Large monitors, including some models manufactured by Viewsonic, can significantly reduce eyestrain from computer use. When you bring your laptop home from work or school, connecting it to an external display can increase your enjoyment as you browse the Web or watch a movie on a screen with a far larger viewable area than an average laptop display. Most laptops have ports for connecting external monitors, which makes this process simple.
Step 1
Determine whether you need to purchase an adapter to connect the Viewsonic monitor to your laptop. Many Viewsonic monitors have three connection ports: VGA, DVI and HDMI, while laptops generally only have one port that can be used to connect an external monitor. If your laptop has a VGA connection and your Viewsonic monitor only has a DVI connection, you'll need to purchase a VGA-to-DVI adapter to connect the monitor to your laptop.
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Step 2
Connect the adapter to the end of the cable from the Viewsonic monitor; then, connect the adapter to your laptop's external video port. If your laptop and monitor have the same video connector type, no adapter is required – you can connect the monitor cable directly to the external video port on the laptop.
Step 3
Power on the monitor. Most laptops will detect the presence of the monitor and begin displaying video on it immediately. If not, go on to the next step.
Step 4
Look for a shortcut key on your laptop's keyboard to toggle between the laptop's built-in display and an external display. On some laptops, the shortcut key is marked with a blue icon that resembles a monitor. Hold the "Fn" key while pressing the shortcut key. The video should now display on the external monitor.
Step 5
Right-click an open area of your desktop and select "Screen Resolution" to adjust the display resolution on the Viewsonic monitor.
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