Dual screen systems are definitely a great way to boost productivity. But, not too many places online sell a dual screen system – so you need to know exactly what to buy. This is an instruction guide for how to easily buy all the parts, and setup a dual screen system for about $1200.
The key is to get a system with a video card that supports dual screens.
If you wanted to order from Dell – any easy way to get this would be:
1. Select the default Dell XPS 8300 system (showing for $949 right now).
2. Click customize.
3. On the video card options, select “ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5″, (HD 5780 is fine as well)
4. Add to cart.
5. Select a matching monitor (ST2220L – $199) and add to cart
Total comes to $1,279.98 plus shipping.
The monitors all come with the cables you need – so you don’t need to buy anything additional. When you get the shipment from Dell, just plug the two monitors into the two DVI ports on the graphics card.
Windows 7 automatically detects the two displays. Then – in the Windows 7 control panel, there’s an option to tweak your display settings for the arrangement you set. Most likely, you’ll just have them side by side.
This system will have two 21.5 inch monitors, each capable of displaying 1920×1080 screen resolution.