Hello. I'm new to using a computer at home and after watching various forums i've decided you guys here can probably help me from time to time.
I'm thinking of buying one of two lcd/tft monitors. One has DVI-D and D-sub inputs. The other has DVI AND VGA (HD-15). Whatever these mean. My computer has an Nvidia geforce4 mx4000 128mb graphics card. Could you tell me if i am limited to one, both or neither of these monitors please. Any info much appreciated.

VGA is the blue adapter and dvi is the white adapter on a video card. So if you have a VGA adapter it will fit into the white slot and a vga into the blue. Only way to know for sure is to get the model and manufacturer of the card so i can help out further.

Thanks for the info. This is in no way a glib answer (infact it'll probably show my computer ignorance) but i presumed the card manufacturer and model was the "Nvidia etc" bit. Could you clarify where i might find the info you need. Sorry to be a pain but i'm slightly better informed but also slightly more confused than i was earlier.

easiest way to find out is to turn off your pc, follow the plug on your monitor to the back of your pc, unscrew it, check it the connector on the back of the pc is blue, or white.. screw it back on. If you have both you should see either a white or a blue next to where the monitor is plugged in.

I've looked at the back and i have a Blue connector coming from the monitor into a blue socket thing in the card marked "vga out." I also have next to it a small black circular female socket marked "s-video." Can i use either monitor,do i need an adapter of some sort or do i have to change my graphic card? It's bloody complicated this computer stuff.

the blue connector is D-sub 15 that's standard for VGA, by the look both monitors will cater for your present card

Thanks a lot to everyone who helped clear that up. I'm sure i'll be back in here at sometime, though i'll try to keep the questions to a minimum. Hopefully given time i may have something to contribute other than problems.
Thanks.

You might be surprised how quickly you learn things that you can help others with

And, just to re-iterate, Brain_Damage is exactly right: VGA and D-Sub mean the same thing when referring to plugs / sockets for graphics cards and monitors. It's the bog-standard way that we've been connecting our PCs to our monitors for the last 15 years or so. DVI (Digital Video Interface or Input) is the new, fancy, expensive, hi-tech way of getting a digital signal instead of a standard analogue one. So you'd get a better picture using the DVI connector if your graphics card had a DVI output socket. But, if it doesn't, then both monitors will work absolutely fine using the conventional VGA / D-Sub method.

Thanks for that. I'll try and remember as much as i can.

there's always bookmarking the page to come back to it if you need too