About all we sacrifice in making a move over to dual monitors is the initial cash outlay for the dual card, and the small spot on our desks where we were formerly growing our little piles of trash. Many of us have older monitors sulking in the closet that could be pressed back into duty. If finances are willing, the trade-off of a junk spot for more screen space, is a pretty darned good deal.  I've been using dual monitors since 1999 with different sized screens in assorted combinations. They have all worked great!  It's one of the best computing choices I ever made.

For techie types who like to putter around getting it to work by buying a second card for an empty slot? Sure, very doable. However, that road is not always as easy for everyone, as it is purported to be.  For the rest of us who just wants the darn thing to work fast, clean, and easy? A dual card is an extremely simple way to be multi-monitoring, in no time at all. I happen to use Matrox cards and they have always operated flawlessly. There are others now available on the market too. A Dual Screen Flash Demo can be seen by clicking the image at the bottom of the page.

Plug both of your monitors into the back of your computer. Boot up and go look at your Display Properties. There you checkmark Enable dual Monitor. You can run identical or different RESOLUTIONS and COLOR COUNTS for each monitor.  Now crack the cork on something refreshing, lean back with all that new elbow room, and happily sprawl out between both of your screens.

My networked computers and shared cable connections have no impact on dual monitors (or visa versa) in any way.  I realize you are probably just saying she wants less tantrums in the house, (always a good thing) in which case, just buy a dual card & you are good to go.  Minimal stress since that route is pretty much plug and play.

The space lost on our desktop is the same spot where we already had our ongoing little pile of trash sitting next to the monitor.  With a second monitor, the pile is moved onto the bookcase or into a drawer.  With smaller monitors as our second screen, elevate them so the upper screen edges better match, to make the mouse hopping that fence over to the next screen, feel more natural.Setting him up on top of a wooden box with a drawer was a handy solution for eye hand coordination between screens, and clutter control. My own former pile of junk went into the drawer.

A How screens are aligned in Display properties will determine where the hole in that fence goes between monitors, to allow our mice to travel back and forth.
B When there are different resolutions on each screen? The larger screen will have a portion of the wall between those screens closed to mouse travel. In that setup the mouse at the very bottom of the left screen cannot travel over into the right monitor until he travels north enough to get around that fence.

C Former desktop junk and supplies.

Single Monitor square inches (approx) 1 - 15" = 95 square inches 1 - 17" = 125 square inches 1 - 19" = 154 square inches 1 - 21" = 188 square inches Dual Monitor square inches (approx) Matched size 2 - 15" = 190 square inches 2 - 17" = 250 square inches 2 - 19" = 308 square inches 2 - 21" = 376 square inches Unmatched size 1 - 15" & 1 - 17" = 220 square inches 1 - 15" & 1 - 19" = 249 square inches 1 - 17" & 1 - 19" = 279 square inches 1 - 21" & 1 - 15" = 283 square inches 1 - 21" & 1 - 17" = 313 square inches 1 - 21" & 1 - 19" = 342 square inches

Not only do you get more square inches of screen real estate with two 17" monitors, than you would with a 21" monitor - the screen real estate is arranged in a more usable form than with 21" monitor. The only problem with dual monitors is that you soon start hankering for three monitors. (Windows 98/ME/2K/XP supports up to 9 monitors.) -Bob