SUPER PC LLC @ Multi-Screens.com

A friend of mine named Tony and I were talking a few months ago and he asked me a question that at the time I thought was silly, but now I’m extremely thankful that he asked.  He said, “You’re a day trader, right.”  To which I replied, “Of course, but you knew that already.”  He then said, “Why on earth are you still using a Hewlett Packard PC that you bought from Wal-Mart that only has one monitor attached?”  Now, I’ll be completely honest with you, I had never even considered the value of the type of computer I use, and especially had never considered the value of using a computer with multiple monitors.

Now just so there is no confusion, let me say that I’ve been a windows user for nearly 20 years, starting with Windows 3.1 back in 1992(and a DOS user prior to that!)  I’ve watched the way software has changed and I’ve adjusted accordingly.  I’ve been multi-tasking with various applications this entire time, and using multiple monitors had just never crossed my mind.  So when Tony asked me this question it completely through me for a loop.  It also got me thinking about ways that I could potentially improve my business.  You see, I do both Forex trading and futures stock exchange.  My entire business is centered on timing and numbers.  For a Forex or stock trader a few minutes could potentially cost thousands of dollars.  In fact, having a slow computer that occasionally freezes up has cost me in the past.

When I asked Tony what he suggested to try and help improve my computers performance he nearly doubled over laughing.  Just so I am absolutely clear, Tony isn’t some kind of obnoxious jerk or anything, he’s just a bit of a computer snob.   After he finished laughing we started discussing what my options for a computer with multiple monitors really were.  His suggestion was two-fold. I could design a computer from scratch, order the parts online and build it myself or use a company called multi-monitors.com.  Since I’m far from a computer genius, especially when it comes to hardware, we started discussing the advantages of each option.  According to Tony, building the computer myself would be a little bit cheaper, and I would get some manufacturer warranty on the parts, but overall the savings would probably only be a few hundred dollars.  If I order from the company he suggested, they offer warranties on their builds which means I’m covered in the event of a meltdown.

Now I have to be honest with you here, I am a do-it-yourself kind of guy most of the time.  I like to save money when I can and I also like to learn how to do new things.  But Tony mentioned that assembling a new computer without any previous experience can sometimes be troubling.  It is not always as simple as throwing together a few components and plugging in a few wires, especially when you are building a computer with multiple monitors.  You have to really think about configurations because using the wrong type of RAM with wrong motherboard or the wrong type of power supply or cooling system could make the entire system not work and in some cases could actually be dangerous and fire hazard.  This really made sense to me, so I decided to go with a custom computer from multi-monitors.com.

I called them up the next day and was rather pleased with the customer service that I got.  They weren’t pushy and I really felt like I was getting the best computer system for my needs, which is exactly what I wanted.  After talking with these guys and then consulting with Tony I decided to get a 4 monitor computer that is upgradable to 8 monitors in the future.  I decided on 4 monitors because this allows 3 windows for work related applications and trading software, as well as 1 for email, reddit.com, Facebook and more.

After receiving my computer with multiple monitors I was able to set it up in roughly 20-30 minutes with very few problems.  Now this might not sound like a big deal to you, but for someone who doesn’t know jack about computer hardware, I thought this was pretty good.  I’m thankful for the clear instructions that I received that allowed me to do this.  Had I not had clear instructions I don’t think this would have been possible.

Now on the really important part- how has this computer benefited me?  Well I have to say, it took about a day to get use to having my applications open on different screens at any given time.  But once the adjustment period was over, I was able to really focus on my work and watch statistics as needed.  This has been great.  I’ve actually noticed not only a gain in profits from being able to trade faster, but less frustration because of my lagging computer.  This means less of a headache for me.  It may sound strange, but the ability to glance at a screen rather than minimizing and maximizing different screens at different times has made a huge difference too.  I actually think I’m saving hours a day because of this, which is just absolutely fantastic.  If you’ve never had the ability to do this, I have to tell you that you must try it.

So overall, I just wanted to take a minute to publically say thanks to my buddy Tony for the advice on getting a new computer.  It is actually turned into quite a profitable investment.  I’m also very pleased with the service and help I got from the guys over at multi-monitors.com.  They were extremely helpful when I was picking out my computer and I’m absolutely certain that they have been around for a while now because of their dedication to their customers.  What a fantastic experience.  I would recommend them to my own mother if she was looking for a computer with multiple monitors.