Start with your pc and gpu (video card) setup. You either have an onboard gpu (meaning it's integrated with the motherboard) or it's via a gpu in a PCI (expansion) slot. What do you have for video output? What can your pc accomodate in the way of expansion slots? There are x16 slots (used for 3D power hungry gpu's) and there are x8, x2 and x1 slots. Many of the multi-head cards made specifically for 2-D financial trading are x8 or x2. You'll need enough gpu to push the four monitors at the resolution you want. And you need enough power supply to push the gpu's. Your power supply also has to have enough power connectors for the cards if the cards require power from the power supply (some do and some don't). There are power supply calculators all over the internet by the companies who sell components. You very well may have enough power already so don't let that shy you away from the process. Once you have selected gpu's to purchase, re-run the power calculator with the proper power requirements to make sure. Keep in mind many people encounter problems using different gpu's. For example, one ATI dual head card and one nVidia dual head card almost always does not work. Even using two cards from the same manufacturer does not usually work. Best is to have either one quad card (which will push four monitors) or two dual head cards which are both exactly identical in model number. You can really be taken to the cleaners buying an array (multi-monitor stand). You can visit another thread on this topic to see how to build some cheap ones yourself. Find four monitors you like, spend the money, and hook it all up. And if you find four cheap monitors, please post a link to the deal. I'm looking for four myself for another office of mine. I'm going not less then 1920x1080 in at least 26" screens. I want mine in Portrait format because the price axis dynamic is what is most meaningful to me.
I know, not "26 inch or more", but odds of getting a deal on 24" much greater. Here's a Dell deal for $189 per with free ship.... average user rating of 4.75/5. Have TN panels, so for portrait display viewing angle might be an issue... http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...CJ&cid=24471&lid=566643&acd=10550055-1768450-
Thanks for posting that. I had seen some 24's on Dell.com but I could not determine whether they are Portrait compatible and it appears they don't have VESA mouning holes. I'll do their chat one day and ask.
Thanks for the heads up on the 24" being more on the market. That's my new objective. Just not sure how many. This one looks pretty nice for $189.. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7345 23" is $179 today. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-8299
My neighbor has one. Twas much better than I though at TN panel monitor could be.... but I don't know if it does "portrait" ??
Cheapest options is PCI-E NVS 280 and PCI 280 (or 290). Just put those two cards in. Or just go with one of the quad cards. I use ATI FireMV 2400. I got it for 100usd on ebay brand new.
BestBuy has a 24" Samsung for $199. Not sure if they allow haggling on buying many at once. I don't see any wall mount specs and it is not anti-glare. Last thing I want is a "glaring" headache from staring at them all day long. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...lack/9613846.p?id=1218131342389&skuId=9613846 Anybody ever use one of these?