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Running Dual or Tri Monitors


Jaysi
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Hey guys,

 

So I found some monitors from my campus surplus store (19" and 20" for $5 each, but vga) and I'm trying to connect BOTH to my laptop. I was trying to find a cheap way to have both monitors and my laptop monitor working with different screens. Worse come to worse, I would accept having just the two monitors working and either my laptop screen off or mirroring. What are the cheap methods to do this? I've seen some devices that will do this but they cost $150-300... I'm looking like under $50.

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Duo monitors is no use for most of people unless they are intended to look cool or nerd one way or the other.

 

The most legit use I see in the field are for graphic designer, programmers, and in hospital.

 

I've tried to use second monitor as mini map but the tunnel vision gets the best of me.

 

Most of the game does not support duo monitors the last one u tried is Commander and that was 3 years ago?

 

It is just too much work for nothing and running on a laptop is just not ideal.

 

 

Get a proper PC will be the money best spent.

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I've been running dual monitors for at least 8 years at this point and I'm probably never going back. I browse on my 2nd screen and use it as a quick reference for my calendar, 3 days worth of weather and clock. At work, emails/IMs are up on one monitor 100% of the time while I use my other one for research.

 

As far as what kind of cable to use: VGA isn't bad per say, but you get substantially more noise at higher resolutions (which these days is pretty much the standard). Like right now at work, I'm running identical monitors, one VGA and one DVI. At 1440x900, I'm seeing a little bit of blur on my VGA monitor while my DVI one remains crystal clear.

 

I could reduce the noise if I just lowered the resolution on my VGA monitor, but who wants to do that :)

 

Anyway, at home I'm strictly on DVI at my desktop w/ HDMI for the TV. DVI and HDMI give you pretty much the same quality, so it's really a matter of what your personal preference is, what cables you have available and what devices you're trying to hook up. Play with it and you'll come up with something you enjoy. Obligatory plug for r/battlestations

 

EDIT: Apologies, I never answered the original question. A reasonably cheap USB dock would probably solve your problem, but you need to be careful and pick the right one. And don't buy a VGA --> Dual VGA splitter. That will only allow you to run a mirror setup, which really gives you no benefit.

Edited by martY
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  • 1 year later...

So I recently bought a USB dock from plugables off Amazon ($90) and it has allowed me to use tri-monitors with my lab top and 2 additional monitors. Sadly, now that I am out of school I probably have no need for them... lol

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