one big screen vs. two screens

[quanttrade99z]

Hello

I'm going to buy some new screens... last one I bought was the "Dell 3008WFP 30 inch UltraSharp Widescreen Digital Flat Panel".

I really like it. I'm trying to decide for the next one if I am better off doing a DUAL screen setup, instead of one big screen.

What do you think is better for business multi-tasking? Running a whole bunch of applications at the same time and swtiching between them... One big screen or two screen setup.

If you think two screen setup is better, what size should they be?

Thanks!

quanttrade99z

 

[MBentz]

I went from two 17" monitors to one 24" monitor, huge improvement IMO. But I'm just a desktop user.

 

[MustangSVT]

well in most cases a single screen would be superior, but you already have a 30" screen.

how close do you sit by it?

what applications do you use?

 

[Unknown Person]

I can tell you from both personal experience and influencing a couple of friends on trying two screens that once you go with dual screens, you cannot go back. I personally have been using a dual monitor setup for around 4 years, and I can say that it has made a lot of computing tasks easier. Although it depends on what you do, if you're a business user and a multitasker, I can say with very little doubt that you'll find two monitors a lot more productive and convenient. Two smaller monitor definitely beats one big monitor in productivity. If you use XP/Vista or any software that allows you to have the screens be independently configured, then you will not be able to go back to one screen. Heck, I'm going to three screens in a couple weeks.

 

[quanttrade99z]

Hello there.
I sit directly in front of it. (i.e. very close)

I run the normal business applications, plus Bloomberg (charts, etc).
Bloomberg
Microsoft office (especially Excel)
Internet Explorer/Firefox
Adobe
Skype

 

[Tempered81]

I went from dual 17" crts to a single 14.1" laptop display.

Now I'm running 1366x768 on a 32" LCD tv about 4 feet from my face. I can also clone/dualview with the 14.1" laptop LCD if i feel like it.

 

[SSChevy2001]

I sit 3ft from my 37" 1080p and it great, maybe a little to big. Still I prefer 1 big monitor over 2 smaller ones. I paid about $560 for mine over a year ago. What kind of PC monitor can you get for that price? Also still don't understand why PC monitors are only partially widescreen.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I'd prefer dual monitors. Especially if you are in school or do multiple things at once it helps greatly. I use my 17" Dell for papers while i research on my 22" WS Acer. The difference is amazing.

Before i had my 17" dell and a 15" Princeton. I got greedy and i thought i was getting tired of two monitors. I bought my Acer and it didn't feel like enough room. I placed the dell back on my desk and they've been working together great!

 

[BassBomb]

You will normally have more resolution space by two monitors than having one big one

 

[SSChevy2001]

Multi-monitors are nice when you need applications to stay on a screen like stocks, sales orders, or menus. If your really into stocks I say go that route. Most of the people I know that use these setups just burn-in the screen really bad. For normal multitasking it's not needed, but it is nice to simply move a app and maximize it on the screen. I've setup up to 5 monitors before 6th didn't work for some reason.

For me I know there's times when I want a bigger display, but there's nothing stopping you from add another display to that 30" if you have the space. I did like 3 monitor setup though, maybe three 19" would be nice.

 

[Qbah]

I fell in love with dual screens the moment I started using them. Ain't never going back, that's for sure. Currently 24" + 22". It's one of those things that you think you'd never need. But the moment you get it 'just to see' there's no going back

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: Unknown Person
I can tell you from both personal experience and influencing a couple of friends on trying two screens that once you go with dual screens, you cannot go back. I personally have been using a dual monitor setup for around 4 years, and I can say that it has made a lot of computing tasks easier. Although it depends on what you do, if you're a business user and a multitasker, I can say with very little doubt that you'll find two monitors a lot more productive and convenient. Two smaller monitor definitely beats one big monitor in productivity. If you use XP/Vista or any software that allows you to have the screens be independently configured, then you will not be able to go back to one screen. Heck, I'm going to three screens in a couple weeks.

The ability to configure independently is very useful. I use two 1600x1200 monitors - one in the usual landscape mode and the other in portrait mode. web site viewing is _much_ nicer in portrait mode. The price of two smaller monitors is less than half of a 30" monitor with similar total pixels. The ability to temporarily maximize an app on one screen independent of the other is useful. The more prevalent 1680x1050 size is not as good since many web sites have a minimum width greater than 1050. Going to have to stock up on a couple of 1600x1200's since they appear to be going legacy. 1920x1200 in portrait mode seems to be too tall for me.

 

[dds14u]

Can today's video cards do dual 30" monitors?

Heck the OP already has one...

 

[Gautama2]

I'd also recommend giving Linux a try and using the desktop cube, enhances your desk space by tons.

I've tried Windows imitators of it and I just don't like them as much.

 

[SolMiester]

I prefer 2 separate monitors over 1 big 1, think tiny text....not for me!

 

[octopus41092]

Dual for what you're going to be using it for. Unless you're going to be gaming then one would be better

 

[extra]

Two monitors will generally give you more pixels to play with than one bigger one. For business multitasking 2 screens is invaluable. Do it.

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: dds14u
Can today's video cards do dual 30" monitors?

Heck the OP already has one...

I've not heard of a card that can do one 2560x1600 monitor but not two. The amount of ram might be a consideration though.

Originally posted by: extra
Two monitors will generally give you more pixels to play with than one bigger one. For business multitasking 2 screens is invaluable. Do it.

size..................pixels.........% of 2560x1600
2560x1600........4,096,000
2x1920x1200.....4,608,000...113

size..................pixels.........% of 2560x1600
2560x1600........4,096,000
2x1600x1200.....3,840,000...94
2x1680x1050.....3,528,000...86

size...................pixels.........% of 1920x1200
1920x1200........2,304,000
2x1440x900.......2,592,000...113
2x1280x1024.....2,621,440...114

And probably the nicest configuration - with the 1600x1200 in portrait mode:

size................................pixels........% of 2560x1600
2560x1600.....................4,096,000
1920x1200+1600x1200...4,224,000...103

---

I don't get "business multitasking". In my experience, business users mostly do one thing at a time. It's the savvy users (geeks) who, flipping often from one window to another, would benefit from more screen real estate.