If you want an efficient trading computer, you should consider obtaining a multiple monitor set-up to increase the amount of information that you can view at any one time. Increased screen space means you will be more efficient. You will be able to do more with two, three or four times the screen space. You won't have to shuffle through your programs anymore. You will have instant access to every application on the screen. Ask any trader who has experienced working with multiple monitors, and he'll tell you that he'll never go back to one monitor again.

Most traders use one of two types of monitors: A 19-inch cathode-ray tube (CRT) (the more "standard" large-housing) monitor or the slimmer, 17- or 18-inch flat panel monitor. A 17-inch flat panel monitor has a viewing area equal to that of a 19-inch CRT. These monitors are much more cost efficient than a 21-inch. Two 19-inch monitors won't take up any more space than one 21-inch monitor. The new 19-inch monitors are now space saving and smaller and have a shallower depth.

Using 19-inch CRTs, the trader can put four 5x6-inch charts on one screen, market depth quotes from NASDAQ and others on a second screen, a chat room page on a third screen and CNBC TV on a fourth screen. Consider the new 17- or 18-inch flat panel monitors if you want the best you can get. They are wonderful because they take up little desk space, throw off no heat and have no radiation problem or screen flicker.

Microsoft Windows operating systems can all run multiple monitors on a computer. The initial video card put in the system should be an AGP type. Any additional cards would need to be PCI type. Only the number of additional slots in your computer limits the number of possible video cards that can be installed. If you have a computer with 1 AGP slot and 5 PCI slots, you can then potentially get 6 monitors on your system.

Need more monitors than that? Consider using the nVidia GeForce-2 MX 2-port twin view. Two of these video cards will support 4 monitors. You can also use the 4-port Appian Jeronimo Pro™. Four of these video cards will support 16 trading monitors! Both of these multiple port video cards come in AGP and PCI versions.

You will also need a software program to handle all the information spread across your screens. UltraMon™ is a multi-monitor utility, which can be used effectively by financial traders. It allows you to easily move windows between monitors. It saves the positions of the icons on your various screens when you shut down Windows and restores them when you re-start your computer.

Most screen savers don't support multiple monitors. UltraMonScreen™ Saver does so by running the screen saver on the primary monitor and blanking all other monitors. To use a game or other 3D application, it is often necessary to temporarily disable secondary monitors. UltraMon™ lets you do this easily by allowing you to double click on the UltraMon™ icon.

A subscription-based trading system designed for the serious trader and perfect for multiple-monitor use, eSignal is a fully Windows-based software package. This means that, with eSignal's embedded browser, you will be able to view news and other web content on your layout, which "stretches" for better viewing across your multiple-monitor set-up.

One last thing: If you are running eSignal on your system, I recommend that you use a minimum of 256K of RAM. If you are going to run additional applications at the same time, you will need to add more memory.

Larry Jacobs' articles also appear in Traders World magazine (www.tradersworld.com), and he can be contacted via email at publisher@tradersworld.com.