SUPER PC LLC @ Multi-Screens.com

 Four Monitors or The Big One?

Ok we have to admit that the giant 30-inch computer monitors seen in stores are somewhat lust worthy. 

Just imagine what you could do with all that screen real estate, and all those pixels!  Wait hold it right there–those giant displays aren’t necessarily all they’re cracked up to be.  Let’s take a closer look and reconsider a few things.

One thing to consider right off the bat is price.  They’re expensive considering the mere functionality.  You could spend from $1300 to $2500 for a single 30-inch monitor.  For example the NEC MultiSync LCD sells for more than $2000 which may not weigh out in terms of price over functionality. 

Even though some monitors may have high resolution (typically 2560 X 1600 pixels), which can give you a good amount of detail.  On the other hand, they’re also so wide that the distance from your eyes to the screen varies.  This is happens when your sitting 24 inches from the center of the screen, then you’re 28 inches or more from the corners.  That may not sound like a whole lot, but if you’re working in front of a monitor all day, you could develop eye fatigue from constantly having to adjust your focus closer or farther as you look around the screen.  It would work out better if the monitor was curved, keeping your eyes at a consistent distance from the display as you do your work.

Something else to consider would be practicality. 

If you have a gigantic screen, then you have a single, vast, wide open unstructured desktop.  Sure that’s great if your editing large, HD images, or things of that nature.  However if your the common foe who depend on PCs to work with a bunch of different types of information e.g. Web Browsers, Word Processors, Spreadsheets, Emails, and all at the same time.  Try using all of that on a giant monitor and you may very well drown in an abyss of cluttered desktop madness.  Having to drag and drop, and stretch and constantly adjust the windows manually.

Now hear this. 

There’s an alternative!  Instead of one big screen, use four smaller ones!  It’s actually rather almost as easy to get a nice quad monitor display up and going.  You can purchase a 4 monitor display, for under $1200 and get 4 19″ wide-screen monitors, ergonomic stand and free delivery from the Multi Monitor Store @ www.multi-monitors.com.   

Conserve desk space by suspending four flat panels on a single base.  Easily, view multiple screens at once, to increase productivity.  Get with the Quad Stand and Four DELL LCD 19″ Wide-screen Monitors for less than $1200 delivered to you in just a few days.

In this senario alone you would come out with the equivalent of a 38-inch-diagonal monitor, 

an area of 2880 x 1800 pixels.  That’s over 25% more than a 30-inch monitor can offer.  Multiple monitors give a rather larger advantage considering size, resolution, costs, and not to mention overall health.

You don’t have to have a fancy multiple monitor setup to still benefit from multi screen technology. 

The mere act of dividing the display into four sections, allows you to park different applications on different panels.  Just like you may have a placement system on you desk i.e. phone on the right, pencils on the left.  You can also organize your work in multiple applications e.g. positioning you e-mail on the upper right screen, your word processor on the lower right screen and so on and so forth.  You can then easily drag and drop information from one program to another, all while keeping all of your windows in full view.  The days of minimizing and maximizing can now be behind you.

How to Resurrect a Crashed Hard Drive                         

The hard drive is possibly the most failure prone part of your computer.  Whether it’s been dropped, over heated, or simply died of old age.  If you’ve traced your problem to the hard drive, the solution depends on the symptoms it’s exhibiting. 

If the drive spins up but behaves erratically, you probably have data corruption caused by a failing drive.  Try the following steps to recover your data and copy it to a good drive before the bad one dies.

Check cabling.

Before anything else, if you’re using an IDE drive, check that the data cable is connected properly, and if it is, switch to a new cable.  IDE cable are notoriously cheap and are prone to having their insulation stripped by the metal edges inside the PCs case shorting out the cable.

Try a boot Disc

Try starting your machine with a boot disc such as Ultimate Boot CD for Windows to learn if the drive is readable.  If it is, back up all of the data to another drive, and reformat the original discs to see if it’s salvageable.

Check for bad sectors

You may have bad sectors.  Try using HDD Re-generator to locate any.  Download the demo and burn it to a boot able CD.  If the free demo finds bad sectors, it may be worth paying for the full version, if it can recover the bad sectors and make the drive usable once more.

Try Utilities from disk’s manufacturer

TackTech.com features manufacturer specific utilities for virtually any hard drive vendor.  Find outwhat company made the drive that’s failing, then download the appropriate diagnostic application.  All of the tools are free and can help diagnose problems on the drive and repair them.

Try Data Recovery Software

If you still can;t get the drive to boot, turn to data recovery software to attempt salvage lost files.  You have dozens of alternatives in this market, and prices may generally run from $40 to $200.  Stellar Phoenix may be an ideal choice.

Some Last Ditch Efforts

If the Hard Drive won’t spin up at all, you can still try a few last at jabs that have only a slim chance of working.  But if your drive won’t even spin, it probably wont hurt to try these, just don’t do anything to further damage the disc, as the drive recovery surface may still be able to help.  For example don’t bang on the drive, and don’t remove the cover and expose the heads.

Try the Freezer Trick

The freezer trick is an old standby if you have a drive that’s clicking but not spinning.  Put the drive in a plastic freezer bag to keep the water out, and wrap it in a towel for extra protection, and then freeze it for a few hours.  Let it thaw back to room temperature after you remove and get rid of any condensation you can see.  There’s no agreed upon length of time to freeze it so start with an hour and work your way up to 24 hours and see if you can make that drive spin up one last time.

Try to Loosen Stuck Drives

To loosen stuck discs, hold the drive in your hand and rotate your arm outward quickly, parallel to the orientation to the plats, a bit like throwing a Frisbee.  Repeat this action several times but make sure to not to bang the disc on anything.  This action is designed to solve a problem called stiction  or static friction, which can prevent drive platters from spinning.

Apply a High-Wattage Power Burst

Finally you can try attaching the drive to a high wattage power supply. Even though it wont draw up extra power, a burst of juice from the highest wattage power supply you can find, could jar it into spinning up one last time.

Copy All Your Files

Remember if you do get a dead drive spinning again, don’t let it stop until you’ve copied off all your critical data.  Chances are, you wont have it working again.

If all else fails and you absolutely need data off the hard drive, your last best hope is to send it to a data recovery service like Drivesavers.  It isn’t cheap and expect to pay up to $3000, but they can perform magic when consumer grade tools fail.

Make Regular BackupsTo alleviate this problem in the future, make sure your back ups are up to date, and for added security, mirror a second hard drive to ensure you have a real-time back up for the minimal risks of data loss and downtime.  PC World Aug. 09

dual monitor display

Data thieves don’t have to be programming wizards to get their hands on your personal information.  They often find hard drives that contain financial and other sensitive data at flea markets, charity shops,  city dumbs, and even on eBay.  Trading computers can contain a lot of financial information that should be protected.

So if your upgrading your single computer monitor PC to a Multi Display Computer be sure to protect yourself with some of these tips from PC World.

These tips will help you render an old drives files unreadable.

Reformatting a drive and deleting its partition doesn’t truly erase it’s files.  Putting files into windows recycle bin makes them unreadable by the operating system, but they’re still viewable to anyone using data recovery.  That’s why a dedicated drive erasing tool is a must.

A reliable way to destroy old data is to use a block eraser utility such as DBAN, which overrides each block on your hard drive several times, and can create either a boot-able  floppy disc or an ISO file you can burn to a CD.  Once you boot from a start up disc just a few key strokes can begin blowing away your data.

The secure erase utility uses the disc drive secure erase command that’s built into every modern hard drives firmware.  The wipe is incredibly fast.  Secure erase can do the whole job in about half the time that a block eraser could take.  Especially if you already have a multi display.

Some government agencies use huge grinders to shred their discarded drives into tiny bits.  Some folks chop their old drives with an ax or drive nails through them.  You may not have to go through such extremes though, however a few whacks with a sledge hammer can do wonders for your peace of mind and may even reduce a little stress.  Make sure you know how to use such tools safely and remember to use safety goggles.

Upgrade to a multi screen computer at the Multi Monitor Store/ Super PC

Encrypting files on your hard drive prevents unauthorized access to your information.  You can also use encryption to help ensure that the files you delete are not recoverable.  If you encrypt a file before you delete it, a file recovery utility may be able to restore the encrypted version of the file, but the utility will not be able to decrypt it, and chances are good that no one else will be able to decrypt either.

Windows XP Pro Has Built-In File Encryption.

To use Windows XP Pros built in encryption, you have to log on to a password protected account.  Next right click the files or folders you would like to encrypt, choose properties> advance and check “encrypt contents to secure data” and click OK.  You can encrypt any files except system files.  So you can select all the folders on the C drive except the Windows folder and encrypt everything inside.

Windows XP creates a unique encryption key automatically if you use this feature.  If you wipe your installation of Windows which includes you encryption keys, neither you nor anyone else will be able to decrypt those files.  However if you choose to encrypt you files this way you should still run a secure erase tool to be absolutely certain to ensure your privacy.

Find great prices on multiple monitors and multi monitor software at www.multi-monitors.com home of the Super PC.

In this article we’re going to go over how to connect a second monitor to your computer.  A Multiple Monitor display are a must for people who like to work on several documents simultaneously.  Often video editors and graphics professionals ones who need to expand their screen real estate, but in today’s fast paced culture, everyone benefits from a multiple monitor setup.

Most graphics cards today support multiple monitors.  Trading Computers use many of these type of cards.  If yours doesn’t,  inexpensive dual monitor video cards from companies such as ATI and NVidia are ideal choices.  You can buy dual monitors for about $300 each with a special stand included, but if you want to keep using the computer monitor you already have, try to get a matching monitor of similar size and shape.

Many cards come with two different types of outputs.  A standard analog video connector, and a digital DVI connector.  If the monitors you’re using come with a VGA plug you’ll need to use a DVI to analog adapter, which should come with your new graphics card. 

Before installing a new card, back up your PC.  It’s always a good safety precaution. 

Next uninstall the drivers from the old graphics card.  To protect your computers sensitive electronics, make sure you first ground yourself by touching a metal object or by wearing an anti static wrist strap. 

Once this is done, shut your PC and unplug it.  Open the case and remove the old card and install the new one.  Once the new card is installed, plug the power cable back in, connect both monitors, and start the PC.  The PC will recognize the new card and install the drivers. 

Initially the same image will appear on each monitor, but by going to the Display Control Panel and selecting Settings, you can extend the size of your desktop over both monitors.  The horizontal screen resolution will double.  You can now drag application windows from one monitor to the other with ease, and run programs side by side.

Installation of a new card with dual monitor display takes about a half an hour.  If you purchased a new card as well as a second monitor, cost for the project can run from $300 to $900 and up.  However, having multiple monitors is like having a bigger desk.  It makes it easier to get more done.

The days when nerdy computer geeks isolated themselves in fear of persecution are far behind us.  Today Bill Gates still reigns as the savior of geeks all around the world, and with all due glory.  Now that many so-called “computer geeks” are becoming wealthy, the age of ostracizing the computer savvy is coming to an end.  Although the road to true computer geekdom is long and torturous, the benefits are well worth it.

One of the first steps towards being tech savvy is by updating your current computer system to something worthy of the term “state-of-the-art” or replace it all together.  Your PC should support multi screen displays.  Not only do they look very impressive, but also serve the purpose of multi stream computing the way a true techy would.

Upgrade your PC by adding a little RAM (random-access memory) and install a dual monitor video card or two.  A dual monitor adapter is available for those who don’t want to invest the farm on upgrading a already failing system, and/or on a new system.  Adding another hard drive would give you plenty of storage space and free up stress on your main drive. 

Get a real dual monitor setup from the Multi-Monitor Store at www.multi-monitors.com.  No need to purchase expensive multi monitor software if windows and good graphics cards will do fine.   

A multiple monitor PC will have you shining like a knight of armour when you can pull up research while watching YouTube videos simultaneously.  Sure you can say that you know how to upgrade RAM, but with a multi monitor display, seeing is believing. 

“Easy Setup, Relative Affordability”

“Beyond the stellar productivity rewards and the obvious geek cred, there’s yet another cool thing about a dual-monitor setup: It’s easy to put together.”

Tom Mainelli, PC World

Dual screen monitors takes you from crawling to walking upright instantly, however if you want to zip through multiple applications simultaneously in a flash, go multiple screen display.  The less you have to toggle through windows, the more efficient you’ll operate. Thus becoming a bonafide computer geek.

So if your one of the happy folks that are just getting started on the multiple monitor concept, then there are a few basic tips you’re going to want to know about.  Whether you purchased a multiple monitor ready computer, installed a dual monitor video card or two, or simply used a dual monitor adapter, you’re going to want to know how to make the most of your situation.

In this section we’re going to focus on how to extend the task bar across multiple monitors.  

We know that it’s easy to move your Windows task-bar from one monitor to another.  First make sure to (right click on taskbar)
uncheck the “Lock the Taskbar” and then just click and drag it to any side of either monitor to make it stay.  You will soon learn that you don’t want to have to scoot your mouse pointer over to the monitor where your taskbar is residing, several monitors over, which could be some distance if you have more than a dual monitor setup.

Get a multi monitor software that will extend your task-bar across all screens.

A very popular dual monitor softwareand easy to use utility that’s also free to download, is called UltraMon.  The “smart Taskbar” feature adds an additional taskbar for each secondary monitor, and each taskbar only shows tasks from the computer monitor it is on.  This can be very effective in managing lots of open applications much easier, and when activating an application, you’ll know on which monitor it will appear. 

UltraMon will use the same setting for labels as the main taskbar, you can change this via Control Panel > Taskbar and Start Menu > Taskbar buttons, setting this to ‘Never combine’ will get you the same icon + label buttons as on XP.

UltraMon also enables dual monitor wallpaper

Start buttons on every display taskbar?

Support for toolbars in more than one taskbar is said to be available in the 3.0 versions.  Early versions did not come with built-in toolbars, and you would have to install something like True Launch Bar to add taskbars to UltraMon.

Get the most out of your dual screen monitors and/or turn your multi-monitor display into the productivity machine you’ve always wanted.

 Conserve desk space by suspending two flat panels on a single base. Easily view multiple screens at once to increase productivity. Comes with the Dual LCD Stand and dual LCD Monitors. Choose your LCD size and brand above! This item is recommended for use with any multi-tasking duty. Click here to see more dual monitor displays.

Features View multiple displays simultaneously with Paraview Technology Position monitors for maximum productivity. Curved for angled veiw. Cable management system organizes and routes LCD monitor cables Low-profile base saves desk space and creates a larger virtual desktop Choose from various LCD sizes; slide displays so screen edges align Aluminum steel construction creates an extremely solid/stable platform Amazing 3 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty for LCDs & 5 Years for Stand!

Ultimately it just comes down to a handful of things to look out for when setting up a multiple monitor system. First thing is you need to determine if you can use a dual monitor adapter, dual monitor video card, or just a new system all together. This can be determined by taking into consideration how old your current system is and is it worth the upgrade. What is you upgrade budget looking like. If you have questions call the friendly staff at Super-PC or just visit their site at multi-monitors.com.

Just about everything you need to know to setup your Multiple Monitor Display can be found on my dual monitor setup using windows article. Now you can finally see yourself as a picture of you leaning back in the chair lounging peacefully on the old wood floor as a Dual Monitor Wallpaper. Or you can even go a step further than that. It all depends on the individual as to what type of Dual Monitor Backgrounds he or she may or may not use. In a world that strives to be politically correct, it’s good to know that there’s a Multi-Monitor Display on your desk to show all the different colours of diversity simultaneously!

Are your customers demanding more than you can keep up with? Are they demanding more for less? Of course they want world class products and services, we all do. If you can’t provide what they want, they will find someone else who can. Customer loyalty is a myth that was formed in the mist of our distant past. Operating on a single computer monitor can be a customer service handicap.

We must be closer to our customer than ever. We must provide great customer service.

Core system fundamentals of customer service have been packaged up and integrated into corporate America for over two hundred years. However the main principal is universal. Fill the Needs of the customer. If your customer service rep. has a multiple monitor display when addressing the customers need, he or she will be better enabled to provide those needs.

Definition of Customer Service:

According to the ACA Group, www.theacagroup.com, customer service is the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently give the customer what they want and need. The ACA Group is an alliance of highly trained and experienced consultants and instructors providing Consulting Services, Training & Education to a variety of manufacturing and service organizations, in both the public and private sectors ranging from five million dollars in annual sales to Fortune 500 companies. The ACA Group defines excellent customer service as the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer’s expectations.

Every desktop in your organization should be multi screen.

This definition goes beyond the traditional way we think about customer service. It covers areas that do not come in direct contact with the customer at all. Manufacturing, purchasing and quality control may never talk to the end user of our products, yet they are vital in meeting the customer’s needs. If we deliver an expensive product that doesn’t work and we deliver it late, that affects customer service just as much as a rude salesperson. The entire enterprise must pull together to provide excellent customer service

Replacing your aging fleet of soon-to-be-obsolete computers with a new multi monitor setup, may be just what you need to save money and make your business more efficient.

Microsoft Windows Vista has built in multiple monitor software. 

One of the biggest advantages to having a multiple computer monitor system is the amount of time and effort saved when doing any type of multi-tasking, i.e. running multiple applications. Rather than minimizing and maximizing windows to switch between applications, simply turn your head from one monitor to the other.

For example, having a dual monitor wallpaper would increase your display real estate by 100%.  Add an extra monitor by purchasing a dual monitor video card or dual monitor adapter and installing on your existing pc’s or purchase new multi monitor computers from www.multi-monitors.com, an industry leader in multiple diplays.

If a customer calls and your Rep is working on a triple monitor array, then he/she could have Internet Explorer running on the left monitor and Word running on the center monitor, and a order form on the right. If your customer has an unusual inquire, simply type a few notes in Word and then copy and paste to search relative information in the web, or within your own intranet.

Improving customer Service can start by improving the Customer Service Tools. We’ve probably had the the basic fundamentals down for some time. The only thing is technology is a constantly changing environment. If you don’t change with  it, it will ultimately leave you behind.

Drive to Discover Report on ABC News

The new status symbol in Silicone Valley is multiple computer screens. Size doesn’t matter anymore, it’s how many you have. Richard Hart, a San Francisco, CA reporter for ABC News reports on a phenomena of three or even four monitors per person.

People in the financial industry have used more than one monitor for years, but lately it’s becoming common for the rest of us.  Rhoda Alexander is one of a growing number of people who use more than one computer monitor at the same time.

She has a dual monitor setup attached to her multiple monitor laptop. From what I could see it looked like a dual monitor adapter was how she linked them together. Combined with her laptop, this gave her a great multiple monitor display in which she had grown accustomed to using.

Rhoda who is a monitor analyst for a suppy Co says, “It helps me tremendously, because typically in your average day,  I may have 15 different files open at the same time.”  She also goes on to say that there’s a certain amount of jealousy that come her way due to her multi screen luxuries. ”I have office mates come by and say “wow i love your setup”..

Two developments are driving the boom in multiple monitors. The first is plug and play connectors that make it easy to daisy chain as much as an 8 monitor display at once. One company multi-monitors.com expects sales to triple in the next year, and that’s largely due to the rise of portable computing. In the coming year consumers will buy more notebooks than desktops for the first time.

Already over 35% of consumer buy and extra monitor at the same time they buy the notebook computer. People like the portability but not the small screen.

Although Rhoda says she can work on the road with the kind of work that she does, but there’s always that sigh of relief when she gets back to where she has a multi screen display to spread her work out on.

Why not use a single humongous monitor? Ergonomics. Experts say that it’s not a good idea to keep looking up and down and it’s easier on the eyes to have the screens folded in on you.

When asked, Rhoda said she could use a few more monitors.

You can save one to two hours a day using an Integrated Multiple Monitor System.

The return on investment when purchasing a multiple monitor display for your computing needs, is significant. Here are some interesting statistics. On average, people  studied spend two to three hours a day in email alone. Many times even dual computer monitors can’t cut through the haze of information.

Multi Screen Displays can be the Easiest Thing You Can Do.

After setting up your integrated multiple monitor system, you’ll notice less time spent toggling through e-mail applications, less time finding and filing information. You can’t afford not to create an effective integrated multi screen display computer.

Who says it takes too much time to get Productive?

A dual monitor video cardcan most likely be installed without a significant investment of time or money. If you’re  sceptical or dont want to invest much into your current pc, but not yet ready to make a full leap with the whole multi monitor setup, you can purchase one or more dual monitor adapters. A dual monitor setup is going to be so easy to do that you’ll want to be the first one in your office to catch on.

Save time and money towards your next vacation!

We all can think of many examples of how we waste time by not having an integrated management system to help us remember what, where, when, and how data should be sorted, filtered, digested, and recycled. Starting with your computer monitor, you can start saving exponentially.

Get a Multiple LCD Displaytoday and instantly begin transformation of your time and time off.