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How many monitors do you use?

geekindisguise

geekindisguise

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 22, 2008
297
0
Oklahoma
I am not really sure where to put this, but I want to get a second monitor soon, and was wondering if it is worth it. I do some Photo Editing, and I usually have a lot of TextEditors open and internet browsers open at the same time. I heard it helps with productivity, but I haven't really experienced it. Every now and then I steal the monitor off our other computer and bring in here for Dual Displays but I just play around.
Soo, enough blabbing, how many of you have mulitple displays. And How do you use them?
Also, tell me where to put this thread if its misplaced. I don't know. :D
 
geekindisguise said:
I am not really sure where to put this, but I want to get a second monitor soon, and was wondering if it is worth it. I do some Photo Editing, and I usually have a lot of TextEditors open and internet browsers open at the same time. I heard it helps with productivity, but I haven't really experienced it. Every now and then I steal the monitor off our other computer and bring in here for Dual Displays but I just play around.
Soo, enough blabbing, how many of you have mulitple displays. And How do you use them?
Also, tell me where to put this thread if its misplaced. I don't know. :D
Click to expand...

I spent about 10 years with dual monitors.. mostly matching 20-inchers.

I moved to a single 30-inch monitor and find it much more productive.

I do design and development.
 
I've got a 15-inch MBP and a 24-inch monitor at work. Usually have whatever code I'm working on and the compiler on one screen with email, FF, and occasionally iTunes on the other. Sure, I could use Spaces... but I don't find virtual desktops as easy as having two physical monitors in front of me.
 
My .02 -- Dual monitors have their use, i.e. Application developers traditionally enjoy two monitors, one for code view and the other for design view or browser. It's darned nice, i.e. two 20" monitors. Graphic designers use two as well, one for creating the layered source image and the other for the final presentation. But game players enjoy it the most as one monitor is for the game's forward view and the other a rear view, i.e. pilot simulation or large multiplayer battlefield or scenic games. System and network administrators really like it because one monitor can be used for constantly monitoring the network status, and the other for updating routes and apps running via shell like ssh sessions, etc.

Spaces can't do that, as miles01110 noted astutely. And larger monitors often are a much more cost effective solution because these days you can cram alot more large windows into the screen real estate. Plus these days you can run vmware or Parallels to run both Windows and Mac at the same time and even drag data between windows on the same screen due to the Intel duo core and lots of high speed RAM. But for the kind of development we talk about in this forum, I think the key is to do what lucidmedia suggested - just get a modern, high resolution 24 or 30 inch monitor - save some money on energy, be a little more green, and spare some room on your desktop or wall compared to using two monitors. And calibration is far easier with one monitor.

-jim
 
miles01110 said:
I've got a 15-inch MBP and a 24-inch monitor at work. Usually have whatever code I'm working on and the compiler on one screen with email, FF, and occasionally iTunes on the other. Sure, I could use Spaces... but I don't find virtual desktops as easy as having two physical monitors in front of me.
Click to expand...

I use the same setup. I like dragging web sites back and forth between the MB and the large monitor to see how they look on 2 completely different sized screens.

I do the same thing with amps like email and iTunes that I like to keep open, but want out of the way.
 
I've gotten along with my 13" MacBook pretty well on its own. I do web design, development, Java Programming, graphic design activities.
 
SrWebDeveloper said:
My .02 -- Dual monitors have their use, i.e. Application developers traditionally enjoy two monitors, one for code view and the other for design view or browser. It's darned nice, i.e. two 20" monitors. Graphic designers use two as well, one for creating the layered source image and the other for the final presentation. But game players enjoy it the most as one monitor is for the game's forward view and the other a rear view, i.e. pilot simulation or large multiplayer battlefield or scenic games. System and network administrators really like it because one monitor can be used for constantly monitoring the network status, and the other for updating routes and apps running via shell like ssh sessions, etc.

Spaces can't do that, as miles01110 noted astutely. And larger monitors often are a much more cost effective solution because these days you can cram alot more large windows into the screen real estate. Plus these days you can run vmware or Parallels to run both Windows and Mac at the same time and even drag data between windows on the same screen due to the Intel duo core and lots of high speed RAM. But for the kind of development we talk about in this forum, I think the key is to do what lucidmedia suggested - just get a modern, high resolution 24 or 30 inch monitor - save some money on energy, be a little more green, and spare some room on your desktop or wall compared to using two monitors. And calibration is far easier with one monitor.

-jim
Click to expand...

Wouldn't a 30" monitor take in more energy than two 19" monitors? And also as monitors get bigger, they get a lot more expensive. I already have one 19" and if I just bought another one, I could get it immediately. If I buy a 24" or 30" it will take a while to get enough money to buy it. And if you have two 19" displays side by side, won't that be 38" at 2880x900 resolution. Or a 30" which has about the same resolution but costs the same as getting a new laptop, or maybe even two! Or if I was looking at the ACD 30", I could by a 24" iMac.
I am gonna go with either two 19" displays or a 19" + a 22". It depends.
 
angelwatt said:
I've gotten along with my 13" MacBook pretty well on its own. I do web design, development, Java Programming, graphic design activities.
Click to expand...

If I had a 13" MacBook I wouldn't care about having Dual Displays! I want one so bad, but it is impossible for me to get one. And I doubt my parents would by me one. :eek:
 
Side by side? Physically, yes, in terms of screens seamlessly connected - no and that's a visual disruption to some (me). Clearly a 30" monitor is darned expensive - this is a high end professional office setup i.e. for situations outlined previously in this topic, not necessarily a personal setup or a mini-jumbotron setup for gaming/movies. The new monitors are more energy efficient than the old ones, is what I really meant - iMac's come in 20 and 24 (not 19) so I'm referring to older monitor technologies and slower video cards. Sorry if that was not clear. I'd be happy with the iMac 20 or 24 in highest resolution and just open up various windows, but 30" is special if you've ever seen one.

-jim
 
I got my Samsung 24" display on clearance for something like $150 CAD last year. It's a great monitor, and at that price you can't really go wrong.

It's set up at home with a desk and a wireless keyboard/mouse. I just put the MB beside it on the desk and I have a little workstation.

I don't consider it a big investment at all, and it's a treat to work on. My whole home 'office' workstation cost me about $250 total (keyboard/mouse, monitor, used desk, used chair). WELL worth it.

One point, the Samsung monitors are quite good. I would much rather have a smaller, better quality/better built monitor then a massive lower quality one. So IMO you should buy the best your budget can buy. Not the biggest. If you can afford the best and biggest, then go for it.
 
What to buy?

I plan on buying my second monitor soon, but I don't know what I should get. Right now I have a 19" and I can either buy another 19" or get a 22". Will the 3 more inches really matter since I have it in Dual Monitors? Also how much difference is there between DVI and VGA. I have only used VGA and have never used any DVI so I have know idea what the difference is.
Thanks.
 
I sometimes use two, and sometimes just use my MBP's monitor. I definitely like the larger screen, and having dual displays allows me to have code/ftp on one screen, and my sites open on the other.
 
In XP I like to use one monitor at a time. I just don't like the way it spans and aligns newly opened windows. My iMac's default display in XP is the external and it shuts its internal monitor off.

In OSX I like to use dual monitors when able. My iMac is 17" and external 20" but they line up well enough.
 
I use three 22 inch and one 32" hd 1080p Multi-Format Color Electronic Production Monitor/Viewfinder with Pixel-to-Pixel Mapping and Built-In Waveform, NTSC/PAL,HD, 16:9/4:3/Anamaphoric for editing and a BT-LH80W 32" Multi-Format Color Electronic Production LCD Monitor/Viewfinder with Pixel-to-Pixel Mapping and Built-In Waveform, NTSC/PAL, 16:9/4:3

so in total five. I also have 2 Wacom Cintiq 21UX if you count them as monitors then 7.

but mostly use the three for all projects and the other when editing and Photoshop stuff.
 
I have a 13" Mac Book and a 24" external monitor. I'd have 2 x 24" and the Mac Book if I could.

I might consider moving to a 30" if they come down in price a bit.
 
I just wanted to add most 30" monitors support 2560x1600 resolution. This resolution is amazing, and offers more screen real estate than two side by side monitors in most situations. With this type of resolution, you can open two large windows, i.e. one for code view the other for browsing, and also add some smaller windows for common utilities on the fringes and still not suffer from clutter.

In terms of cost, Dell 30" can be had for about $800.00, HP about $100.00 more in price, up to Samsung line for about $1200.00 which uses TFT active matrix, a high end display for CAD designers.

-jim
 
I use two monitors, but only use the second display for monitoring and source information. If I try to actually work on two monitors, I routinely discover that the field I'm typing in doesn't follow my eyes/thoughts. I don't have this problem working with one monitor, where the relationship between cursor, active text field, eyes and thoughts is much tighter.
 
NoNameBrand said:
I use two monitors, but only use the second display for monitoring and source information. If I try to actually work on two monitors, I routinely discover that the field I'm typing in doesn't follow my eyes/thoughts. I don't have this problem working with one monitor, where the relationship between cursor, active text field, eyes and thoughts is much tighter.
Click to expand...

Great observation, I wish to add in "ditto".

-jim
 
NoNameBrand said:
I use two monitors, but only use the second display for monitoring and source information. If I try to actually work on two monitors, I routinely discover that the field I'm typing in doesn't follow my eyes/thoughts. I don't have this problem working with one monitor, where the relationship between cursor, active text field, eyes and thoughts is much tighter.
Click to expand...

I used to do that when I was using Synergy with my Laptop and desktop. It got really annoying, because in Synergy whichever computer screen the mouse is on, thats where the keyboard input will go to, and my laptop would have a chat window open and I had the input selected but I would accidently, not have the mouse on that side and it would mess up everything on the other side. I am sure it won't happen to me with Dual Displays since you can have the cursor anywhere you want and it will type wherever.
 
I use three 22" widescreen monitors. Usually I have source code on one monitor, a few browser windows on the second and SVN checkouts, FTP's and SSH sessions on the third. Maybe a video to keep me company lol Wish I could have one 32" to have live website analytics/stats but for now thats just hidden behind some windows on any given monitor.
 
geekindisguise said:
I am not really sure where to put this, but I want to get a second monitor soon, and was wondering if it is worth it. I do some Photo Editing, and I usually have a lot of TextEditors open and internet browsers open at the same time. I heard it helps with productivity, but I haven't really experienced it. Every now and then I steal the monitor off our other computer and bring in here for Dual Displays but I just play around.
Soo, enough blabbing, how many of you have mulitple displays. And How do you use them?
Also, tell me where to put this thread if its misplaced. I don't know. :D
Click to expand...

I do various kinds of web development (not really design work, although there's a light amount of visual design involved) and I have a single 24" at home. It's large enough to generally put two tall windows side-by-side, which is crucial for certain activities.

Since this is a "multiple monitors" question: I use my macbook's built-in monitor (13") to play movies or hulu while I'm working on my 24".
 
I am using Dual 20" Wide and love it, one monitor is way too cluttery for me. Most apps I use only need one monitor, but I like having a 'secondary' app on the 2nd window.

For Web Design, I love having Coda on my main monitor, and then CSS Edit code on the main with the preview on the secondary, great setup for me. And then with Photoshop, it's a very nice thing to have all the menus on one monitor, with just your document(s) on the main. Aperture is much nicer in two-screen span.

I guess for the areas I work with constantly, a lot of the workflow is 'designed' around 2 monitors. At least that's how I see it.

Oh, and then my 13" macbook sits off the side running Vista and IE7 for browser check (eeek, I'm so sorry lil Macbook). I should just get VMWare or parallels, but meh, bootcamp is free.
 
3 22"s at work...1 for production stuff I am working on, 2 for server utilities, 3 for server monitoring utilities.

at home, just one ... for now :)
 
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