One Makes a Lonely Monitor

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Multi-monitor-display-efficiency-tips,review-1524.html' target='_blank'>http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Multi-m...eview-1524.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"At homes and in offices, we&rsquo;ve started to notice more than one display per desk. Ask the users of these multi-monitor desks whether they&rsquo;d be willing to return to a single monitor system, and they&rsquo;ll likely tell you they&rsquo;ll give up the second display when you pry it from their cold, dead hands. So, what&rsquo;s the appeal?&nbsp; Do multiple displays really make computer users more productive?"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1269200228.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>I have seen people argue that widescreen displays are enough, and multiple monitors are not needed.&nbsp; While I find widescreen displays useful, the addition of extra monitors still seems to provide many more benefits.&nbsp; I have tried to quantify this, and I think a good portion of it comes down to the real estate in combination with the logical separation of two monitors.&nbsp; There are many tools that help you manage windows, especially with really high resolution screens, and I find a combination of both lets me have almost all the programs I need without overlap, but I would never give up multiple monitors.&nbsp; I would rather have smaller multiple monitors over one big monitor any day.&nbsp; Is multiple monitors as important to you?&nbsp; What would it take for you to give them up?</p>

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Multiple monitors are great! Can't imagine working without them. Oh wait, I already am, thanks to the current company's IT setup. *sigh*

[The Yaz]

I agree that having multiple screens is great for work. I think having two screens helps me keep track of what I'm doing concurrently without the confusion of tabbing through multiple open windows.

With my two monitors, I can have my accounting package, my word doc for journal entries, my excel file showing my budget, and my outlook to post transactions into my project notes. I have them sized to fit two apps to a screen and I'm able to click through each and have visual access to each of them.

It also saves me the paper I used to print each month to lay each item out in a usable fashion.

Now if only my wife would let me set one up at home as well...

Steve

[Jason Dunn]

Ah, multiple monitors. I remember the first multi-monitor set up I created...two 17" Samsung LCDs from Costco. $949 CAD per monitor. No joke. I remember how amazing it felt to have the two monitors together, letting me work on each one. It's just fantastic.

With LCDs being so incredibly cheap nowadays, I don't understand why more people don't have two monitors if they have the space. I suppose it still seems like a "power user" thing to do.