[hirsi1]

I want to be able to use 3 or 4 monitors. Pls give specs. Also need laptop to use as backup. Thanks.

[jpennybags]

Hey...

I started trading from a laptop; good, bad, or ugly... that's the way it was (for me). It wasn't a high speed super-lux model, just a standard run-o-the-mill laptop. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, and if you can afford better... by all means, bring it.

Hook up with a firm in your area, that will provide good service. Have them assemble a computer to your specs. Tell them exactly what you want to do and why. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

Asking the question... "what's the best"... seems to me you may end up with an unsatisfying result (there are many opinions for "best")... whatever suits "your" needs is "best".

[Mr_You]

Lenovo or Apple ... never owned a Lenovo, but have heard from many satisfied customers. These days I recommend Lenovo or Apple to the average user. I'm sure they can assist you with your needs. They being the Lenovo website/sales support or Apple store. Yes you can run Windows on an Apple.

Asus if you are considering a custom PC, but I would try out sales/support service from Lenovo or your nearest Apple store.

Let us know your experience.

[TheNegotiator]

Originally Posted by hirsi1 »

I want to be able to use 3 or 4 monitors. Pls give specs. Also need laptop to use as backup. Thanks.

Do you need 3-4 monitors? You could just go for one big led tv and use that. I think this question is way too open ended. What is the best multi-monitor pc? Go for any high end pc with a dual xeon mobo setup, masses of ram, raid array of ssd's and quad sli nvidia gtx 590 gpu's. Then you could run 8-12 monitors and act as a server at the same time. What do you need and how much would you be prepared to spend?

[brownsfan019]

Negotiator has it - you can spend upwards of $10k or you can work with a standard Dell and everything in between.

I have never purchased from ibuypower (yet) but have read some good things about that site. The tech guys around this forum would know better if they still post.

[joshdance]

I wrote something on a similar topic on another forum not too long ago and will repost it here in case it's helpful:

Originally Posted by JoshDance

I'm using "normal" figures here so your mileage may vary. I did this analysis for my own purchasing decision a couple of months ago and will pass it along here.

2 monitors (regardless of size) @ 1920x1080 (the usual resolution) => 4.147M pixels (1920x1200 is 4.6M pixels)
1 monitor @ 2560x1600 (typically the native resolution) => 4.096M pixels

So on the first hand, you actually get more usable screen real estate with two monitors. But then there's this to consider:

My 24" monitor is 20.375x12.75 in size, so in my case I have 260 in^2 of area, yielding about 8871 pixels per inch.
A 30" monitor of similar proportions (approx 25.47 x 15.93) will have 405 in^2 of area, yielding about 10096 pixels per inch.

So, while you will get a sharper image as you have more pixels per inch, that means that your charts, at the same resolution, will appear smaller on the 30" monitor. In the case of charts, sharp is good, but you may also have to have them take up more pixels on the screen to make them more readable. To view a 100x100 image, for example, at the above native resolutions, and have them appear the same physical size, the 30" would need to be a 34". As we're dealing with charts here, not super super high res photos, I would expect that the 24" would be at an advantage here.

The benefit of having one 30" monitor is of course that it has a smaller footprint on your desk, and as mentioned it may appear sharper.

But IMHO the benefits of (1) more actual screen area, (2) a higher number of pixels and thus total resolution, and (3) the cost being substantially less for two good 24" monitors outweighs the benefits of one larger one.

P.S.
As a side note, note that with a 1920x1200 monitor, you get 11% more real estate than a 1920x1080 monitor, and it's all on the X axis, which is often the place we want more space for charting (to put an indicator window, volume, or whatever, along the bottom of the chart). For example, I can put 4 charts (in a grid of 2x2) at a comfortable zoom level, plus a full length DOM on one monitor, and I could also put a T&S window but I happen to have it on the other monitor. Stacking two charts vertically is pretty comfortable viewing as long as it's not stretched too wide.

Originally Posted by JoshDance

You're welcome Tony and I hope it can be helpful. Remember in the end that you simply must like what you see in front of you, and whatever looks best to your eyes is probably what you should get, regardless of size and resolution and so on.

One final note is that I have considered this before and maybe others have too--consider the purpose for the hardware or software you use. Perhaps the optimal layout for you personally is two charts and a DOM, trading on one instrument. If that's the case, then you may actually harm your trading by adding additional monitors, because then you will have to fill up that space with something, which can actually be a distraction. An earlier poster alluded to this as well. If you NEED space, then buy it. But there's no shame in having a 15" single monitor if it works for you. All that stuff is information, and it can harm as well as help.

I have considered this same phenomenon in software as well. As an example, pulled out of thin air with no reference to this company for any reason, if you think that bid/ask delta stuff is cool, and you subscribe to Market Delta and pay $130-$250 a month for the footprint charts, then it's possible that you may only harm yourself if you're not really effectively using the footprint charts. If you spend that much per month, then you'd better get some use out of it, right? So you continue using it for no good reason except you don't want to feel like you're wasting your money. I have personally seen and done this myself with things I've bought before--you buy it, find out it's not really that great or useful, but continue to rationalize by using or explaining its benefits, because you'd hate to have misspent money.

My point is simply that you should probably have a need for whatever you buy first, rather than first buying and then finding a use for it. My two 24"s work great for me. Al Brooks' single 15" laptop screen works for him. Those who have 4-8 monitors, I'm sure find that it works for them. It's gotta work for you.

Good luck with it and let us know if/when you make a purchase and how you like it!

[Interceptor]

I purchased from these guys.
No problems.

Quad Vision Trading Environment

[khamore1]

Hirsi1 if you want a trading computer go to this site

Computers

This is a good guy with a very good PCs and price. Even if you don't buy from him by visiting his site you will be more educated about your trading computer's need

I don't know the guy and I did not buy my computer from him I wish I did. I just do it to help traders.

I need one favor from you if you decide to buy your computer from him tell him you was referred through Traders Laboratory like this he will advertise here and we will support this forum as well