Im actually buying new hardware now, (its about time) I need to upgrade and wanted to know if anyone out there can tell me if it would work out well trading with a flat pannel 20 inch monitor standing alone without a second one. A friend of mine said it works great, I trade with two now, but if anyone out there is who has an updated system can throw some ideas I would appreciate it. Thanks Tom
I have said it before and I will say it again: It's not how many monitors you have, it's how you use them. Moreover, and I have said this before as well, I'd rather have one monitor running at a resolution of 1600x1200 than four monitors at 800x600 each. Another thing that nobody here seems to believe is: A human cannot look at more than one (or maybe two) monitors at any given moment. If you can configure your software in a way taht allows you to switch between windows or whole groups of windows as fast as you could move your eyes from one monitor to the other (and if your hardware is fast enough for that), there is no significant advantage to multiple monitors anymore. I was using 2 monitors for a while, then one crapped out, and I have not replaced it since. It works just as well with only one. The one thing that I used to miss most when I was not restricting myself to two or three different stocks on any given day would be a huge monitor (or maybe 6 or 8 normal sized ones) with a hundred or so intraday charts just big enough to alert you to trading opportunities. The rest (like internet surfing, other porn, giant button bars, start menus, desktop icons, title bars etc are just an annoyance that has to be eliminated to the fullest extent possible. I believe that is true for any trading setup, whether you have one monitor or 20. What I mean is, how does having a separate monitor for surfing the web really help a trader? Can you read a website or do you have to look at boobies WHILE observing charts on the other monitor? I have a little tick chart of the ES and NQ and the $TICK on the bottom right of my screen, and I watch that out of the corner of my eye when I have a browser window open (on my ONLY monitor). That's good enough for me. That being said, if I had unlimited space and money, I would probably get a 10' by 6' wall of 200 dpi LCD screens (yes, I have better than perfect vision), with each segment of that wall being controlled by its own computer system, but with software to make them interact efficiently and flawlessly so that I wouldn't need more than one (or maybe 2) keyboard. I would probably need several full-time engineers to build and maintain the system...
If you are ONLY looking at charts and your order entry, I guess you could get by with one monitor...But if you have any chat rooms open or are web surfing simultaneously, you will want the second or third monitor...
Depends on how you use your charts.. I get by easily with 2 charts open on a single monitor.. but, being able to track multiple markets as confirmations without having to minimize back and forth is nice.
Why compromise? Screen real estate is a trader's best friend. Monitors are cheap. It depends on what you are trying to trade but I think a daytrader needs four or five screens minimum.