anyone have solution to extend desktop into 2 monitors from vga split out of laptop?

OTCkrak · Mar 25, 2010

I need a temporary solution to connect 2 monitors out of my laptop(4g ram, windows 7 32bit, 256mb video ram).

right now, i have the laptop lid closed and the image appears cloned into the two monitors out of a vga splitter cable. I want to extend a single desktop into the two monitors. It appears windows does not detect the 2nd monitor?

Scataphagos · Mar 25, 2010

Quote from OTCkrak:

I need a temporary solution to connect 2 monitors out of my laptop(4g ram, windows 7 32bit, 256mb video ram).

right now, i have the laptop lid closed and the image appears cloned into the two monitors out of a vga splitter cable. I want to extend a single desktop into the two monitors. It appears windows does not detect the 2nd monitor?

A splitter only clones the primary monitor's image. To have Extended Desktop, you need 2 monitor ports. Most notebooks today have a monitor port on the back, usually VGA. You can connect an external monitor then Extend the display to that monitor along with the notebook screen... through Display/Properties/Settings

OTCkrak · Mar 25, 2010

Quote from Scataphagos:

A splitter only clones the primary monitor's image. To have Extended Desktop, you need 2 monitor ports. With many notebooks today, they have a VGA port on the back where you can connect a monitor... then you can Extend the display to that monitor along with the notebook screen... through Display/Properties/Settings

my desktop has a DVI output and the splitter (1 DVI/1VGA) works perfectly with only a single video card into two monitors.. I'm assuming the analog VGA output is nferior in this regard

Scataphagos · Mar 25, 2010

Quote from OTCkrak:

my desktop has a DVI output and the splitter (1 DVI/1VGA) works perfectly with only a single video card into two monitors.. I'm assuming the analog VGA output is nferior in this regard

Getting extended desktop onto a desktop computer is no problem at all... notebooks can be different. The issue isn't "number of video cards"... it's "number of ports". ATI has a new card which will run 6 monitors.... but it costs plenty.

Some new desktop mobos have VGA, DVI, HDMI, and even Display Port..

Bolimomo · Mar 28, 2010

Quote from OTCkrak:

my desktop has a DVI output and the splitter (1 DVI/1VGA) works perfectly with only a single video card into two monitors.. I'm assuming the analog VGA output is nferior in this regard

This does not seem to make sense to me. If a gadget is truly a "splitter", from its name it only splits out the same VGA (or perhaps DVI) signal from one set of cable into 2 sets of cables. The signal itself is the same. So the 2 monitors hooked up to this gadget would display the same image.

If you want monitor A and monitor B to display different parts of your Windows applications, you would need the hardware that supports 2 DVI or VGA ports.

If your laptop does not have an extra VGA/DVI port outlet, you can use one of the USB-DVI/VGA adapter. I use one to drive a third monitor from my laptop.

stratman34 · May 18, 2010

I use a Matrox DualHead2Go. It combines the monitors and presents them to windows as a single "large" monitor. It also has software that allows you to manipulate windows within each single monitor or the large combo monitor.

They work very well, and are not terribly expensive.

mgookin · May 20, 2010

Quote from Bolimomo:

This does not seem to make sense to me. If a gadget is truly a "splitter", from its name it only splits out the same VGA (or perhaps DVI) signal from one set of cable into 2 sets of cables. The signal itself is the same. So the 2 monitors hooked up to this gadget would display the same image.

If you want monitor A and monitor B to display different parts of your Windows applications, you would need the hardware that supports 2 DVI or VGA ports.

If your laptop does not have an extra VGA/DVI port outlet, you can use one of the USB-DVI/VGA adapter. I use one to drive a third monitor from my laptop.

Is it a splitter, or a duplicator?

Connecting two feeds in parallel only duplicates the one output.

LeeD · May 20, 2010

Quote from stratman34:

I use a Matrox DualHead2Go. It combines the monitors and presents them to windows as a single "large" monitor. It also has software that allows you to manipulate windows within each single monitor or the large combo monitor.

They work very well, and are not terribly expensive.

Splitter cable is what it says. From the view point of the computer it's just one monitor because the computer has only 1 VGA port.

DualHead2Go is great but it's somewhat more expensive than a usb-to-vga adapter and it's must to run testing tool from matrox before buyinbg the device. Beware that even if it supports your laptop's graphics it may not support sufficiently high resolution.

stratman34 · May 21, 2010

Quote from LeeD:

DualHead2Go is great but it's somewhat more expensive than a usb-to-vga adapter and it's must to run testing tool from matrox before buyinbg the device. Beware that even if it supports your laptop's graphics it may not support sufficiently high resolution.

True, you are limited to 3840 x 1200 (2 x 1920 x 1200) for the DualHead2Go or 5040 x 1050 (3 x 1680 x 1050) for the TripleHead2Go. Assuming all digital connections and proper laptop hardware. I run the Dual instead of the triple because I don't like a verticle of less than 1,200.