Dual Monitor or Single

[redbox]

I was wondering how many of you have dual monitor setups. I am looking to make a monitor puchase. It will be for gaming and video, photo, and audio editing, also watching movies and web searches you know the usuall. It is a toss up between Dell's widescreens I have owned the 2005spw and loved it. I sold it to take up some of the cost of upgrading to the 2405fpw but now I am thinking I should have kept it and just got another one. The prices are about the same I can get two 2005's for around the same price as a 2405. I guess my question is what would be better for my purpose one large screen or two screens.

 

[sisq0kidd]

I upgraded dual 17" lcds to this 24" lcd.

I love the 24", but I NEED dual monitors. Gonna get me another 24" as soon as they come down to about $25.

I think the real solution to this is for you to get dual 24s

Can't go back to 2005's because then that would look silly.

 

[redbox]

ya thats what I thought and feared thats a lot of money in monitors. What do dual monitors give you that you can't live with out?

And them coming down to $25 you will let me know when that happens because I don't think my hearing aid battery can last that long.

 

[abs0lut3]

or wait till the 30 comes out... lolz

 

[blurredvision]

By all means, get the dual 20" setup. Couple that with an nVidia card for their great nView software (don't know about ATI, someone else will have to comment on them) and the UltraMon program, and you're set.

 

[pulsedrive]

Yeah, I have dual setup, see sig for details, I would LOVE another 2005FPW for the second one but I think it would be a bit of a waist because you really don't do that much on the second one that would USE that gorgeous monitor, at least I don't.

Blurred: What does ultramon do that you like so much?

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: redbox
I was wondering how many of you have dual monitor setups. I am looking to make a monitor puchase. It will be for gaming and video, photo, and audio editing, also watching movies and web searches you know the usuall. It is a toss up between Dell's widescreens I have owned the 2005spw and loved it. I sold it to take up some of the cost of upgrading to the 2405fpw but now I am thinking I should have kept it and just got another one. The prices are about the same I can get two 2005's for around the same price as a 2405. I guess my question is what would be better for my purpose one large screen or two screens.

Your needs are almost mirror my needs
Go with two 2005FPW...You'll probably never go back to one monitor
Dualview rules:thumbsup:

 

[SickBeast]

I vote for a single 24" 2405. The 2005's will not be able to touch its gaming/movie performance.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: pulsedrive
Blurred: What does ultramon do that you like so much?

Two of the things that stood out for me is the ability to set seperate wallpapers & screensavers for each monitor, and also the addtion of a blank taskbar to the second monitor. The second taskbar is vital IMO, as any program that is open on the second monitor will automatically move it's taskbar tab over. Without it, you could have 3 programs open on the first monitor, and 4 on the second monitor, and all 7 programs tabs on the taskbar will be bunched up on the first monitor. With this extra taskbar on the second monitor, it's much easier and faster to multitask and switch between windows.

The product page that lists many more features: Ultramon

 

[erwos]

Can I vote for a 2005FPW and a 2001FP combination? You're not going to want to stretch a movie over 2 LCDs like that, and games are more compatible with 4:3.

-Erwos

 

[UltraWide]

I would rather have a single 24in over the 2x20in. The 2005FPW is actually kind of poor in vertical resolution @ 1680x1050. I rather have 2x2001FP since it's 1600x1200.

 

[L00PY]

2405FPW + 17" CRT.

Dual monitors gives me two things right now that a single one wouldn't:

1) I can have full screen video / HDTV going and surf on the smaller CRT.
2) I can place the larger monitor further away and have the smaller one closer.

Granted, they're being used in a HTPC type setup so my needs are a bit different than yours. One thing that I've noticed is that difference in vertical resolution no longer bothers me. My extended desktop going from 1200 high to 768 high is a quirk, but not annoying.

 

[sisq0kidd]

Originally posted by: redbox
ya thats what I thought and feared thats a lot of money in monitors. What do dual monitors give you that you can't live with out?

And them coming down to $25 you will let me know when that happens because I don't think my hearing aid battery can last that long.

Sorry to respond so late.

I really need my desktop organized and hate having to minimize windows to answer IMs or to just take a look at my winamp list. So my second monitor is reserved for AIM and winamp.

In games, I still need to tab out to answer IMs, but at least I know if the IMs are worth answering before I tab out.

I'm getting use to having one monitor so it's not that bad. And plus, there's a lot of real estate on the 24" so just organize your desktop wisely and you should have enough space.

As for the the 24" coming down to $25, I've seen them come down to $750, so in a few centuries, they should hit my mark.

 

[redbox]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I vote for a single 24" 2405. The 2005's will not be able to touch its gaming/movie performance.

I have used the 2005fpw does the 2405fpw beat it by that much.

I loved the monitor for movies and gaming

 

[redbox]

Originally posted by: erwos
Can I vote for a 2005FPW and a 2001FP combination? You're not going to want to stretch a movie over 2 LCDs like that, and games are more compatible with 4:3.

-Erwos

Ya I thought about doing a widescreen regular combo but I am so hooked on widescreens I am stuck working on on old 17" crt you know one of those domed hunks or junk. I don't think I will ever go back to 4:3 widescreen just makes the games so much more cinematic

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: redbox
I don't think I will ever go back to 4:3 widescreen just makes the games so much more cinematic

Thing is, not all games support 16:9 or 16:10 properly. By going to a hybrid configuration, you can play stuff that supports 16:9/16:10 on the 2005FPW, yet not get totally screwed on games that support 4:3 only, since you've got the 2001FP. From personal experience, stretching makes games look awful.

And I hear you about the 17 inch CRT - I recently bought my wife a 2005FPW to replace hers. Night and day better, to be certain.

-Erwos

 

[FrustratedUser]

I am on a dual setup now and love it. 2001FP as the main monitor and an old 17" CRT as the second. In your case I would just get the 2405 and throw in an old CRT if you it laying around.

 

[rchiu]

I have a 24 inch CRT setup and a dual 17 inch LCD setup. When I play, (games/movie) the 24 inch is amazing. But I find myself more productive using dual 17 inch when doing actual work.

Most of the games/movie looks wierd streched out over two monitors, and most won't do that anyway. A few games actually have full support for dual monitors, but that's very rare. So with one single big wide screen monitor, you get the most out of game or movie.

But for work, I usually have many screens from differen programs open. With more real estate two monitors provide, I can have many different screens all open up and reference one another, or copy/paste between programs.

So it's really depend on the type of program people use. There is no one answer to which setup is the better one.

 

[Stu L Tissimus]

I have a 17" CRT as my main monitor and a 15" LCD as my secondary. I love the setup, I can barely even work without two monitors. For instance, when I'm doing an essay, I'll have my secondary displaying Wikipedia and my primary showing OpenOffice. Or I can browse the web on the 17" and keep an eye on torrents on the other monitor.

That said, I can't really justify buying a second monitor for the price. I just put together my setup because my father bought a new monitor and gave me his old one. Meh.

 

[Nocturnal]

I currently have dual 2001FPs, just make sure your video card can cut it and won't give you problems. I run both off of the DVI ports because of the clarity I see between VGA and DVI. It's like night and day. Anyway, just make sure your video card can handle the resolution for both monitors so you don't run into the dreaded flickering problem that I'm experiencing.

 

[redbox]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: redbox
I don't think I will ever go back to 4:3 widescreen just makes the games so much more cinematic

Thing is, not all games support 16:9 or 16:10 properly. By going to a hybrid configuration, you can play stuff that supports 16:9/16:10 on the 2005FPW, yet not get totally screwed on games that support 4:3 only, since you've got the 2001FP. From personal experience, stretching makes games look awful.

And I hear you about the 17 inch CRT - I recently bought my wife a 2005FPW to replace hers. Night and day better, to be certain.

-Erwos

I played bf2 on the 2005fpw at both the stretched and fixed resolution ( bf2 doesn't have in game selection for 1680x1050 but there is a way to do it) I didn't mind the stretch or didn't notice it as much as others seam to. the 2001fp's native resolution isn't supported in some of the newest games along with the larger monitors there are ways around it also. I guess what i am saying is stretching doesn't really bother me and that extra bit on the side I like.

So far my vote is looking more and more toward dual 2005fpw *kicks him self for selling the first one*

 

[rstrohkirch]

dual

 

[JBT]

BF2 the screen doesn't stretch anyways it cuts off the top and bottom and zooms in to fill the screen.
At any rate there hasn't been a single game I havn't gotten to work in Widescreen with out stetching on my 2405FPW yet.
I run FEAR, BF2 and CS:S mostly but all these have pretty easy ways to run at the right resolutions, esspeically CS:S lol.

 

[hans007]

i have dual 17" planars. i am not sure i'd ever go back to a single monitor.

at work i have a dual 17" dell e731fp setup. I was actually offered a samsung 213t to use, and declined as i wanted matching size monitors (the height of the monitor makes it sort of weird if they are different )

but yeah,... once you use dual monitors, it just sort of organizes how you use a computer a little differently.

 

[pkme2]

I run dual monitors for video editing and a third for video playback. I'm having a problem with x64 running my third monitor and plan to pickup a Matrox Parhelia card to correct the situation.

Using dual monitors increases your desk space. I watch Netscape on one and IE on the other, especially when I'm researching. I'm a nerd and that's what nerds do. Weird!!!

The dual space increases the amount of work one can open. I gotten accustomed to using 3 monitors than it would be very uncomfortable going back to one or two. Some people find that quite unusual, but once you tried it, you really enjoy the Cinerama effect.