I've been asked to get a user 2 monitors so they can have their desktop split over the two.

Now their graphics card has 2 DVI connectors so is it just a case of getting 2 identical monitors, connecting them up to the graphics card and then getting their WinXP to use both of them?

They don't even have to be identical. Just buy a new one and plug it in. You may need to update drivers and then after a restart you'll have to set it up how the user wants with monitor positions etc...

Also you'll need to set it to extend desktop to new monitor or something.

It's all fairly easy once it's plugged in.

Hth

Yes, generally very straight forward. They're normally treated separately by the OS, so you can mix and match resolution and other settings. What's the GPU in the machine?

Thanks for advice/confirmation.

I will check graphics card but think its a nVidia 8500 so might have to get them a slightly better one.

I've run dual screens on some really, really basic cards, it's really not a problem unless they are doing anything with heavy graphics. The nVidia tools are pretty solid for dual screen setups. Less of a clue about the Ati / Intel implementations tbh.

I've had dual monitors for office type work using an nvidia 5700/5900, so should be no problem with an 85. Most games (i've played) don't yet seem to support multimonitor, so hope they're not planning playing too many, also card would start to struggle.

I've had dual screens running on a Radeon 9600 XT so a 8500 should be chuffing easy.

Important Tip:

Make sure that output 1 is connected to the monitor that supports the highest resolution. If the settings mysteriously disappear (as they are known to) then the DDC should ensure that the user has at least one functioning screen.

I've been running dual monitors since 2002. I ran 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 on an Intel HD4500 onboard graphics without any problems - it could still display Full HD video on one display, without dropping frames and I could continue working on the other screen, so the nVidia shouldn't cause any problems.

Well tried it this morning and it worked but because 1 monitor was a different size to the other it defaulted the resolution on both to the best on the smaller one - meaning one half was crystal clear and the other half blurry

Going to source 2 of same monitor so resolution not an issue.

The person only needs like 20" monitors so any suggestions?

That shouldn't matter.
I'm running a display at 1280x800 & a display at 1920x1200 off one card at work

I have a pair of 22" Samsung 226BWs, with the desktop extended across both screens; running off a 1GB 4870.

The extra desktop space is incredibly useful, but you get used to it very quickly and I feel a little cheated when using a single monitor setup.

Decent 22" screens don't cost a fortune these days.

BTW, I used to run a 22" and a 19" together, and I don't recall any problems with the resolution on either screen.

Indeed you should be able to set the resolutions independently

+2

In the screen resolution setting in XP, Vista, Windows 7, OS X or Linux, just select the second monitor and set its resolution independently.

We've had designers with 1920x1200 on their main monitor and 1024x768 for e-mail and palettes...

I got a pair of 22" monitors, which are very simlar to these: Micro Direct Link

I actually got the W223, which they no longer stock, but these ones look good, and although they're not a "big brand" I was very impressed with the quality of both monitors.

They are both connected to a Radeon 9800 Pro, (AGP) one VGA and one DVI connector, and I am contemplating buying a dual DVI card for Photoshop type stuff.

Sounds like you had it in clone mode.

Did you tick the box on the second screen that says "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor"?

If you didn't, the displays will run in clone mode and usually force both screens to use the highest resolution that both screens can use.