(+) One Laptop, Two Computer Screens

I must admit I have become accustomed to having two computer screens attached to my one computer at home. I have long used two 27-inch monitors connected to my one desktop computer. However, there is a problem when traveling: the tiny, single 11-inch screen on my laptop computer seems very constraining after using two side-by-side 27-inch monitors at home!

With both monitors on my desk at home, side by side, I can operate them as separate monitors or even create the illusion of one giant screen. I can open a website on one screen and a word processor on the other, then copy and paste from one screen to another. I can even open a spreadsheet and stretch it across the full width of both screens if I want. Why can't I do that when in a hotel room? After watching a friend of mine do exactly that, I was hooked. I started looking at portable external monitors.

More often than not, I have my favorite word processing program displayed on one screen while the second screen displays incoming email messages, a chat window, perhaps the local weather report, and whatever else I wish to monitor while seated at the computer. One of my friends displays the latest stock market quotes all day long on a second screen while he works at his office. You probably can find multiple uses of your own for two or even three monitors.