I have been using more than one monitor on my computer for years. Once I read that Windows could indeed handle more than one video card, the light bulbs went off. I can have more than one screen? I shortly went out and purchased a second screen.
When I switched to the Mac Pro back in October, the system came with a single video card with two video outs. But, I had more than two monitors. I had visions, yet again, of being surrounded in monitors. You know, like I’m working at NASA or something.
So, I purchased a second video card for the Mac Pro. After installation, I had a total of 4 video outs. And, of course, I proceeded to hook up 4 screens. So, my Mac Pro setup had one Gateway 19″ widescreen, a Gateway 21″ widescreen, and 2 19″ standard screens (one a cheapo Mag Innovision and the other a Samsung). All screens worked fine, although it was a bit odd not having symmetry on the monitors (all the screens were essentially different sizes).
One of the most annoying problems I had with this setup was I would lose my mouse cursor fairly often. On Windows, you can configure it so that you hit the CTRL button and you get a little animated target around your mouse cursor to help you find it. On OS X, I’ve yet to find such a feature. So, of course, I would be forced to just move the mouse cursor around until my peripheral vision caught the location.
Yeah, a pain in the butt. I had hit the point of too many screens.
This weekend, I went ahead and picked up two Dell 24″ widescreens. I would have liked to get the 30″ screens, but they cost a fortune and really would not fit on my desk very well. Plus, the native resolution for a 24″ screen is 1920×1200. In order to get an increase, you have to jump all the way to a 30″. For any screen size between 24″ and 30″, you’re still getting the same screen resolution as the 24″. Obviously, everything just gets bigger. Not worth the money.
So, my current setup is 2 24″ Dell screens side-by-side and then my original 21″ widescreen is now a third screen. I use the 2 24-inchers as my main workspace and the 21″ for various apps that are running all the time such as instant messenger, Twhirl, etc.
So far I have not lost my mouse once. The most efficient multiple screen setup seems to be dual 24″. I only have the third screen because I can.
Multiple Monitors or Just One Big Monitor?
The answer is simple: multiple is better.
When your two monitors are identical (so you don’t have mismatched heights), a multi-monitor setup not only gives you a much larger workspace, but it is much more affordable. For about $400 less than the price of a single 30″ monitor, I was able to get two 24″ monitors. Or put another way, I could have purchased a third 24″ monitor and still came in less than a 30″ monitor. So, dollar for pixel, you get a LOT more for your money going multiple monitor.
How Many Is Too Many?
Well, as you can see above, four was too many for me. The sweet spot is two for me and I would assume that is the case for most people.
The thing to think about is how much you can visually work with. I can visually work with 2 screens at once. The others are in my peripheral vision and are thus best used for apps which just sit there and allow you to monitor things, If you actually try to WORK on more than two monitors, it gets to be too much. Your neck swings side to side and you lose your mouse cursor.
The Price Sweet Spot
24 inches is the current sweet spot. Sure, you can go larger but, again, you get no improvement in screen resolution until you hit 30″. So, from 24″ up through 28″, everything just gets larger. You’re not actually gaining any screen real estate at the native resolutions. So, what’s the point?
Preference is Personal
Others may have different opinions. Perhaps some cannot handle more than a single screen. Others may want the screen real estate but have weaker vision, in which case going larger than 24″ (so that you get larger images) may help you get the best of both worlds.
Both OS X and Windows can easily support a boatload of monitors. The question you need to answer is how many is right for you. If you are a stock day trader or have many apps open at once that you need to visually monitor but not necessarily work with, then perhaps more than two screens is necessary for you.
One thing I can tell you, though, is that multiple monitors is rather like broadband internet. Once you have had broadband, you can’t deal with dial-up. Well, once you’ve had more than one screen, going back to one makes your world seem a lot smaller.
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Absolutely agree with your last comment David – once you’re used to two monitors, you hate going back. I’m currently running a 22″ and a 19″ (both widescreens) and honestly, it’s not all that bad. The ‘pixel pitch’ is very similar between the two, so things don’t increase/decrease in size depending on which screen they’re on.
Having said that, I’ll be investing in another 22″ (Samsung 2232BW) before long – I want symmetry back!
Just a few days ago I purchased 2 – Doublesight 26″ DS-263N H-IPS monitors, as well as 1 – 22″ Acer monitor for my second rig.
I’m still in China and due to be back home with my monitors waiting for me in two weeks. I’ve tried 2 – 20″ and while it was nice it was a bit cramped. I can’t wait to sit down at 2×26/1×22!
Great article Dave. I have a Dell 24 inch as well and after reading this am seriously considering getting a matching Dell 24 inch.
Thanks
I run 3 — left hand is my Toshiba Tecra with a 17″ screen. This is my primary, with my taskbar mounted on the left edge. To its right (the middle) is a 22″ Chimei, and to the right is a 19″ Chimei. I run a Toshiba Dynadock to coordinate my USB keyboard, mouse, couple of peripherals and the 22″ screen through an integrated VGA port. The 19″ goes into my VGA out on the Tecra. Voila! Three screens with ease.
How does the saying go? “Once you go multiple you’ll never go back..” Something like that. Anyways… Having multiple screens is the way to go. Currently on Windows XP right now and what I really miss are the virtual desktops you can get with Linux and OS X (called Spaces in Leopard I believe?). Right now I have dual screens but with virt desktops I had 4, 6 or as many as I needed. Having all my apps open on diff spaces and flipping through them with the mouse wheel…sweet. Right now I almost feel crippled with just 2 screens.
I just bought more than a dozen dell ultra sharp 20 widescreens for all the guys at work. I had been using a 19″ and a 15″ CRT before (terrible but it was 2) and once I had my dual 20′s everyone had to have them.
The learning curve on using them effectively is not to be underestimated. If I had it to do over again I don’t think I would go with the wide screen monitors because they are just big enough that not everything fits in peripheral vision.
You say it’s not a problem any more, but if you start losing your cursor again, get Mouse Locator:
http://www.2point5fish.com/
Another fine article my friend. I currently run dual 24″ Dell’s on my Mac Pro and added a 19″ Acer x193w which has a 2000:1 contrast ratio to my iMac ( which makes a great setup by the way ). As for my XP Box, I run 3 19″ Acer x193w’s which is mainly used for coding and mIRC.
I purposely went out and bought 3 20-inch square screens (HP’s) with 1600×1200 and they were brilliant side by side. I think three screens are the sweet spot.
I wound up with one of them rotated into pivot mode. That was perfect for anything vertical – web surfing became a whole different experience. The other two were great for everything else.
Of course, once one starts in on the path to the dark side… I bought a 30 incher to replace the center screen for Christmas, and then rotated both the remaining 20 inchers into the vertical. Now I have a honking huge workspace in front of me, the browser/word processor/whatever is vertical to the left, and use the rightmost screen for whatever is left.
The height from end to end is 1600 pixels across all three screens, so the mouse moves naturally from screen to screen. I think I have achieved screen nirvana.
Of course, with 24 inch and 30 inch screens, they almost become too large to use effectively without wasting a lot on white space – but a program I found a while back, Winsplit Revolution, has become a mainstay for window management. It allows you to use quick keystrokes to shuffle windows around on the desktop and effectively tile them etc.
Having several monitors connected to your PC is just a first step. The expanded screen space requires smart tools to manage the greater number of open windows and use this space effectively. Moreover, Windows GUI has some minor but annoying drawbacks when running on several monitors:
- there is no standard service such as Windows Taskbar to manage windows located on secondary displays
- you can’t quickly minimize, restore, or activate any particular window via its Taskbar button without having to move your cursor to the primary display
- there is no access to the Start Menu from secondary displays – requires moving the mouse pointer to the primary display each time you need to access Start Menu
- when you switch windows using Alt-Tab the Task Switcher service window is displayed on the primary display only, which is quite distracting if your current attention is on a secondary display
- there is no quick way to move a window to a certain monitor or to maximize a window over the entire composite desktop if such need arises
I’d like to recommend anyone who runs Windows on a multi-monitor PC to read this short article: http://www.actualtools.com/windowmanager/dual_monitor_taskbar_task_switcher_and_other_multi_monitor_enhancements.shtml.
Hey, software for multimonitor support: ultramon. It gives you an additional taskbar for the second screen, allows you to stretch windows maximized over both screens, allows you to set a keycombo to throw a fullscreen (on one monitor) app from one monitor to the next…