dream displays-- if you had two or three thousand, what would you get?

Maezr

Senior member
Jan 20, 2002
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pretty self explanatory. I'm considering buying some really nice displays (either large/widescreen lcds, or duals, etc) and I'm just looking for suggestions with price estimates
 

Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
4,360
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2405/7 x2. Anything bigger than a 24" would be too large to sit infront of, but two of them means a lot of real estate.
 

jayanath

Senior member
Jan 20, 2006
214
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if i had 3000 uha uha (sobbing) id get a X360 maybe ps3 and maybe revolution and hmmmmmmm.......oh crap wheres my todo list
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
I would have two or three thousand Dell 3007 FPWs

Dunno where Id put them, but Im sure Id find a way.
 

Tostada

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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I would say that the best single display is definitely going to be a 30" LCD. The Dell is $2,199, so that's in your budget.

If you're going to go with more than one display, though, you have to think carefully about how you're going to use it. Given the distance that most people like to sit from their monitors, when you get anything bigger than 2 x 20" displays, that usually means you're turning your head at an uncomfortable angle or else having to swivel your chair just to look from one end of your desktop to the other.

I've had a setup for about 5 years with a 22" CRT and two rotated 15" LCDs on either side. It's pretty goofy, but if you're working with a lot of documents, it's nice to be able to have two web pages or documents open on either side of your main screen.

http://home.woh.rr.com/brettland/rad5/0720_desktop.jpg

If I were building something new, I would probably just get a 24" 1920x1200 LCD and then a 17" 1280x1024 LCD that rotates to a portrait display (I'd probably actually get two portrait displays for a similar setup to what I have now).

That, or else I'd just get two 20" 1600x1200 LCDs. Two identical screens seems a little more normal, but when actually using multiple displays I find that I really don't like it as much when there isn't a single primary display. Two identical screens strikes me about like looking out a nice big picture window with a pole in the middle. I'd prefer to have three of them, so I'm looking straight into one of them, but then your desktop is just massive, and you find yourself putting single documens on the left/right screens, at which point you'd be better off having rotated portrait displays on the sides.

So, I'd get:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001222

and two of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116364

But the average person might be happier getting 2 or 3 regular 20-21" 1600x1200 displays if they wanted a bunch of monitors.
 

Tostada

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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BTW, the math for different screen sizes:

2560x1600 30.0" 1.60:1 = 25.44" W x 15.90" H (100.6 DPI)

1920x1200 24.0" 1.60:1 = 20.35" W x 12.72" H (94.3 DPI)
1920x1200 23.0" 1.60:1 = 19.50" W x 12.19" H (98.4 DPI)

1600x1200 21.3" 1.33:1 = 17.04" W x 12.78" H (93.9 DPI)
1600x1200 20.1" 1.33:1 = 16.08" W x 12.06" H (99.5 DPI)
1600x1200 20.0" 1.33:1 = 16.00" W x 12.00" H (100.0 DPI)

1280x1024 19.0" 1.25:1 = 14.84" W x 11.87" H (86.3 DPI)
1280x1024 18.0" 1.25:1 = 14.06" W x 11.24" H (91.0 DPI)
1280x1024 17.0" 1.25:1 = 13.27" W x 10.62" H (96.5 DPI)

1024x768 15.0" 1.33:1 = 12.00" W x 9.00" H (85.3 DPI)


You can see that it's difficult to get portrait displays to match up well with non-portrait displays. Your best options are:

15" portrait + 20" standard = identical height (every screen is exactly 12" tall), but the DPI doesn't match up. That's not really an issue when all you have on the side screens is a maximized document. I wouldn't build a new system like that, though, because web pages are starting to all be optimized for 800x600 or higher, and the 768-pixel wide portrait displays mean a couple sites force you to scroll horizontally. That's really just poor site design, though. These very forums are about the only non-resolution-friendly site I know of, since they're pretty much hard-coded for 1024x768.

A 17" portrait display matches up with a 24" widescreen or a 21.3" standard LCD very well. They're all about 13" tall displays, and they're all about the same DPI.

From my experience, I have to say that having a combined desktop width of 45" is kind of pushing it. You'll probably end up positioning yourself closer to one end and not really using one side of the desktop as much.
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
106
I would buy the Apple 23-in Cinema display and invest the rest.
 

everman

Lifer
Nov 5, 2002
11,288
1
0
Three Dell 3007fpw would be great if it was even possible. Right now I use a 2100fp and a 19"FDtrinitron as secondary.
 

secretanchitman

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
9,352
23
91
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
2405/7 x2. Anything bigger than a 24" would be too large to sit infront of, but two of them means a lot of real estate.

helllllllllllll yes.