Poll: Two 24" or one 30"?

[brikis98]

Which setup do you prefer for software engineering:

* two 24" Dell LCD's
* one 30" Dell LCD

 

[Fallen Kell]

By far, the 2x24" monitors. You will want to have the two separate screens for debugging and coding. This lets you easily have online manuals/docs/API's open on the one screen with your coding on the other.

All the developers I support request this setup, even over the big single screen. And I personally like this setup for my development work (even though it is usually limited to behind the scenes automation or data collecting).

 

[vladdy77]

I totally agree.

I have Dell 24" as my main monitor and then 2 x 20" Dell LCD's on each side. Firing up Visual Studio on main, database editor on left screen and internet/help on third one.

Dream setup for me.

 

[Slugbait]

Not just for programming...everything except for gaming. No matter what I'm doing, a single monitor drives me nutz.

 

[taltamir]

One 30 inch... Gaming in all its glory. And if the resolution is still the same as on the 24 inch monitors that means easier to read, larger, text.

 

[Mandin62]

cant beat 2 monitors as far as productivity goes. its the only way to programing and or editing. you will be surprised how much more work you can get done in less time.

 

[Cheex]

* two 24" LCD's

 

[postmortemIA]

problem with two widescreens is that still you don't have enough vertical lines, 32:10 is "little" bit too much wide

 

[n7]

I like dual displays, so i'd say two 24"ers, but you simply cannot beat the massive resolution on a 30".


Ideally: 30" + 20" in portrait mode @ 1200x1600 for a desktop that's 3760x1600.

That's what i run, & it doesn't get much better.

I forget his username, but there's a guy here who is running 30" + two 20"ers in portrait for 4960x1600

 

[Oakenfold]

For productivity stick with 2 monitors.
I love gaming on my 37" Aquos but office applications are not ideal.

 

[brikis98]

Well, as I expected, the dual display setup is dominating and I'll prob push for it at work. As a side note, I really like the setup where one (or both) of the 24" screens is turned sideways to create a massive vertical resolution for looking at text/code.

 

[Griswold]

Originally posted by: taltamir
One 30 inch... Gaming in all its glory. And if the resolution is still the same as on the 24 inch monitors that means easier to read, larger, text.

As usual, he didnt read beyond the title. :laugh:

 

[DRavisher]

I would go for one 30". I feel this gives more flexibility than two 23-24" screens. With a 30" you could have one 1280x1600 area for the main application (in this case the code), and maybe two 1280x800 areas for docs. Or (the way I usually set it up) you could have one 1536x1600 and one 1024x1600 area (or two 1024x800), or any other variation that's suitable. I feel this added flexibility negates the 12.5% pixel advantage of 2x24". Also the 30" is much nicer if you ever need to do something besides coding, like working with timelines. Also I feel 1920 pixels isn't quite enough to put two windows side by side, though I guess it could be passable for docs.

Though I must admit that having one 24" rotated to 1200x1920 is pretty nice, as long as it doesn't get too narrow. Personally I would probably still go for the 30", but it's a close call.

 

[JackBurton]

Two 32" LCDs.

 

[Oakenfold]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Two 32" LCDs.

That is nice however

This new 32-inch AQUOS is available in three shiny colors: black, a wine red and white; each is available this month for $1,600.

Spend some time in the hot deals forum and you could have nabbed two 37" or 42" Aquos panels for less than what one of the new 32"'s run.

However two 32"s on a desk is probably a little bit more manageable. Compromise and do 3 32"'s~!

 

[hans007]

for programming you definintely want 2 or 3 monitors even if they are smaller...

my work setup is 2 20" 2007fps for my dev machine (which isnt on the internet)

and i have a laptop in a docking station with a 2007fpw for googling stuff, email etc.



at home i only hvae 1 monitor though... sincei dont really program on that machine and for games , video etc, you are probably best off with the nicest largest screen you can get.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Quick question:

How does having 2 monitors help productivity? Couldn't you simply use alt+tab? I can sometimes run a load of apps and simply alt tab from one to the other. Seems like having multiple monitors is a very expensive solution to a very simple problem.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: gersson
Quick question:

How does having 2 monitors help productivity? Couldn't you simply use alt+tab? I can sometimes run a load of apps and simply alt tab from one to the other. Seems like having multiple monitors is a very expensive solution to a very simple problem.

i think its more the physical seperation.


not to mention... in my case, i can have say 3-4 IDEs of visual studio running. say you are writing dlls , some sort of library loader, etc...

or you have to write a test project to paste between projects or something liek that.


theres a lot of reasons. honestly the physical seperation of 2 monitors is nice, plus you can maximize a window on one.


2 monitors also tends to be cheaper anyway.... 2 24" monitors generallly is still less than 1 30" and thats still more space by far.

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: gersson
Quick question:

How does having 2 monitors help productivity? Couldn't you simply use alt+tab? I can sometimes run a load of apps and simply alt tab from one to the other. Seems like having multiple monitors is a very expensive solution to a very simple problem.

One alternative to the physical separation, mentioned by hans007, is virtual desktops. The VVDM project looked promising because it can take advantage of Vista's DWM live previews and hardware acceleration. I have been following it for a while now, but sadly the author has not released a new version since late September.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Oakenfold

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Two 32" LCDs.

That is nice however

This new 32-inch AQUOS is available in three shiny colors: black, a wine red and white; each is available this month for $1,600.

Spend some time in the hot deals forum and you could have nabbed two 37" or 42" Aquos panels for less than what one of the new 32"'s run.

However two 32"s on a desk is probably a little bit more manageable. Compromise and do 3 32"'s~!

??? This is a NEW AQUOS model with higher refresh rates. I'd rather have performance over size. Now if everything was equal, yes, I'd go for a larger panel.