Gadgetory

hey i'm donald bell today i'm going to show you how to add an external monitor to your laptop setup or use two monitors with a desktop computer maybe you considered a two monitor setup years ago and got turned off by the idea of installing video cards and adapters but those days are gone with any reasonably new computer you should be able to make this work with just a few minutes of your time and nothing more than an extra cable so let's start off with a Windows 7 laptop this one is from Toshiba and it's a bit of a best-case scenario I've got two ports on the side here one for VGA and the other one for HDMI either one of these are going to work so let's see what the monitor has to offer most new monitors have at least one HDMI connection as well as a DVI connection that looks like this and a VGA connection if your monitor doesn't have an HDMI input you can pick up an HDMI to DVI adapter or a cable like this which shouldn't cost you more than $10 now what about a Windows desktop here's a recent one from Gateway on the back I see a monitor connection for HDMI and DVI all you see on the back of your computer is a single monitor connection you could spend some money on a video card or even a USB adapter if we're me though I take it as a sign that I need to update my computer both of these machines are running Windows 7 so the software setup is the same make sure your second monitor is connected powered on and set the source control to the input that you're using if you don't see your desktop on the screen yet don't worry go to the Start menu select the control panel then type monitors into the search box here you'll see all of your monitor settings click the option under display for set up computer to use multiple monitors and you should see a panel here with two displays next to each other if not hit the detect button and if that doesn't work check your connections again next go to the drop down menu from multiple displays and select extend these displays then hit apply this will stretch your desktop across both displays and activate your monitor if it's not already up if the monitor is on but looks too stretched out too big or too small select the display up here at the top and set it to the displays native resolution you can search for the model name of your display to find the correct setting if need be you can also try fiddling with the settings on the monitor itself sometimes there's a reset button or an auto button that needs a press notice that there's a setting here for orientation if your monitor is designed for it you can spin it on its side and set the orientation in ninety degrees some people like this setup for viewing documents or websites it's not for everyone but it's an option once you've got your monitor or monitors connected you can adjust the resolution placement or any of the other settings to get them just the way you like now switching gears on any modern macbook i'm a kromagg mini you should have a little port like this maybe has a thunderbolt logo next to it or maybe it doesn't either way you can purchase a cable or adapter that goes from mini DisplayPort to DVI or HDMI that will connect the most current monitors now if this port does have a thunderbolt icon on it and you have some money to throw at a beautiful integrated solution you can grab one of Apple's Thunderbolt displays and just plug it right in using that Thunderbolt connection you have the option to wire the display to Ethernet firewire USB Thunderbolt hard drives and even other connected Thunderbolt displays and all that will carry over to your computer which is the one included cable it's really pretty cool whichever way you go setting things up on the software and is simple going to the Apple menu select system preferences and then displays here you'll notice that the display specific settings such as color and resolution are displayed separately on each screen on your primary screen you'll see an arrangement tab for adjusting how the desktop will extend between the two screens there's also a checkbox for mirroring the two displays which can be useful for presentations on the connected monitor you'll also have an option here for rotating the screen into a portrait orientation like I showed you on the PC so that's how to add a second monitor to your computer it's really not that hard and hopefully I've helped demystify the process for you for more tips like these check out how to see Netcom you can get more updates from me on facebook and if you have suggestions for more how-to topics give me a shout on twitter for cnet.com i'm gombo