A secondary monitor is a very useful thing when you do anything that requires multitasking. In my case, as a web developer, it’s pretty much essential, at the very least being a huge productivity booster. I had this strange issue with my laptop, though, wherein my secondary LCD monitor would flicker if my laptop was plugged in (connected to AC power). Strangely and baffling to me, though, if my laptop was running from its battery, there was no problem at all. Naturally, this led me to suspect my power supply, my laptop’s AC adaptor, the laptop battery, the power bar, the LCD itself, and even my display drivers. Nothing helped.

Solution: THE VGA CABLE. Now, conventional wisdom would probably lead one to assume that the VGA cables that come in the box with your new LCD monitor would be of at least relatively decent quality. If you’re having the same issue that I had, this is incorrect. Apparently most LCD manufacturers are too cheap to include higher quality dual shielded VGA cables with their monitors. The VGA cable that came with my monitor (BenQ T2200HD) only had a shield (the round thing an inch or so from the plug(s)) for one plug. Replacing the cable with a double shielded cable immediately resolved my problem, to my great relief.

I Googled for untold hours trying to fix this issue, and found some similar posts, but none with a solution. I posted on a tech support forum and none of the techies seemed to know. I am telling the world: GET A DUAL SHIELDED VGA CABLE! Shame on manufacturers that include substandard accessories with their products!

I sincerely hope this post reaches those who need it. If the post happens to help you, leave a comment with your story if you don’t mind =)

Well, I’ll be heading back to Canada for 2.5 months on a work/vacation (mostly work) sort of venture. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to stand it, but time will tell. I get the feeling this is a turning point in my life, and I think that however things turn out, it’s going to be for the better!