Today there is an even easier solution to expand the video monitor support of your system. If you are running a modern day version of Windows you can use one of these type devices:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/P...6815290006

With this installed on a USB port and connected to another monitor and the Drivers installed you suddenly have another monitor without having to open up the computer or fight laptop limitations.

I believe the IOGear model shown above to be one of better products in this category. I've been using one for about 5 months now and am happy to report that it works well with my laptop and can reasonably support graphics intensive software like Google Earth or AutoCad 2004. I have tried others and experienced far worse performance so please read customer reviews before making a purchase decision.

I predict that in the not too near future that the idea of off board VGA connectors on the likes of servers and laptops will be going away in favor of using devices similar to the above. I have been made aware that some LCD monitors (e.g. Acer & Samsung) are including the DisplayLink chip used in the IOGear adapter right inside the monitor so that the laptop to monitor connection is simply a USB2.0 cable!! See DisplayLink Website: http://www.displaylink.com/

Michael Karas