recomendations for PMCIA Video Cards? Thanx. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. Version 4.01 just released, with a C++ Class View that actually works. www.getsoft.com
Well, when I was running Win98 on my HP Omnibook XE2 I had it going quite happily using the built-in VGA port. Having said that, when I upgraded to Win2000 it stopped working and the best I can do now is use an external monitor in place of the laptop display. PCMCIA sounds like a good option, but don't be surprised if you have some problems with the OS - especially if you're running Win2000. I've heard that WinXP has much better multiple monitor support than Win2000, so if you run into problems maybe an upgrade will help. :) Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++ 5.0/6.0
"I'm just another 'S' bend in the internet. A ton of stuff goes through my system, and some of the hairer, stickier and lumpier stuff sticks." - Chris Maunder (I just couldn't let that one past ;)) -
Well, when I was running Win98 on my HP Omnibook XE2 I had it going quite happily using the built-in VGA port. Having said that, when I upgraded to Win2000 it stopped working and the best I can do now is use an external monitor in place of the laptop display. PCMCIA sounds like a good option, but don't be surprised if you have some problems with the OS - especially if you're running Win2000. I've heard that WinXP has much better multiple monitor support than Win2000, so if you run into problems maybe an upgrade will help. :) Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++ 5.0/6.0
"I'm just another 'S' bend in the internet. A ton of stuff goes through my system, and some of the hairer, stickier and lumpier stuff sticks." - Chris Maunder (I just couldn't let that one past ;))I assume the XE2 VGA port was able to be used as primary or secondary monitor. That sounds neat. I have a friend using 2 and 3 monitors using W2K and it is quite impressive. Rightly or wrongly I've decided to go with XP Pro on the Notebook, so the multiple monitor support will get a work out. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. Version 4.01 just released, with a C++ Class View that actually works. www.getsoft.com
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I assume the XE2 VGA port was able to be used as primary or secondary monitor. That sounds neat. I have a friend using 2 and 3 monitors using W2K and it is quite impressive. Rightly or wrongly I've decided to go with XP Pro on the Notebook, so the multiple monitor support will get a work out. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. Version 4.01 just released, with a C++ Class View that actually works. www.getsoft.com
I assume the XE2 VGA port was able to be used as primary or secondary monitor. That sounds neat. It worked pretty well..apart from the fact that the adaptor only has 4MB of memory so the refresh rate was a little on the low side. I can't remember whether I could switch primary/seconday monitors under Win98 - if I could get it to work under Win2000 I should be able to though. I have a friend using 2 and 3 monitors using W2K and it is quite impressive. It sure is! We've got two monitors on our desktop box (Win2000), and a spare VGA port for a third. Once you get used to a setup like that, going back to 1 monitor is painful. :) Rightly or wrongly I've decided to go with XP Pro on the Notebook, so the multiple monitor support will get a work out. You should do just fine. Apart from the UI, a lot of things which weren't quite "there" in Win2000 has been fixed in WinXP - and multiple monitor support is one of them. Good luck! Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++ 5.0/6.0
"I'm just another 'S' bend in the internet. A ton of stuff goes through my system, and some of the hairer, stickier and lumpier stuff sticks." - Chris Maunder (I just couldn't let that one past ;)) -
I assume the XE2 VGA port was able to be used as primary or secondary monitor. That sounds neat. It worked pretty well..apart from the fact that the adaptor only has 4MB of memory so the refresh rate was a little on the low side. I can't remember whether I could switch primary/seconday monitors under Win98 - if I could get it to work under Win2000 I should be able to though. I have a friend using 2 and 3 monitors using W2K and it is quite impressive. It sure is! We've got two monitors on our desktop box (Win2000), and a spare VGA port for a third. Once you get used to a setup like that, going back to 1 monitor is painful. :) Rightly or wrongly I've decided to go with XP Pro on the Notebook, so the multiple monitor support will get a work out. You should do just fine. Apart from the UI, a lot of things which weren't quite "there" in Win2000 has been fixed in WinXP - and multiple monitor support is one of them. Good luck! Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++ 5.0/6.0
"I'm just another 'S' bend in the internet. A ton of stuff goes through my system, and some of the hairer, stickier and lumpier stuff sticks." - Chris Maunder (I just couldn't let that one past ;))Andy Metcalfe wrote: going back to 1 monitor is painful I'm considering getting a new graphics card and I was thinking about getting a dual-head one, but then I'd have to buy another monitor too (at least 19), so what makes you think it is worth it? I also have a specific question: I know that 3D acceleration only works on the primary monitor, but what happens on the secondary monitor when you play a game? "das leid schlaft in der maschine" -Einstürzende Neubauten
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Andy Metcalfe wrote: going back to 1 monitor is painful I'm considering getting a new graphics card and I was thinking about getting a dual-head one, but then I'd have to buy another monitor too (at least 19), so what makes you think it is worth it? I also have a specific question: I know that 3D acceleration only works on the primary monitor, but what happens on the secondary monitor when you play a game? "das leid schlaft in der maschine" -Einstürzende Neubauten
I'm considering getting a new graphics card and I was thinking about getting a dual-head one, but then I'd have to buy another monitor too (at least 19), so what makes you think it is worth it? "Is it worth it" is a subjective question - it depends upon your circumstances and what you want to do. In our case, we were replacing a dead system, so we had a spare 15" monitor and SVGA card to plug into the new system, giving us a system with a 17" primary and 15" secondary monitors. When we upgraded to Win2000 the OS wouldn't allow the old card to be used as a secondary monitor, so we replaced it with an ELSA GeForce2 TwinView card, and it's now working fine (and we have a spare port for a third monitor if we want it...). IMHO being able to browse the web or run Visual Studio on one monitor while the app you're debugging is on another is something you've just got to experience to appreciate how useful it is. If you can, try it and see. :) I also have a specific question: I know that 3D acceleration only works on the primary monitor, but what happens on the secondary monitor when you play a game? I think it depends on your hardware (and drivers!) and the game you have - some are aware of dual monitors and use them, whilst others will just use the primary. I don't get the time to play games much, so I'm afraid I can't give any more detail than that. You should be able to get some answers by searching game sites on the web. Good luck. Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++ 5.0/6.0
"I'm just another 'S' bend in the internet. A ton of stuff goes through my system, and some of the hairer, stickier and lumpier stuff sticks." - Chris Maunder (I just couldn't let that one past ;))