Adding a 2nd Display to a 20inch Imac

[EvilDoc]

As the title say i'm thinking of buying another monitor to go along with my iMac, i cant decide on a size. I would just use it to have itunes open and maybe aduim. So those of you with iMacs and are runing dual monitors what would you suggest? I dont plan to play games on it just gimp and things like that nothing to taxing. I have a Intel iMac 20inch with 128megs or vram

 

[dmw007]

I don't have an iMac, but if I were you, I would go for a 20" LCD just to match the size of your iMac's screen. But I suppose if you only plan to have iTunes and a couple of other apps open, you probably could squeeze by with a 17" LCD.

 

[verozov]

i would want a 20"er just to have a little bit of symmetry, but that's just me

 

[Benjamindaines]

I personally would get another 20" display, either an Apple one or a Dell one. I would pick this size and those brands because they will match the size of your iMac's screen, the screen in the imac is the same as the 20" Apple display and the Dell screens use the same panels, it just bothers me if they are not the same size. I also like to have the same 2 screens so the colours will appear the same on both screens (I am a Photographer).

 

[Chasealicious]

I have a 17" iMac G5 and use the screen spanning hack to use an additional 15" LCD. It works beautifully for me, and I use the external for the exact same reason - Adium and iTunes always open and visible. Given that you already have a 20" main display, and seeing what you're wanting an external for, you could easily be satisfied by a 15" or 17" LCD. Plus, if you split 128 MB VRAM over two 20" LCDS, you may start running into dashboard/expose slowdowns with multiple windows open.

 

[EvilDoc]

I have a 17" iMac G5 and use the screen spanning hack to use an additional 15" LCD. It works beautifully for me, and I use the external for the exact same reason - Adium and iTunes always open and visible. Given that you already have a 20" main display, and seeing what you're wanting an external for, you could easily be satisfied by a 15" or 17" LCD. Plus, if you split 128 MB VRAM over two 20" LCDS, you may start running into dashboard/expose slowdowns with multiple windows open.

Thats what im thinking about, spliting the vram i dont want expose to be slugish i use it quite a bit. hmm. can any one recommend a good 19? or even a 17?

 

[danny_w]

My son has a 20" iMac G5 and he just added a Dell 2007 20" monitor to it with the screen hack, and he is extremely pleased with it. He found a freeware dock replacement that lets him put a dock (or multiple docks) on both screens.

 

[SilentPanda]

Get a 20" widescreen and turn it 90 degrees. It's tasty.

 

[EvilDoc]

so you do think another 20inch will tax my vram to much?

 

[Benjamindaines]

so you do think another 20inch will tax my vram to much?

Any display you buy will tax your VRAM the same. Half goes to the iMac display and half to the external. And your video card is plenty powerful enough to drive the 2 displays so you shouldn't notice any problems.

 

[dcv]

I'm sure someone posted a setup quite recently, which consisted of a 20" iMac and a 20" Apple Cinema Display. It looked really neat (apart from the book being used under the foot of the ACD!)

 

[joshwest]

I have a dell2005 on my iMac g5 im quite pleased with it, its not a must have but is def. nice with the price points of the dell 20's.

 

[joshwest]

My son has a 20" iMac G5 and he just added a Dell 2007 20" monitor to it with the screen hack, and he is extremely pleased with it. He found a freeware dock replacement that lets him put a dock (or multiple docks) on both screens.

Does anyone know of this doc hack?

 

[danny_w]

Does anyone know of this doc hack?

It's not a hack, it is a replacement for the functionality of the dock, and gives him customizable menues and multiple docks. I will try to find out from him the name of the program.

 

[keithbennis]

I'd just leave the 20" iMac alone. It's beautiful by itself, and with Expose and all, I don't see why a second monitor is needed. But, if you must, go with another 20" widescreen monitor. Anything less would just look funny.

 

[EvilDoc]

Any display you buy will tax your VRAM the same. Half goes to the iMac display and half to the external. And your video card is plenty powerful enough to drive the 2 displays so you shouldn't notice any problems.

Thats what i wanted to know. My first mac was a 1.42 mini with only 32megs of vram and it was very slugish with expose, i would hate to have 2 nice monitors and the computer be choking. Thanks for all the input everybody!