On paper, I'm a genius. I'm, like, super smart. REALLY! That being said, I'm a complete idiot when it comes to techie things. It doesn't interest me either, so that means I'll probably never learn. I can try and do the research when I am forced to look up techie stuff, but research doesn't always replace know-how.
You've seen my fail when it came to the DVD player. Witness the ultra-fail of my new monitor! Do I actually need a second monitor? Not really. I wanted it so I could split my photoshopping and webdesign duties between settings - or have a second screen for movie watching while I work. When I found a wonderfully-priced monitor on Costco.com, I decided to give dual monitors a shot!
But problems exist. My laptop doesn't have a HDMI port, which means I have to go VGA. That's not a problem with me. I can take some fuzzy letters. It's really dumb of this model to not have HDMI, but that's my ignorance at work. When I ordered it, I didn't even know what HDMI was. (As I said: Not a techie.)
The other problem is *how* to hook up dual monitors. I did some research and I read that a splitter was needed. I looked 'em up, found a cheap one and bought it. I did not think my cunning plan through. What does a splitter do? It does not split one VGA port into two. It splits one VGA *signal* into two. I've mirrored my display! All techies can laugh now, because this should have been obvious. I was misled by the internet, OK?
Now I'm at a loss. Can this bugger even *do* multiple monitors? The other port I have on this laptop is svideo, so maybe I can use that. (Y'know, if I *had* a svideo cable...) I fear I am royally boned due to my technical ignorance. (Reading through some Dell forums, some got the svideo thing to work, others claim it's impossible. I'm more confused than ever.)
Just to make this a total disaster, the new monitor has a HORRIBLE flicker. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if I couldn't have two monitors - There's always a use for an extra HDTV - but if I can't use this monitor as my main monitor, what good is it? Research online says, "oh, just set it to 75hz!" Um, the only option is 60. What can I do?
I fear it's about time to see how good Costco is about handling returns....
1 comment:
Hey, if you'd like some help with your monitor issues, drop me a note on my e-mail with how your computer space is set up and I will try to help you as best I can, for now I don't get what your present set-up is. (you know, laptop monitor as primary monitor, what exits your laptop has, WHAT laptop you have, that kinda thing, oh and what graphics card it uses is probably the most important part). The again if you found out how to use dual monitor but there's a flicker at 60 hertz, the monitor is shit, mine are at sixty hertz and they work fine. S-video is just so that you can connect an RCA cable and use your computer with component video (older models would have an s-video capable of connecting to the yellow video channel of older tvs. newer ones can link to component HDTV (green and blue and purple) cables)not great for normal monitor use. And don't worry, as soon as you start using two screens you will find out how helpful it is to have two monitors (just don't get too comfortable, cause it's really annoying to start using one monitor after you get used to it).
Post a Comment