Gerry Giese
Posts: 18
Nickname: gerryg
Registered: Feb, 2003
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Re: Are Two Monitors Better Than One?
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Posted: Jul 25, 2003 9:24 PM
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I agree with Greg - 2 monitors is VERY useful. I'm scrounging around for parts to have a 3rd right now! Here's my reasoning:
Assuming WindowsOS (adjust as needed for Linux or other), on one monitor with many programs running you end up alt-tabbing a lot or looking at the start bar with many buttons that don't have near enough information to figure out which program is which, especially if a lot of them are multiple copies of say, Windows Explorer, a browser, or maybe a code editor (non-MDI, that is, if that's your style). Or you have all of our open windows tiled in some sort of layout where none of them is very big so that you can always see the one you want to click on to switch to.
With two monitors (in my case, both 19" running at 1600x1200) I have room to make the windows larger and spread them out. I use one as my primary for things like IDE, source control, database browser, and e-mail, and the other for Windows Explorer, browser windows, and other miscellaneous stuff. I do a lot of web development with servlet/JSP so one thing I am able to do is put two 800x600 windows (the resolution we develop for) side-by-side on the non-primary window with a log file window behind them and still be able to have my IDE nearly full-screen on the primary. The ability to be looking at the output of a program, it's the log of it's execution, and a large real estate of the code that produced it is invaluable. I can honestly say that I'm many times more productive than before I had two monitors.
But, I now feel like three would be pretty close to ideal. This is for two reasons: One, so I can move the real-time log file and API documentation viewer to the third monitor, but also so I can run it in a lower resolution like 1280x124 or 1152x864 so that I can move whatever window I need over to the third screen and have it instantly "zoom in". I need this because I frequently have visitors who come look over my shoulder to either see a demo, look at a piece of code, or view a particularly interesting webpage I've found. And 90% of the time my visitors can't read my 1600x1200 text, especially since they are always further from the screen.
I know of non-coders who have gone overboard and use 4-8 monitors, each one full-screen on some valuable piece of electronic information. This is especially useful for people in financial industries that need real-time data from several sources, lists of rates, etc. These people claim magnitudes of order increases in ability to move quickly and often directly attribute increased pay/profit to this efficiency.
I say absolutely without a doubt get another monitor. Try to make it about the same size/quality/resolution so you can stretch your desktop without having 'gaps' when moving windows from one screen to another, which can be disconcerting.
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