External monitor question

[michaelpatrick]

Hi all,

I am a proud new owner of a 15" Macbook Pro Retina. My primary reason for going with this machine is because of its computing power, as I often work with large data files simultaneously in SPSS and Excel, along with Word docs, PDFs and multiple browser windows. Power wise, the Macbook Pro has worked seamlessly toward these ends. However, despite the 15" screen, I'm finding it necessary to increase my screen real estate. Therefore, I have a few questions:

1) At work, I work with a dual monitor setup. I wouldn't mind having the same hooked up to my Macbook but am curious if this setup will rob computing power compared to a single large external monitor. Will it, and if so, how much?

2) Does anyone have any recommendations for affordable dual monitors and/or single wide monitors? I am not using the external monitors for anything other than data analysis/word processesing so they don't need to have extreme graphics capacity (though, if affordable, I obviously wouldn't mind it).

Thanks!

Mike

 

[JTToft]

1) At work, I work with a dual monitor setup. I wouldn't mind having the same hooked up to my Macbook but am curious if this setup will rob computing power compared to a single large external monitor. Will it, and if so, how much?

- Not computing power in the sense of CPU. It will take more out of the GPU, though, to run two displays rather than one (assuming we are talking about twice the pixels, which is what really matters). But unless you're thinking multiple 4K displays, it shouldn't matter much.

2) Does anyone have any recommendations for affordable dual monitors and/or single wide monitors? I am not using the external monitors for anything other than data analysis/word processesing so they don't need to have extreme graphics capacity (though, if affordable, I obviously wouldn't mind it).

- If you're thinking traditional resolutions (meaning non-4K or 5K), then Dell UltraSharp U2515H or U2715H depending on your size preference.

 

[Tomorrow]

1) At work, I work with a dual monitor setup. I wouldn't mind having the same hooked up to my Macbook but am curious if this setup will rob computing power compared to a single large external monitor. Will it, and if so, how much?

It's much, much more a function of your graphics processor than your "computing power." It isn't an issue.

2) Does anyone have any recommendations for affordable dual monitors and/or single wide monitors? I am not using the external monitors for anything other than data analysis/word processesing so they don't need to have extreme graphics capacity (though, if affordable, I obviously wouldn't mind it).

A couple of weeks ago I picked up one of these for my MBP and I love it.

 

[shoehornhands]

Hi all,

I am a proud new owner of a 15" Macbook Pro Retina. My primary reason for going with this machine is because of its computing power, as I often work with large data files simultaneously in SPSS and Excel, along with Word docs, PDFs and multiple browser windows. Power wise, the Macbook Pro has worked seamlessly toward these ends. However, despite the 15" screen, I'm finding it necessary to increase my screen real estate. Therefore, I have a few questions:

1) At work, I work with a dual monitor setup. I wouldn't mind having the same hooked up to my Macbook but am curious if this setup will rob computing power compared to a single large external monitor. Will it, and if so, how much?

2) Does anyone have any recommendations for affordable dual monitors and/or single wide monitors? I am not using the external monitors for anything other than data analysis/word processesing so they don't need to have extreme graphics capacity (though, if affordable, I obviously wouldn't mind it).

Thanks!

Mike

I use a 2014 MacBook Pro 15" for web development with a Dell U3415W ultrawide monitor (which has a 3440x1440 resolution). The ultrawide 3440x1440 monitors are absolutely fantastic for productivity (I actually prefer the single larger display over multiple smaller displays), and the MacBook Pro has no trouble at all driving it.

If you'd prefer 2 smaller displays, the 15" MacBook Pro shouldn't have much trouble driving 2 smaller displays either (assuming they aren't 4k). As I mentioned though, I'd recommend a single 3440x1440 display (there are quite a few different 3440x1440 displays available, and if you shop around a bit / wait for a sale, you can find them for around $600).