home office - large monitor or dual monitors?

[USGrant1962]

Thanks for the good report. Now I'm definitely inspired to go dual monitors also! Is 27" 4K worth it, or would something like 2560 x 1440 (2.5K?) be sufficient? Mostly for productivity use.

1440p, AKA 2K, is generally considered the sweet spot in price and resolution for 24-27 inch monitors. For a dual 27-inch productivity setup look for 2K, higher refresh rates (144Hz or more), and IPS panels (sharper picture, better colors).

Here's a good recent article https://www.techspot.com/article/2393-4K-vs-1440p-vs-1080p-monitor/

 

[Orlin]

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.

[FONT=&quot]Thanks for the tip! My computer is old and won't do 4K, but I'm getting a new one, so I'll make sure the specs are up to it in case I get a 4K. But I may consider going with 1440p/2K since I understand from USGrant1962 that it's also good option.[/FONT]

 

[Orlin]

1440p, AKA 2K, is generally considered the sweet spot in price and resolution for 24-27 inch monitors. For a dual 27-inch productivity setup look for 2K, higher refresh rates (144Hz or more), and IPS panels (sharper picture, better colors).

Here's a good recent article https://www.techspot.com/article/2393-4K-vs-1440p-vs-1080p-monitor/

[FONT=&quot]Thanks for the info and link to the article. Very helpful and makes good sense. Looks like 1440p/2K IPS should deliver close enough to 4K viewing/working without all the cash, and probably ease graphics power requirements.[/FONT]

 

[gooddog]

A little tip for anyone wanting to go dual-monitor, I have found tri-monitor to be much easier to use. First went dual monitor for stocks and playing a sniper game - the only problem was that the center of the game was on the edges of the monitor...making the target scope in exactly the wrong place. Adding a third monitor puts the scope in the center of the middle monitor. It also comes in handy for stock markets, and doing research in general. The curved 32" samsung monitors are the ones I use. Works very well.

 

[Kabowest]

A little tip for anyone wanting to go dual-monitor, I have found tri-monitor to be much easier to use. First went dual monitor for stocks and playing a sniper game - the only problem was that the center of the game was on the edges of the monitor...making the target scope in exactly the wrong place. Adding a third monitor puts the scope in the center of the middle monitor. It also comes in handy for stock markets, and doing research in general. The curved 32" samsung monitors are the ones I use. Works very well.

I love my 34" curved Dell monitor!

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I just upgraded to a 27" 4k Dell monitor for use with my new MacBook Pro. I love it and I don't feel the need to have anything bigger. I love that the laptop can be powered directly from the USB-C cable from the monitor, which is plugged in. It helps minimize cables. I use the laptop in clamshell mode, so it's tucked out of the way under the stand I use for the monitor.

 

[Orlin]

A little tip for anyone wanting to go dual-monitor, I have found tri-monitor to be much easier to use. First went dual monitor for stocks and playing a sniper game - the only problem was that the center of the game was on the edges of the monitor...making the target scope in exactly the wrong place. Adding a third monitor puts the scope in the center of the middle monitor. It also comes in handy for stock markets, and doing research in general. The curved 32" samsung monitors are the ones I use. Works very well.

[FONT=&quot]Thank you. I thought to try a mac mini (M1) but it only handles 2 monitors. Your experience sounds like a third monitor adds even more to productivity and other uses, and some realism. Nice. Maybe best to stick with Windows.[/FONT]

 

[Ronstar]

^ You could look into the new Apple studio. It supports up to 5 monitors.

 

[Retch The Grate]

I work extensively with large spreadsheets so I have a 34" ultrawide as the primary monitor, I use the laptop as my Slack display, and then I have a vertically rotated Dell 27" monitor as my secondary debug display. Works well for my use cases.

 

[albireo13]

OP here ... still happy with my side-by-side 27" displays. I wouldn't mind having three displays but, don't see how to do that with my WIN10 laptop. I am constantly resizing windows for different doc sizes, etc. Having 3 monitors, one vertical, would be awesome.
Now I am considering a pc upgrade so ....

 

[Orlin]

^ You could look into the new Apple studio. It supports up to 5 monitors.

[FONT=&quot]It's been a while, but thank you. The Studio is only just arriving in Cape Town. Awesome little machine and leaves space on one's desk to put all those monitors, and seems good for just about everything else from daily use to CAD / 3D and beyond. Could wait and see about the Mac Mini M2 (or whatever), but even the entry-level Studio I'm sure will be much better.[/FONT]