Portrait mode

[Mario Vukelic]

On Mon, 2008-04-28 at 04:57 +0000, Kenneth P. Turvey wrote:
> I'm considering buying a monitor in the not too distant future, but I 
> would like to be able to switch between landscape and portrait mode.  Can 
> Ubuntu do this? 

Ubuntu 8.04 can, yes. The Rotate button is in System > Preferences >
Screen Resolution.

>  How do I find out which monitors are compatible with 
> this? 

I don't think it's a question of the monitor, but whether the graphics
card supports it. The screen rotation in Ubuntu is done via the new
xrandr extension of the X Window System, which needs driver support.

Most newer graphics drivers should support it: Intel, the proprietary
one for Nvidia, and the proprietary one for ATi (for which I can confirm
it)

> In addition, I will be attaching this monitor to my laptop, a Dell 
> 1420n.  Should I be concerned about getting it to work here?  

Check the graphics chip it has :)
If you google for screen+rotate+ubuntu, you will find quite many hits
with additional information.