I can’t stress enough how powerful of a change this can be for your productivity. Once you get two displays running off of one computer, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. The ways in which this can be used are limitless:

• Comparing documents on two different screens
• A dedicated program for each screen (for example: email always on one screen, internet browser on another, and a third “working” screen for productivity apps such as Microsoft Office or Google Apps – maybe a fourth for instant messenger chats or to watch stocks)

To take advantage of this, you’ll need a computer with 2 or more video output ports. Most mid-range to high-range desktop systems sold today already have 2 video ports (usually a VGA and an HDMI port), as do some laptops. If your desktop does not, you can purchase such a video card from your local electronics store (I recommend getting it profesionally installed unless you’re comfortable with the inner workings of a PC). If you’re laptop does not have a second video port, you can buy a USB video adapter as your secondary video output. CAUTION:  USB video adapters do not have video processors or RAM built-in, which means that they will use your laptop’s built-in processor and RAM which can effect system performance – make sure that you have plenty of RAM in your laptop and that you’re running at least a dual core system. Consequently, you may also be limited to a lower effective screen resolution for the monitor that is attached to the USB video adaptor as well. It also goes without saying that run more than 1 USB video adapter is not advised because of the drain on system resources. Another option for laptops with a single port is to use the built-in screen as 1 of the monitors. However, this can be a bit awkward in terms of monitor placement.

Assuming that you have the necessary ports and monitors, you’ll need to configure your Windows display settings for “Extended” like the picture below. Once you have configured this correctly, you should be able to drag and drop windows from one screen to another. You can also fine tune how the monitors are aligned by dragging the monitors into position in display settings. To do this, first click the identify button to make sure you know which monitor is which, then put your mouse of the monitor that you want to adjust, push and hold the left mouse key.

In the picture below, I have connected monitors 2 & 3 to my laptop, which has two built in ports. Note that monitor 1 is the actual laptop screen, which has been disabled as indicated by being greyed out (some dual port laptops will let you use the integrated screen as a third monitor, mine won’t). This means that I can drag and drop windows from display 2 to display 3 (left to right) and vice versa as needed. If I had 4 screens (like the graphic above), I could drag and drop left-right and/or up-down (in display settings, you would see two more monitors stacked on top of the 2 & 3 that you see below).

One of the frustrating parts of being in the IT business is quoting computers. I can’t tell you how many clients, prospects and colleagues I run across that complain about how much higher our prices are for computers relative to just going down to Best Buy or Office Depot and buying them off the shelf. It occurred to me to write an article to explain why this is the case as I suspect other computer resellers out there run into the same dilema. It’s not that our cost more, (in most cases we can be cheaper than a retailer), It’s that many people fail to remember all of the other factors that go into making a computer usable for production.

So, here goes:

When you buy that sub-$300 computer from your favorite store it generally comes with a Home Edition of whatever the current operating system is. The problem with this is that Home Edition Windows operating systems cannot connect to Windows domain servers (this is by design). You must have a business edition operating system to accomplish this, in the case of Vista those editions are Business, Enterprise or Ultimate (Enterprise is for larger companies under a Open Value license plan). So if you buy a PC with Home edition, you have to spend $100-$200 on purchasing the upgrade edition to take it from Home to a Business class edition operating system. You can probably do this yourself, but you might have an IT technician do it, which means an additional $100-$300 in labor.

Next: Almost everyone use Microsoft Office. These sub-$300 never come with Office (perhaps a 60 day trial, but that’s it). Office Basic (Word, Excel, & Outlook) will tack on an additional $100+ and the Small Business Edition (what most people use because it also has PowerPoint & Publisher) will tack on another $300. (Sadly, many businesses skirt this by installing the same Office licenses on every PC, which is obviously illegal).

Finally: A new monitor. this component is obviously optional if you are replacing an existing PC and simply want to use the existing monitor, but if you want a new system, the starting price is $150+.

Let’s summarize least and worst case scenarios:

Least Case: For example, replacing an old computer at your business

• Upgrade to Vista Home Premium to Vista Business +$100 (do installation yourself)
• Buy Office Basic $100
• No monitor, (you have a spare)
• Total: +$200

Worst Case: For example, adding a brand new computer that needs a full Office suite

• Upgrade to Vista Business +100
• Buy and install Office Small Business Ed. +$300
• Monitor +$150 (17′ LCD)
• Labor to install Vista Upgrade and Office software: +300
• TOTAL: +$550 w/o labor; +$850 w/labor

So a new PC, if purchased correctly, really costs more like $500 – $1000.

Don’t believe me? See for yourself. This is a Dell Inspiron that I created this morning. The Inspiron is their consumer class, absolute cheapest model (both in cost and quality).