I recently got another PC for my home, solely for the purpose of running news feeds, communication and internet browsing. Rather than spending a lot of money getting a new graphics card, I hit the internet and saw what I could find.

For my main PCs, I went all out, and purchased some advanced graphics cards that cost quite a bit of money. They support up to 4 monitors each and run at top speed with all the bells and whistles, so I didn’t mind spending the money, rather than being limited in terms of what I could do. But for this newer PC, it I didn’t need it or want it.

If you are looking for just a little bit of expansion or easier way to clear up the clutter I thought the below might help, if you didn't know about these already.

USB External Video Card

I was able to find an adapter that plugs right into your USB port, and then out to your monitor. You can add several of these on top of one another, so if you want to add more monitors at some point you easily can. As long as its some kind of PC or MAC with a USB port, it will work, including, of course, laptops. They come in versions for VGA (appx. $60) or DVI (appx. $80), and the DVI versions are downgradeable (you can use them on VGA). Many newer monitors only support DVI, but you’ll have to check before buying.

These cards have do have processor requirements. Most newer consumer PCs come with at least a dual or quad core processor or more. Any of these chips will be able to handle them rather easily. When adding more monitors on these cards, you should double check the requirements to make sure you have enough amp to run everything smoothly.

I bought a Tritton Card, but I guess after researching a little more found a few manufacturers of these things out there. DisplayLink seems to have the most variety:

http://www.displaylink.com/shop/index.php?product=5

http://www.trittontechnologies.com/products/usb_video_technology/#USB_Video_Technology

http://www.startech.com/category/audio-video/usb-video-adapters/main.aspx

USB LCD’s

Some LCD’s are even built with the ability to plug right into your USB ports now. They come with a little internal graphics card that basically does the same as the cards listed above. They’re generally a little more costly than regular monitors but might be worth it if you can hack down your net expense. I personally haven’t used these but if you have feel free to comment.

Refurbished LCD’s: Smells and looks like new, still under warranty, half the price

People that can’t figure out what a button is for usually assume a product is broken, and send it back to wherever they bought it. These returns go back to the manufacturer where they inspect it, realize nothing is wrong, or if there is, they fix it, repackage it, and send it back out for sale to certain dealers.

These dealers are found all over Ebay and beyond, and most of them offer extended warranties on the products they’re selling. Most refurbished LCD’s cost about half the price of the new monitors and look and smell the same as brand new. After my many monitor mishaps, I bought a couple refurbished ones with warranties from high ranking sellers on ebay and have no complaints. They all work great and I would never know they weren’t new. Retail they cost USD450 brand new; but I bought several of the same model to match my other monitors for half the price including shipping.

Some Links for Your New Monitors

Here’s an article on Lifehacker showing some pretty cool multiple monitor setups:

http://lifehacker.com/5428746/most-popular-featured-workspaces-of-2009

And if you need some massive cross-screen wallpaper, fear not, here are 70+:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/10/50-most-amazing-dual-screen-desktop-wallpapers/

Just thought some of you would find this interesting. I figure I can’t talk about trading ALL the time.

Oh and PS – Having a lot of monitors might make things easier to see but they won’t make you a better trader, unfortunately ;).