Two Monitors on One Laptop?

Reader Greg Davey asks: I want to use a second monitor in conjunction with my laptop: I want to have one application on my laptop screen and another application on a second monitor. I've tried setting it up via th Display > Settings control panel, but it's not working. What does the laptop physically need for the use of multiple monitors? I'm told the laptop needs a dual video card; if so, how do I tell if my laptop has a dual video card?

Having two monitors can make you doubly productive, but setting this up on a laptop isn't always easy, as you've discovered. You took the right first step: Plugging in an external monitor to the VGA port (or possibly DVI port, depending on your laptop) and then attempting to configure the Display control panel to handle two monitors, side by side. (Just position the boxes labeled 1 and 2 and click "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor." (See screenshot for detail.) That's all it takes... if your laptop's graphics card supports multiple monitors.

How do you know if it does? Most recent ATI and Nvidia graphics cards do, as does the Intel GMA 945G integrated graphics chip. If you have ATI or Nvidia graphics on your laptop, download the latest drivers from either the appropriate website or from your laptop manufacturer's drivers page. Windows Update can sometimes provide new drivers, too, but this isn't as reliable.

After installing the new driver, try the steps outlined above again. If you still can't get the two displays to show up, your PC probably can't support dual displays. But don't give up yet, there are other options...

Got a PC Card slot? Of course you do! You can plug the VillageTronic VTBook (or a number of other PC Card-VGA adapters), which works as a connector for a second monitor for your laptop. The quality isn't always the best on these products, and they can be expensive in some cases (especially ones that support three or four monitors), but they're worth a look if you're in a bind.

You can also do the same thing with a USB adapter. A variety of products like this one are on the market. Be aware that most are from no-name companies, reviews are spotty, and video quality isn't the best (no 3-D support at all, for example), but at least they're cheap.

Good luck. Let me know if any of these products or tips ended up working for you!