Thanks all, I went back to the owbist provided link and see it is a series of video clips and looking at more than the first one I get the "big" or "multiple" picture. I do not have any current plan to use multiple monitors, I was just looking for a monitor for use with my Notebook, which has a 15" display, and my wife's new Netbook which has a 10.1" display. The monitor I am considering mostly on a price/availability (can see hands on at local BJs) has a Display Link feature. It also has the unusual design to sit on the desktop, not up on a stand.. which it claims is best suited my application. Figured the Display Link is just a plus... not sure if it requires more video muscle in my computers over what is required for a VGA. The Display Link software does seem to also offer optimization of the computer/monitor interface. A plus, I think. I got a reject on my post for some reason, so I added "again" to the subject to see if I can get through.

The young man who came to the house said everything is running, so he thinks it the video card. Mine is built into the mother board but there is a slot for another one. Don't come back with "that's not right" because I may not be using the right terminology or understanding the process. The part is $95 plus the $85 for the hour, so I am going ahead with it. I don't know any experts except the kind that just came out, so I'm going to take a chance on his diagnosis. Another expert would charge another service call. He made me aware that if he is wrong, the part is not returnable. It's like the old cars, replace the fuel pump, then replace the carb., etc, until you stumble on to the problem. LOL When I first got into pc's, I bought a new one every two years to keep up on technology so never had this kind of problem. I like XP so well I really would like to keep this one. I will update you on this. He said I have a very nice computer he was surprised to see what was inside.

Well if the Dimension computer has a separate video card - as opposed to onboard - and if both computer have the same video slot (AGP or PCIe) you could move the card from the dimension to the Inspiron to see how it looks before spending money perhaps. Newegg, linked below, show 12 video cards in the $10 to $25 range and 159 in the $25 to $50 range. Frys are another good place to look. Here is a link that might be useful: Newegg video cards

Your symptoms seem to indicate an 'open'safety capacitor/diode or an open lead on the capacitor/diode. This would be one of the capacitors/diodes connected to the collector of the horizontal output transistor. These capacitors/diodes control the peak-peak voltage to the horizontal output transformer. If not controlled, the high voltage will be too high, resulting in a large picture and/or power supply shutdown. hth