I addition to the other comments : * having multiple monitors makes it much easier to "maximize" etc. windows. They maximize to the monitor it's on, not the entire desktop * plasma displays has relatively poor resolution (the ones I've seen at least) They are designed as high-end TV sets, and typically comes in 1024x768 or 800x600. While that's awesome for TV it's only on par with a typical monitor. My recommendation is to get two or more 17" LCDs with a native resolution of 1280x1024. Best cost/benefit tradeoff I can find.
while we're on the subject...I'm getting ready to add monitors...is the matrox card the best for the $, and is it difficult to install? I have one 19" trinitron, getting one more...i have a Dell dimension desk top... 800mghz....128ram... anything else i need to know before I buy? Thanks p.s. i've only been on this sit e for a few onths, and i think its great everyone helps each other...even though in a way we compete against each other ...this is one of the best sites
tntneo- You seem very knowledgeable about this subject. What would you recommend to be the optimal specifications (resolution, pixels, etc.,) for a monitor of this size to get the results I'm looking for? Yes, I'm pretty determined to increase my size. :eek: Thanks for your diligence.
Uptik2000--whichever card you decide to go with, don't forget to look on eBay to see if you can get a better price. I just won a eVGA Geforce2 MX TwinView Pro brand new dual monitor for about $50, which should be fine for my purposes. Look here for all the dual monitor cards: http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...axRecordsPerPage=100&SortProperty=MetaEndSort
uptick, The G450's install like a dream. When I installed my second G450 (PCI) and fired that mother up, I expected having to freak around to get it to work properly (first G450,AGP from factory). The smile on my face was four miles wide 60 secs later everything was installed and running perfectly. I couldn't believe it. Installed & working in 60 secs...that's unheard of.... Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....Matrox! Bucky Lee
I'm having such a good time I gotta pinch myself every few minutes just to be sure it's notta dream :-D
bronks I had the exact same questions about 6 months ago and did quite a bit of research on it. I currently run 9 montiors. Nine because I only have one 19 inch the others are all 14 and 15 inch monitors. I went the monitor route because I got them for free and only had to pay for four cheap G450 PCI cards. However, I considered going with an HDTV. You see some HDTVs have an SVGA 15 pin connector and therefore connect to your computer with a regualar video cable. This gives you better resoultion than using S-video or Component video connectors. You get the identical resolution that you would using your current monitor. Those monitors usually come in 32, 36, 52 inch and larger sizes. RCA makes one. Proscan make another. More and more brands are coming out now with the SVGA connector on HDTV sets. The cheaper ones run about $1,300.00 at COSTCO. A few hundred dollars more at Best Buy. However, the prices have come down about $1,000.00 since last year. I have not checked out the flat Plasma screens as I considered them too expensive, but I know some of them have SVGA connectors also.