One more point that I think was overlooked….

Most newer laptops will allow you to use an external monitor as a secondary display. In other words, the laptop’s built-in screen would be the primary display and any monitor plugged into the video-out port would be a secondary display (in addition to presenting a clone of what’s on the laptop display).

I’ve used dual monitors for years now and LOVE it! You get twice the desktop space. I doubt this will appeal to everyone, but I’ll bet you can find some use for it to justify using the additional desk space for the laptop as well as the monitor. For instance, you can keep your email software and instant messenter(s) open on monitor A (your laptop screen) while keeping a web browser opened full-screen on monitor B (your desktop monitor).

You can use the KVM switch to change sources of your desktop computers (each with a single monitor connection). Then you’ll get the added side-benefit of having dual-monitor capabilities when you switch to your laptop as the KVM source.

I hope this makes sense…

In addition to what MarkJ said in post 539,890, it’s entirely possible to put two video cards in a workstation, one AGP and one PCI (or two PCI). This implies two monitors, of course, although with a KVM switch, it’s not necessary. Windows 98, ME, and XP will recognize the second card upon a reboot. You can then go into Display Properties and set which card & monitor you want as Primary (represented by a “1”) and Secondary (represented by a “2”). You can swap them around, should they not be to your liking. The Windows Help files are actually quite good on this subject; type ‘multiple monitor’ into the Help & Support box for more information, or do a Google search.

Of course, the natural caveat of using dual monitors with a KVM is that you can only use one monitor through the KVM. The second mointor will always display the screen from the PC to which it’s connceted.

For example, I have a Windows XP Media Center Edition box as my “main” PC at home. It has 2 monitors (powered from a single ATI x800 XL video card). I also have 3 other PCs connected via KVM. My secondary monitor always displays the Media Center PC even though my primary monitor may be switched to any of the other 3 PCs.

While I’m thinking about my caveats, I should also mention that I have a USB mouse (Logitech MX1000) connected to my main PC. Since my KVM does not support USB, I have to keep a second mouse (PS/2) on my desktop (but out of the way) so I can control the other 3 computers when I’m KVM’d to them.

Interestingly, this allows me to still use my USB mouse to control things on the second monitor while I’m KVM’ing to ANY of the other PCs. Of course, using a separate mouse is a bit annoying, so I almost NEVER KVM to the other PCs. Intsead, I use the Microsoft Remote Desktop since this allows me to keep control of my main PC (including my comfy MX1000 mouse).

There are always caveats and there’s not really an easy way to handle situations with multiple monitors and multiple PCs. You just have to find out what works best for you with the least amount of effort.

Hope this helps!