Stuart has been telling me how useful it is to use multiple screens - he uses one for working and one for his communications (IM windows, email etc).  So i was inspired to try and set it up here - i've been lazy about unpacking my old PC - its been lying in a carton since we shifted home in December - and finally today decided to just do it. 

Being a tech-dweeb and perhaps a little spoilt too as all my pc's are under service contracts, i tried the easy way out first.  (The easiest would have been to have Stuart giving me instructions via skype or IM - but it was around 2 am in San Francisco) so i asked the service guys who were here for another task to set it up for me.  They had no clue how to do it.  Then i called Dell support - and was told politely that it is not possible to have different applications running on two screens.  I argued a while with them and then decided that self-help sometimes is the best.

I looked through the Help and Support sections which are iunstalled on my pc and found really easy instructions.  And had it up and running in 5 minutes - all resolutions perfect.  The lady from Dell support was holding on to the line at the other end - and she asked me how i did it - so i gave her step-by-step directions - she thanked me profusely :)

So now i have multiple screens - its really neat - i can work undisturbed on my laptop - with all the chaos of mails and IMs and skype calls happening on the other.  Thanks Stuart - for a great idea ! 

You should try it too.