I picked up a good working BIG monitor today (not really by today's standards, but still a 17" flatscreen.) for a whopping 10 bucks ...but I am having a b*tch of a time to get it to display properly.

The computer driving it is an Acer Aspire One notebook, with a 12" wide screen. I am trying to get a desk set up so I just plug in 2 or 3 cords and use the Acer like a desktop, then grab-and-go when I need to. This HP monitor (17" SQUARE) is squeezing everything in on the sides, and stretching it out height-wise. Anybody know how to get the aspect ratio fixed ?

[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 02-03-2016).]

It looks like that monitor wants 1024x768 (5:4). What do you have it set at?

Are you using an Operating System on your notebook?
You need to set the video resolution to whatever the native resolution of the 17" screen is. Until you get it displaying correctly, leave the laptop closed. Don't try to use multiple screens until you have 1 working right.

How do you make any kind of input on a laptop with it closed?

quote Originally posted by maryjane: How do you make any kind of input on a laptop with it closed?

Most of the time laptops do strange things with the picture when both are in use. As mentioned above, close the laptop cover and see if that corrects the issue.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 02-03-2016).]

You can't do a multi-monitor setup on your laptop? I'm not very familiar with laptops, but on a desktop box you can select "extend my desktop to this monitor" in the graphics settings. That will use the second monitor as extra desktop space, instead of just a copy of the first. And once you have that option enabled, you should be able to select a different resolution for the other monitor, so it won't be squished and/or stretched.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 02-03-2016).]

Cant close the cover, it goes to sleep and it doesn't seem capable of setting the 2 independently. Looks like the only option is to adjust the settings depending on which monitor I am using.

quote Originally posted by MidEngineManiac: Cant close the cover, it goes to sleep and it doesn't seem capable of setting the 2 independently. Looks like the only option is to adjust the settings depending on which monitor I am using.

If you're running Windows of any kind, go to "power settings" and look around. In there you can check off what the computer does when you close the lid.

There's usually a hot key for turning off the laptop screen and going to the other screen only. It's Fn + f8 on my computer, for example. Otherwise, you should be able to choose which screen to output to in the video card settings. You might be able to run both at once, at different resolutions, even.

I ran (2) 24" monitors off of my laptop for a while with Win7, an external trackball and keyboard the laptop closed. It can be done.