hi everybody, my ideal trading setup has been so far a desktop with four screens and I am now curious about using a laptop instead. Can anybody share his/her experience trading with a laptop and multiple screens, in particular what hardware solution you chose ? I am particularly interested to a FOUR screens setup. Have you had any experience with the layouts described on BannRonn.com (see: "Dual or Multi-Monitor Laptop for Stock Trading" in the site) and which one is best in your opinion? thank you F
I don't have 4 screens. Only 3. Screen 1: laptop itself (18.4 inch, 1920 x 1080) Screen 2: VGA port from the laptop, 23-inch mon, 1920 x 1080 Screen 3: Tritton UV200 USB-to-DVI adapter, 23-inch mon, 1920 x 1080 You can hook up a second USB-to-DVI adapter to drive another monitor to provide screen 4 if so desired.
Could you elaborate on this? Does the video card affect this? I have tried to attach two additional displays, 1 via VGA, 1 via HDMI. Sadly, the card would not take it. Could you please suggest?
Let me explain with a picture of my setup. Sorry about the clutter. The Neat Factor ranks low in my trading room. I am just a practical guy. Screen 1: laptop itself (18.4 inch, 1920 x 1080) Screen 1 is high-lighted in a red frame. It is the laptop's own LCD screen. Screen 2: VGA port from the laptop, 23-inch mon, 1920 x 1080 Screen 2, a 23-inch monitor, is high-lighted in a green frame. It is driven by the laptop's own VGA port (green arrow). Screen 3: Tritton UV200 USB-to-DVI adapter, 23-inch mon, 1920 x 1080 Screen 3, another 23-inch monitor, is high-lighted in a blue frame. It is driven by a Tritton USB-to-DVI adapter. The blue arrow is pointing to the USB connector that goes to the Tritton adapter (which is hidden behind the laptop's screen). I believe you were talking about trying to use both the VGA port and the HDMI port to drive 2 different external monitors from your laptop. That wouldn't work. As soon as you use the VGA port, the HDMI port will be disabled. And vice versa. You can only use one of the two at any one time. The reason is your laptop's onboard video controller only supports 2 screens, not 3.
Got a PM about how to set the screen resolution on the third monitor (driven by the USB-to-DVI adapter). Well, different gadgets use different driver software. Some would work with the Windows' own Display Manager and let you manage the addition monitor as if it is directly connected via the bus. You would see the monitor icon with the assigned monitor number. You use Windows Display Manager to change the resolution. But some driver software are add-on apps. You won't see the monitor icon of the third monitor on your laptop's Windows Display Manager. To invoke the driver app, usually look for it in the small icon tray. Right click on it. You should have some menu choices which will set for mirror display or extended display, and the monitor resolution. The added (USB) monitor is automatically assuming the far right position in a single horizontal row. For example if I have 1-2-3-4-5-6 monitors, the USB (7th) one will be to the right side of monitor 6. If you have a rectangular grid like 3 x 2, then I don't know. I haven't tried it. If you have a second USB-to-DVI adapter added, you will see 2 app driver icons (labelled "1" and "2") to differentiate the two settings. I am using a Tritton and the app looks like this. Yours may look different (but similar, as used by SIIG adapter for example):