home office - large monitor or dual monitors?
- Thread starter albireo13
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Michael Moore
Recycles dryer sheets
I've used two Dell U2412M in landscape at home for years, and had dual monitors for quite a while at w*rk before I retired 16 years ago. Two should be a minimum!
A year or so ago I added a Dell U3219Q 4K as my main monitor and rotated the two smaller ones to portrait and had them off to the left side. One of the 24s started an intermittent failure mode a while back so I parked it until I can dispose of it and rotated the remaining 24 back into landscape.
It isn't difficult to get the two sizes to display text at the same size so dragging across screens works well. Mostly, the big monitor is the main monitor (CAD, graphics, spreadsheets, browser) and the secondary monitor has multiple file manager and notepad windows open.
The U3219Q is very nice, but the prices are not coming down so it has been easy resisting buying another one -- just because it would be cool.
An important thing to keep in mind is your video card. I've got a Quadro P2000 which will run 4 large monitors if needed, and it had no difficulty running the large one and two small ones. But I don't do gaming and that's a CAD type of graphics card, so I can't address how things would work for a serious gaming setup.
Also keep in mind that a small high-res monitor may have a native resolution that makes text very tiny. I've always scaled text to a good size to reduce the eye strain, but then my eyesight has never been great. The 32" monitor lets me have plenty of screen space even with adjusting the display size to make things easy to see.
If you are going to be spending significant time at the computer, lots of screen real estate is very nice to have.
A year or so ago I added a Dell U3219Q 4K as my main monitor and rotated the two smaller ones to portrait and had them off to the left side. One of the 24s started an intermittent failure mode a while back so I parked it until I can dispose of it and rotated the remaining 24 back into landscape.
It isn't difficult to get the two sizes to display text at the same size so dragging across screens works well. Mostly, the big monitor is the main monitor (CAD, graphics, spreadsheets, browser) and the secondary monitor has multiple file manager and notepad windows open.
The U3219Q is very nice, but the prices are not coming down so it has been easy resisting buying another one -- just because it would be cool.
An important thing to keep in mind is your video card. I've got a Quadro P2000 which will run 4 large monitors if needed, and it had no difficulty running the large one and two small ones. But I don't do gaming and that's a CAD type of graphics card, so I can't address how things would work for a serious gaming setup.
Also keep in mind that a small high-res monitor may have a native resolution that makes text very tiny. I've always scaled text to a good size to reduce the eye strain, but then my eyesight has never been great. The 32" monitor lets me have plenty of screen space even with adjusting the display size to make things easy to see.
If you are going to be spending significant time at the computer, lots of screen real estate is very nice to have.
gooddog
Recycles dryer sheets
FYI - you can do an 'over/under' monitor setup, and that wouldn't take up desk space.
JohnRM
Recycles dryer sheets
Double the fun
I have two 27" monitors on a corner desk, one is at an angle. I like to run a Youtube video or Netflix on one and do email and stuff on the other. But when doing finances, it's handy to have excel on one and Quicken on the other, move them around if I need to copy a number from Fidelity or something. A single monitor would have to be huge to do that.
What an age we live in!
I have two 27" monitors on a corner desk, one is at an angle. I like to run a Youtube video or Netflix on one and do email and stuff on the other. But when doing finances, it's handy to have excel on one and Quicken on the other, move them around if I need to copy a number from Fidelity or something. A single monitor would have to be huge to do that.
What an age we live in!
I guess I'm out of touch on this front. I happily get by with the 15.6 inch monitor on my laptop even if I'm on it all day long. It is high resolution at least.
Maybe your eyes just work better!
Davidhelp
Recycles dryer sheets
I have 3 monitors that have excellent color and sharp text.
I have 2 Acer models that I had used on my work desk at home.
I like the easy spring loaded adjustable up and down they have.
They were $175 and $205 bought a year a part.
Acer CB272 bmiprx 27" Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Zero Frame Home Office Monitor with AMD Radeon Free Sync - 1ms VRB, 75Hz Refresh, Height Adjustable Stand with Tilt & Pivot (Display, HDMI & VGA ports)
I also have a LG 32" for my home pc. It does not have a adjustable stand.... so I have a wood box I made and then added 2 large format books and another piece of wood to gain height. LG model has a stupid stand connector. It was $231 total at in 2017. I have not been able to find a easy adjustable stand for it.
LG 32MA68HY-P 32-Inch IPS Monitor with Display Port and HDMI Inputs
Since I am now retired I have 2 Acer monitors with no work pc so I hooked up a laptop that has Windows 10 on it. Imported my bookmarks from my home pc. I use them on a Vari adjustable desk so I can switch and stand instead of sitting as I do at my other desk.
I have 2 Acer models that I had used on my work desk at home.
I like the easy spring loaded adjustable up and down they have.
They were $175 and $205 bought a year a part.
Acer CB272 bmiprx 27" Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Zero Frame Home Office Monitor with AMD Radeon Free Sync - 1ms VRB, 75Hz Refresh, Height Adjustable Stand with Tilt & Pivot (Display, HDMI & VGA ports)
I also have a LG 32" for my home pc. It does not have a adjustable stand.... so I have a wood box I made and then added 2 large format books and another piece of wood to gain height. LG model has a stupid stand connector. It was $231 total at in 2017. I have not been able to find a easy adjustable stand for it.
LG 32MA68HY-P 32-Inch IPS Monitor with Display Port and HDMI Inputs
Since I am now retired I have 2 Acer monitors with no work pc so I hooked up a laptop that has Windows 10 on it. Imported my bookmarks from my home pc. I use them on a Vari adjustable desk so I can switch and stand instead of sitting as I do at my other desk.
target2019
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I think you get the prize.I use 3 40" LCD TVs. They work great! I will never go back to one monitor
One consideration for dual monitor setups is ergonomics, especially if you are on video calls a lot. With the standard "V" for dual monitors, you are always looking somewhat to off center and the webcam sits off center as well. Not the best ergonomically. A single ultrawide or triple monitors solves that issue.
rickhuizinga
Confused about dryer sheets
For the purposes of productivity and being able to have two full sized windows open at the same time, either an ultrawide (21:9 aspect ratio) or dual monitors is the way to go. A large 16:9 monitor isn't going to be much more useful than a smaller one, just larger.
RobbieB
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Herman Miller
USGrant1962
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I bought my Herman Miller Aeron used for about $400. If you have a used office furniture store nearby they are probably well stocked due to Covid closures, though I bought mine before Covid.
I think I paid around $600 for mine, over 20 years ago. Still using it every day. Well worth the cost.
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I very much dislike the Aeron type chairs. I tend to run cold and the fact that they are mesh never allows them to warm up. Not bad in the summer, but in the winter, I just couldn’t take it. Comfortable, yes, but not warm. Of course, like mattresses, a chair is highly personal.
OverThinkMuch
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A decade or so from now, we'll look at every futuristic movie and wonder "Why are the screens flat?"
I'd ask you to consider buying a curved screen. When you read from left to right on a flat screen, it's not the same focal length - your eyes have slightly different distances to focus. With a 1000R curved monitor, it's the same distance. Your eyes don't need to refocus, and the edges curve inward giving an immersive experience in games.
That's what I hope to buy later this year, and maybe it's worth considering if you're in the market for a new monitor.
I'd ask you to consider buying a curved screen. When you read from left to right on a flat screen, it's not the same focal length - your eyes have slightly different distances to focus. With a 1000R curved monitor, it's the same distance. Your eyes don't need to refocus, and the edges curve inward giving an immersive experience in games.
That's what I hope to buy later this year, and maybe it's worth considering if you're in the market for a new monitor.
I use a thin blanket over the chair which works well for me. Still comfortable, but not as cold.
There are other Herman Miller chairs too, besides the Aeron. We went to one of their retail stores to try various models before ordering online.
Lawrencewendall
Full time employment: Posting here.
I have 3 monitors. One displays my security cameras, one is my websurfing monitor and the other is HD used to play movies/video while I surf. Spoiled.
Sunset
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Do you have a video card that will drive 4K ?
I bought DW a lovely camera that takes 4K videos, and we quickly realized we needed a 4K monitor to view them in 4K.
So I bought one.
It didn't work on her computer in 4K as the video card was too weak.
After realizing at the time a 4K video card would cost $500, I decided to just buy her a new computer to do the 4K as it was not much more at the time.
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