A friend just gave me a monitor to use as a second monitor for trading. How do I set it up? Do I need special software or something or hardware? I have XP home. I don't see anyplace in the back of the computer where I can hook in another monitor. Only has room for one plug. How?
If you don't have any place to plug it into then you can't use it - you need hardware that can support two monitors.
You will have to add another video port to your computer. a. Replace your video card with a dual head, or b. Add a 2nd video card which is compatible with your first.
It's not difficult or very expensive. I added an ATI 7800 series PCI Express(dont remember the exact model #). It plugs into an extra PCI slot. You can find them on newegg.com for well under $50. You then need to change your display to either run two independent feeds or like I do, extend the desktop so it is like having one huge desktop. It depends on where the second monitor will be positioned. Good Luck, Monaco
I have a 10 year old computer around here somewhere. I'm wondering if I can take the video card out of that and put it in my XP home edition computer for the second video card. Or do you think it is too old of a video card? I'm trying to hold off buying anything new for this computer because I'm waiting for windows vista to come out and then I'm going to buy a whole new computer with 4 monitors and the whole set up. But only if I'm still in the trading game by the time Vista comes out. Otherwise I will only need one monitor.
(1) Dont waste your time with a card from a 10 year old computer. Video cards change so fast, you can get a really nice card (that can support two monitors) that was state-of-the-art a year or two ago for a low price today because its already considered "obsolete". (2) Why would you want to run Vista on a trading computer when it first comes out? If you want to play with Vista on a home machine thats fine but why be a test dummy when real money is on the line? As far as I know Vista doesnt have any features that will help you make more money (over XP)
Fadertrader, That isn't true. And the only thing that is sad and sorry is you. And the only thing you should be apologizing and saying sorry for is your rude personality and the way you talk to strangers. You are not a nice person. Everybody that posted to the question is being very helpful in this thread and you have to come in here and say something mean for no reason. Why don't you get a life, grow up and stop being mean to people for no reason. You are pathetic.
You really do not need higher end puters' to trade retail...just broadband and a lot of RAM...(big LCD monitors are nice too) But I could swear my Pentium 4 (Dell 8250) and my XP pro make my executions quicker, than my Pentium III in the Java platform I use...maybe its just the reports back... I know that I would not use my Windows 98 notebook to trade with...(its my print server) Michael B.
I agree with Electric. XP Pro on a P4 3.2Ghz with 3gig ram and a 10,000rpm Raptor HD, with 3meg/sec DSL along with (2) 21.3 Samsung LCD's is what I have. (laptop as backup) Not a NASA setup, but the key elements are present: Reliability, Ram, HD, Bandwidth and Real Estate For the OP, you can find a basic PC for $299 or less and hook up the second monitor to it. You will not only have a way to run the second monitor, but a backup system should something happen to the 10yr old set. My opinion is you are risking more than a few hundred dollars trading with a system as old as yours. Buy the tools necessary to trade and dont skimp. Best of luck, Monaco