View Full Version : how many people work with dual monitors?


tux
11-17-2002, 03:46 PM
How many people have dual monitors setup?

duluthboats
11-17-2002, 05:42 PM
I don't see the need. I very seldom split my screen.
Gary:D

Willallison
11-17-2002, 05:58 PM
I Have no experience with multiple screens - like Gary, I can't really see the need though. But this is one place where bigger IS better....

pedja
11-18-2002, 08:40 AM
I work on two monitor it is wonerful, it is best

Polarity
11-18-2002, 09:16 AM
I did try but could not find the "old" hardware needed by my old version (Me) of windows. (it needs a supported video card, all the cards I could find were "no brand" and not supported aarrg). the 500$ for a split screen card did not seem worth it just to play with...

Paul

snakefeet
08-20-2003, 12:23 AM
I used to think of dual screens as a bizarre luxury - like leather-grip pliers or a fur lined bicycle seat. But I was put on a workstation at work with two monitors and I'll never be able to draft on one screen again.

If cost is a problem, watch ebay for last years's model of dual-head card. I got myself a Matrox 450 for under $50 and it has done a great job under both Win2000 and RedHat 7.2.

Tom_McGuinness
09-08-2003, 01:09 PM
I've been using multiple monitors for the past 4 years. All you need is a second standard video card, which sell for less than $100 ea.

In my opinion, a second monitor provides a bigger increase in productivity than any amout of RAM or MHz.

yipster
02-15-2006, 12:11 PM
one big CRT but use a KVM ( keybord video mouse ) switch code on my keyboard, that way i draw on one and render on the second pc via one KVM setup on the desk

bhnautika
02-15-2006, 05:22 PM
Dual monitors are great and improve productive (19 in), cad on one, spreadsheet on the other. I do know someone who runs three.

Herbert lotz
03-15-2006, 04:16 PM
If you are using some thing like micro stations it is nice to put all your toolbars on one, or a pic of your girlfriend in the nic is always fun to.

Andrew Mason
03-24-2006, 12:56 AM
It depends on the work you are doing. For CAD work I prefer 1 large monitor. I currently use the Dell 24" LCD, 1920 x 1200 pixels. Dell is now doing a 30" but it is very pricey.

However, one large monitor is not necessarily ideal for other tasks. Programming environments, word processing documents and web browsers are too big when zoomed up to the full size of the screen.

For this sort of work my ideal setup would be dual screens, preferably the Dell 20", 1600 x 1200 LCD, both set up in portrait mode. Cost is about the same as the one large 24" but total screen real estate is greater.

Ari
03-29-2006, 12:22 AM
During my days at control panel we use to have 8 to 16 19 inches screens..:eek: it do enable fast and continuos observation and control..done it..recently just chuck off 1 screen;) , am left with one desk screen and one portable now..but only utilised one at any one time:) .

Wellydeckhand
03-29-2006, 12:51 AM
do they have dual touch screen model?

Ari
03-29-2006, 12:58 AM
Touch screen ..yes there is..:) Honeywell..Foxboro..Yamatake..Yokogawa..masoneilan..but..dual touch..I had never came across..dual pinch..yes..!:D

marshmat
04-02-2006, 12:21 PM
Normally I'm working on a Toshiba laptop with 15.4" WXGA. OK, but really not enough for serious CAD. Best monitor setup I use right now is a trio of XGA-resolution Compaq V75s (about 17" I think) on a turn-of-the-century workstation; ok computer but sweet screen space. Would be nice to have OpenGL and DirectX on all of them though; current card only supports that on one of the 3. Still could use more space- dual 30" would be my ideal setup. The screen's really a limiting factor on a CAD station, much more so than the processing power itself which is almost always huge these days. More screen = more productivity.

lewisboats
04-19-2006, 03:13 PM
Jusst upgraded to a Gforce 6600 and it had dual monitor support so I figured...what the heck. You couldn't get me to go back to only one now. It is nice to be able to have a tutorial on one screen and the program you are learning on the other, or two different design programs if you are trying to match a curve or something in one from the other.

Steve
PS if I had the $$$s and the desk real estate I would have 3 or 4 monitors...Gotta have one for the solitaire game and one for the slide show of tropical paradises...the ones you want to sail to.

skyl4rk
09-13-2006, 10:16 PM
I use three monitors.

westlawn5554X
09-14-2006, 12:53 AM
Like these? I wonder what hardware support 3 monintor just with one PC, other upgrade must be consider but I still dont know, anyone out there have an idea?:)

Tim B
09-14-2006, 06:52 AM
I'm using a mixed WinXP / Mandriva Linux system. The Linux Box runs as a server and research machine, and XP handles all the CAD work. I can also use the system for twin Linux Boxes for those larger CFD problems.

The older box is a P4 2.4 GHz (overclocked to 2.5GHz), the newer is a P4 505 2.66GHz. Both machines have 2GB of Ram and ATI Radeon 9550 gfx cards. It seems to be a good solution.

One Machine with dual monitors? probably wouldn't cut it for me. That said, I'm slowly rackmounting my two machines. So I am using 1 machine with no gfx card at the moment. It's REALLY quiet though.

Tim B.

skyl4rk
09-14-2006, 08:37 AM
At work I run a laptop (display #1) with a usb docking station connected to display #2, and the video port on the laptop is used to connect display #3. I am using windows XP, it was very easy to set up using the control panel.

westlawn5554X
09-14-2006, 11:03 AM
WOW... How many monintor can windowXP actually plug in? I am trying to get AMD64 and Window 64ver , how can I set up that dude, mojo cool.:)

skyl4rk
09-14-2006, 02:16 PM
I'm not an expert, I started with the laptop connected to a usb docking station with a separate monitor. I just tried plugging a monitor in the back of the laptop and it worked.

Control Panel - Display - Settings, it apparently recognizes the monitors automagically, then you move them around on a screen to fit how you have them arranged.

Speng
06-22-2007, 04:03 PM
Yeah dual screening is the shiznit. I first had on my last machine which was Win2k. Got a second video card and you're off. With Xp it's even easier. I have a laptop in the docking station. Digital outs go to the LCD and the RGBs go to the CRT both are the same size and you setup with the screen properties.

If you're reading Seahorse in the AM and you want to surf to a webpage you've got email on screen and IE on the other. Or if you're working with two huge spreadsheets or editing multiple PDFs etc.

marshmat
06-24-2007, 05:06 PM
WOW... How many monintor can windowXP actually plug in? I am trying to get AMD64 and Window 64ver , how can I set up that dude, mojo cool.
(Last year's thread, I know....)
Four monitors on XP is easy if you have a graphics card that can handle it. Eight is possible with twin 4-head cards. More are possible, but difficult, because you start to run into serious memory addressing limitations if the three separate graphics cards you'll need are any more than basic non-3D VGA units.

Verytricky
06-25-2007, 12:48 PM
16 is theoreticall possible....

But why anyone would want more than three is beyond me. Three is perect, balanced nicelyleft, centre, right.

Left is email, any chat boxes, forums you are waiting for an answer in. Middle is the 'active work' screen and is my largest monitor. CAD, spreadsheets, etc in this screen. Right is for manuals, tutorials or source documents for what you are working on. It is the 'dumping ground' of multiple explorer screens...

PsiPhi
07-23-2007, 07:51 PM
I work in an office of around 40 software engineers and half a dozen testers.
We ALL have 2x 20in flat screens, we couldn't work effectively without them. Since upgrading to 2 monitors productivity has increased (tell your boss, it's fact not fiction).
If you work in any environment where you have to wait for the computer to do something, open something, process or compile something, you can benefit from two monitors.
If you have to compare documents, or specifications, or work from an on-line manual, you can benefit from two monitors.

Bergalia
07-24-2007, 01:59 AM
I work with two monitors - plus at times a split screen on my main Mac. But I'm no designer...simply use it for comparing manuscripts (original and edited versions) when writing.

lazeyjack
07-24-2007, 03:11 AM
i work with 2, the main is flat screen the other is 36x24x 36 she sits on my knee and takes notes

PsiPhi
07-24-2007, 03:20 AM
One more point - most of us have one monitor in horizontal format and one in vertical.
You get wide pages and you get long pages.
Vertical is great for documents and webpages etc., horizontal for applications with thier own interfaces (which are usually designed to be horizontal format).

Frosty
07-24-2007, 04:24 AM
One more point - most of us have one monitor in horizontal format and one in vertical.
You get wide pages and you get long pages.
Vertical is great for documents and webpages etc., horizontal for applications with thier own interfaces (which are usually designed to be horizontal format).


Oh!!! Ive gone one better than that I use 2 key boards on one monitor.

PsiPhi
07-24-2007, 06:35 PM
And how many mices Frosty?
- or is that technology beyond you!

Bergalia
07-24-2007, 06:47 PM
That's an unfair question PsiPhi - when you know full well the correct technical term is 'meece'....

PsiPhi
07-24-2007, 08:32 PM
14954
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/gaming-desk-for-the-socially-challenged-206462.php

tallen
09-18-2007, 10:30 AM
Two? pff... I love my three monitor set up. I dominantly use rhino so I put two views on one screen, two on another, then the third has all the pallets, tools, or other software.

masalai
11-16-2007, 07:56 PM
I would love an extra screen or two. One 17" 1920x1200 lcd is not enough space, even with 6 linux pages, page swapping is a pain. I was thinking of a projector to give me a 48" or so presentation for overview etc..

May wait till someone else has "made that wheel"

Like the idea of multiple screens.

Andrew Mason
11-16-2007, 08:47 PM
Have a look at the Dell 30" monitor, 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Currently $A1500 and worth every penny.

Once you have used one you won't go back to dual monitors.

masalai
11-16-2007, 08:50 PM
Thanks Andrew!

Andrew Mason
11-16-2007, 10:35 PM
I just had a look and the 30" Dell is currently $A1798 but including a free clour laser printer. I bought mine for $A1498 about 6 weeks ago so I would expect Dell to offer it at that price or better in the near future.

It's the unfortunate thing about Dell, their prices jump around all over the place and sometimes you just have to be patient and wait for them to do a special offer on what you want.

The other thing you will need if you buy this monitor is a good video card, many of the older video cards won't drive a monitor this big (it needs dual link DVI output) and very few laptops are capable of it.

masalai
11-16-2007, 11:07 PM
Andrew, Where was it made? - I mean the manufacturer? possibly Quanta or Compal. It should be on the compliance label.

Andrew Mason
11-17-2007, 01:50 AM
I've had a close look at the labels on the back and apart from Dell's name I cant see any other manufacturer's name. It does say "Made in Dong Guan China" if thats any help.

masalai
11-17-2007, 01:53 AM
Ok from a search of about 7 manufacturers I can find it if they are on the web.

Thanks Andrew, is now on my to-do list

Frosty
11-17-2007, 02:15 AM
Dell was the last bloke that owned it.

The last bloke what owned mine was a guy called Pat Pending.

Andrew Mason
11-17-2007, 04:34 AM
Have a look at the Dell site here (http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/3007wfp_hc?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dhs) for more details

Fanie
11-17-2007, 11:04 AM
And how many mices Frosty?

when you know full well the correct technical term is 'meece'....

Mouses. Even I know that, and I didn't even make grade 1 the first time. Seriously. I flunked grade 1 because I was allergic to clay and couldn't write exams...

Frosty
11-17-2007, 08:50 PM
Ive got a real big mouse --I call it a moose.

Actually I found it in the garbage. It even had a USB plug on it. Once I got the yoghurt and some other vile stuff off it it worked fine and even has a little light on it that flashes on and off --its great.

I normally check the garbage every few days but now I check every day.

Butch .H
05-29-2008, 03:14 PM
Fanie was Clay the school bully

Knut Sand
05-29-2008, 06:45 PM
I have a 17" laptop, docking station, and a 22", keyboard and trackball etc. connected to that again, I thought it would be a problem with different screen sizes, but I can't say that I notice it. I look at SolidWorks (or CosmosWorks) on the big one, and pick parts/ information, other viewers and internet on the smaller. The laptop solution gives me some flexibility (but far lower WAF...), even though I will consider a 17" to be relocateable not truly portable... I just hate carrying stuff around.

Yes, and of course it's a HP... Running XPP.....

Fanie
06-03-2008, 01:35 PM
Fanie was Clay the school bully

I saw that !! :mad: ;)

u4ea32
06-16-2008, 10:32 PM
I have three 24 inch LCDs. I want to up upgrade to three 30 inch soon.
I use them all, all the time.

Fanie
06-17-2008, 03:39 AM
He he... For you bigger and better guys do remember it is the OLD guys with the WORST eyes that needs the BIGGEST monitors :D

I have this large monitor and magnifying glass thing beat. I have a projector, and the screen is 2m wide ;)

yipster
06-17-2008, 07:34 AM
magnifying glas, big CRT monitor and a ball of confusion renewing monitor
nobody knows why tv's and monitors are still at different floors in the shop
regular TV, HD ready and HD resolution dont reduce font sizes and heavy duty
video cards go over but dont support HDTV 1920x1080 resolution
dont know if my media center does HD and a 42" full pip has me thinking

pashbe1
07-22-2008, 12:55 PM
I use 2 20" LCD's. One has my main CAD window, and the buttons are on the other. My Outlook opens on the button screen so that I can monitor it throught the button bars. The button screen also functions as a web search screen when researching parts for the drawing. Another great thing is running my CAD on the main screen and ISO spreadsheets and lists on the other. That way I have data from the model easily accessible.

More important than a 2nd monitor for productivity is a 3d mouse (3dconnexion or similar). I can live without a second monitor but not the 2nd mouse!

p.s. I have tried one big monitor but found covering all that real estate cumbersome. For some reason with 2 screens the controlls tend to be concentraded in the screen I am using.

p.p.s. I have a Whiteboard on the wall infront of my monitors and a project on to it for my bosses. I project the model onto it and they mark it up with fat crayons. Then I take a picture and work off of that. :-)

marshmat
08-02-2008, 10:56 PM
We have a couple of those "smartboard" things in the office... they sound like such a good idea, and then nobody bothers to figure them out and so people just write on them with normal dry-erase markers.

My own setup now has evolved a bit.... a 20", 1680x1050 Acer LCD has joined the Toshiba's built in, 15.4" 1280x800. This seems to do nicely for now, although the next computer will definitely have better screen space. If only the poor Radeon 9000 graphics card could drive the big one at any kind of decent frame rate.... SolidEdge and Rhino shaded/rendered views are almost painful to rotate and pan when a big model is open, unfortunately.

3dconnexion controller is definitely on the wish list....

pashbe1
08-03-2008, 08:19 AM
The 3dmouse is to CAD what a graphics tablet is to Photoshop.

I'll never use anyting but Nvidia graphics cards again. The FX series is made for CAD work.

BHOFM
09-30-2008, 12:17 AM
The three setup only runs on one computer, we use for
flightsimulator. The center runs on all five through a
KVM switch.

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4038/dscf0675dt4.jpg

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8373/dscf0698ni8.jpg

yipster
09-30-2008, 07:04 AM
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/gri/lowres/grin1028l.jpg
checked (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3d_mouse#3D_mice) on a 3d mouse becouse i know a good big mouse or bal is nice for cad, but 3d around your finger? looking a bit further i see all sorts of devices
including pc guns and flashed back to early ninetys when i was jumped by customs that saw my just bought at the same miami airport pc game with gun
on the rontgen, my game had to be transported in the cockpit that looked again much like the split screen set-up above, msfs?

see i made some progres since my last post, low cost wifi sticks now network to extra pc in the living room on a new tv, think i should be drawing tho :rolleyes:

schakel
09-30-2008, 08:02 AM
The small screen is for the commands.
The large screen is for the mouse and the template and the DWG.

And yes we are talking about Autocad applications then.

lazeyjack
10-02-2008, 07:34 PM
save me searchin' I have got the duels up and runnin, but cloned, how can I config to show different, I am in Rhino, thank you muchely

marshmat
10-02-2008, 08:01 PM
Right now you're showing the exact same thing on both monitors- one's just a clone of the other? In Windows?

Open the Windows "display properties" box (right click on the desktop, select "properties"). Choose the "Settings" tab. Select the black rectangle representing your second monitor, check the box saying "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor", and drag the rectangle to match where your monitors physically are.

You should now have your usual Windows taskbar on one, and a blank desktop on the other, to which you can drag program windows as you use them.

In Rhino4, the command "NewFloatingViewport" will create a mobile viewport in its own little window, which you can drag to a secondary monitor.

lazeyjack
10-02-2008, 08:07 PM
ta everso Matty,
oh you added lazyjack stead of lazeyjack, my mistake, je suis desole:)) now lemme try this

lazeyjack
10-02-2008, 08:50 PM
so you cant actually work on the other? ah i get it, , I can remember when i first started:(( I am onto the wheels for you in 3 d

aprilpaxton
11-19-2008, 01:02 AM
Many will say that having dual monitors will increase productivity by as much as 20%. The heck with percentages, I really get more work done since I got dual monitors, finally freeing me from that alt-tab routine just to switch screen.

lewisboats
12-01-2009, 10:08 AM
I've upgraded since my last post...running a quad core with twin 28" I-Incs and you'd have to pry them from my cold dead computer to get them away from me. I would love to shove a 42" LCD monitor/tv in there for a threesome :)

yipster
12-01-2009, 10:53 AM
install mem on that quad if running x64
no quad progs yet as i know?
running 2 mouses now, one old
the other from a drawing tablet
o what a revelation, to think i've
been using a 1.5 inch laptop mouse
for the last weeks, this thing
can even draw in thin air, try one!

lewisboats
12-02-2009, 09:53 AM
I'm running 32 bit XP and have 4 gig ram, 3 Terrabytes of hard drive space and a Blueray player/DL DVD burner, Nvidia 9800GT video, Wireless mouse and Keyboard and logitech speakers with sub...It should do for a couple of years until upgrade time.

yipster
12-02-2009, 10:03 AM
conservative eh :p than again its wise
anyway, congrats on the new baby :D

yeah, using the pen pad for the mouse as well needs some gettin use too, nice tool such a pen tho

lewisboats
12-02-2009, 10:48 AM
Conservative only out of fiscal necessity, not by choice... believe me!

nukisen
12-27-2009, 06:20 AM
For a couple of years ago I did make work at home and I did install double screens. In this way I could run the cad In one of them and have the partlist in the other. I did enyoj working in this way, and also my production where increased as I could have overviewing both the full cad window and have full insight of the parts at the same time.

So after a while I did suggested this to my boss that I could increase my work with a screen more.

Then he did told me I was silly!:eek:

Okej then I will do the job with the same production speed as before.

I wonder which one of us lost most.:P

Nowadays I think I prefer one big screen. As bigger the better if the resolution hangs on.

With widescreens the cad in almost full view and the lists in the rest gives me a very good overview and also have them together so the overview is even better.

But today I am unemployed and only uses the pc for my hobby(drawing boats):) . So now I am only uses my laptop and my station with 19" screen.

nukisen
12-27-2009, 06:35 AM
Yipster!
"install mem on that quad if running x64
no quad progs yet as i know?"

This is a known issue!

When Autodesk released the 2009. They did have a memory bug so my pc was often run out of mem as I was used a 32bit os. But i did figure out that if I was running two projekts with double cad windows I could open more dwg´s at a time before crashing. This caused by I did have double kernels.
So with a quad I think I could have opened even more by starting two more cad window. Wich would share the memory.
But after four months Autodesk released the fix I have been asking for since the releaseday. And the dual procesor did run awsome. But still I should prefer the quad. But they where damn expensive at that point.

Luckless
12-27-2009, 11:18 AM
I'm currently stuck using a single 20 inch 1680x1050 monitor due to having moved and having to down grade my 'office' to a walk in closet. This isn't much of an upgrade from my dual 17inch CRTs.

My plan for when I move again and have the space is to built a new windows box, and make my old one a Linux system. Pick up 4 more matching monitors (If I can find proper 16x10,... damn 16x9 and your crappy wasted space!)

I'll keep a central 16x10 on the windows box, and add two vertical (10x16) screens to either side for documents. Above that will be two horizontal (16x10) monitors for the Linux box, and they will then be linked by Synergy, and have a custom desk so I can easily store the second mouse and keyboard so I can use the Linux box easily while full screened in Windows.


Why you ask? Because I can. (And it will be good for read outs and simulation display.)

lewisboats
02-01-2010, 11:33 AM
Sob!...one of my monitors crapped out...I feel soooo abandoned :( :( :mad: . I'll have to wait for the old tax refund to see about getting another or fixing this one. I feel like I have a hand cut off or lost an eye. Trying to cram everything onto one tiny 28" monitor sucks!:rolleyes: If I get the DTs too bad I suppose I could hook up the old 19" but I use that as a TV in the bedroom...hooked up to the laptop.

marshmat
02-01-2010, 12:00 PM
I had to 'downgrade' to a single 20" 1680x1050 last week.... when your Toshiba laptop spontaneously drops dead in the middle of the day, then smells like capacitors when you take its cover plates off, this is Not A Good Sign.

The new rig (Phenom II x4 955, 4GB DDR3-1333, Radeon HD 5770 graphics and a striped pair of 500GB WD Caviar Black drives) is pretty sweet- everything but the hard drive scores in the sevens on the Win7 performance index. But oh, how I miss that extra monitor. (And the scanner, and the webcam, and all that other stuff that is "No longer supported by the manufacturer".... HP, Logitech, I'm lookin' at you here....)

I now run my Linux stuff in VirtualBox seamless mode, so my Linux programs and my Windows programs share the same desktop, same interface, etc. Very convenient, and they're just as thoroughly isolated as if they were on separate, networked hardware. In theory it can even tie the clipboards of the two systems together- seamless copy/paste from Win7 to Linux programs or vice-versa, although I haven't quite figured that bit out yet.

Now where can I find a couple of 30" 2560x1600 flatscreens to make proper use of this flippin' expensive graphics card....

lewisboats
02-01-2010, 12:17 PM
Try I-Inc...that is what my 28s are. Max res isn't quite that high though...1920 x 1200 but that is tight enough for me at 2 1/2 ft away. Tiger Direct has an HP 30" 2560 x 1600 for $1200 each...the I-Inc is $320, which is about what I can afford right now.

Jeff
02-04-2010, 07:10 AM
This past year I got a dell 3007 and am pretty pleased with it - well, that's an understatement - I can't go back. 2560 x 1600 resolution changes the way you work. The major advantage of the "cheap" dell $1300 30" over the $300 28" I-Inc for me is viewing angle which I normally don't worry about, but with the 30" it starts to come into play for me.

Asleep Helmsman
02-04-2010, 07:18 AM
Member of the Dual Screen Club since 1998

I had those gigantic 19 CRTs at that time; you had to have a special desk to support them.

Fun times, the technology was changing so fast, you bought a new computer every few months or so.

yipster
02-04-2010, 11:10 AM
This past year I got a dell 3007 and am pretty pleased with it - well, that's an understatement - I can't go back. 2560 x 1600 resolution changes the way you work. The major advantage of the "cheap" dell $1300 30" over the $300 28" I-Inc for me is viewing angle which I normally don't worry about, but with the 30" it starts to come into play for me.
must be nice, i was always after big monitors, but rite now doing it on only 22''
got reading glasses meanwhile and found i have to turn my head now or get better glasses
you say a 30" has a beter viewing angle over a 28"? how do you mean?

edit: as for the pen pad, great -but- works best on some 2d drawing progs

Jeff
02-04-2010, 06:45 PM
The viewing angle spec never affected me with 19" or 21" monitors much, and I probably overstated it last night with the I-Inc. When I'm working on something where I have material on the side desk I'm going back and forth with or for whatever reason moving around some, I notice a color/light shift on the I-Inc that makes whites and grays get a weird color shift "sheen" if I'm to one side of center, and I see a slight color differential across the screen from the gigantic size, especially on neutral colors, but the latter isn't a problem unless you look for it or compare it side by side with another that has a wider viewing angle. For the money it's an incredible value.

I still do have my viewsonic as a secondary monitor too (back from service.) I actually had to get the 30" one day when a partridge flew into the glass window directly behind my desk, through the glass, and directly into the old monitor! I bet service doesn't see that issue too often. But thanks to the bird for a good excuse to upgrade. Going to 30" is probably the first time I've really used "windows" as fluid "windows" floating under/over/beside/etc. With smaller I would mostly have the main program maximized with tool palettes on the secondary, but I was really clicking between programs always before.

BTPost
02-04-2010, 09:33 PM
I have run Multiple Monitors on my Mac Systems, since 1998, and have run a bunch of different Cadd Software over the years. AutoCad being One. Now, my Main Machine is a Dual G4 1.25Ghz with 4GB of Core, 4TB of Rotating Memory, and three Monitors. A 30" Mac LCD, a 24" ViewSonic LCD, and a 21" Mac LCD. THe Two Mac LCD's are for Drawings, Side by Side, and I keep the ViewSonic above for Pallets, Calculator, Parts Lists, and misc windows. Current Cadd Software is Ashlar*Vellums Argon & Graphite which will run on the G4's or Intel , and OSX or XP under BootCamp on my Mac Mini... Gives me a lot of flexibility in dealing with external sources and destinations. Graphite and Argon do a good job of importing and exporting to .DXF and .DWG, as well.
I use a Scroll Wheel mouse as well as a Trackball for input, plus the Keyboard if required. When it is time to reTire the G4's, I will move to a Dual Quad Core Mac Pro, but that is down the road, still, for now...

yipster
02-05-2010, 01:41 PM
havent seen 28 and 30" monitors in 2560 1600 resolution yet
will check up, your points too, in a good pc shop soon
but first i'm off to see the movie avatar :cool:

lewisboats
02-08-2010, 12:20 PM
Tigerdirect just put up refurbished 30" macs in 2560 x 1600 for $900 in case anyone is interested. Glad I don't have my refund yet or it would have a good chance of being spent!

HakimKlunker
06-27-2010, 03:13 AM
...or a pic of your girlfriend in the nic is always fun to...

Unless you are married.

Politely, and with all respect: The left screen is for the left side of the brain?

kroberts
06-27-2010, 03:32 PM
Holy forum resurrection, Batman!

Two monitors is for all sorts of things. If you use spreadsheets, nothing beats having the spreadsheet stretched across two monitors. Or any sort of drawing, you get detail of up close and a big picture at the same time. If you're a gamer, 3 or more monitors is not uncommon. A flight simulator can have one for forward, one for each side and even go further than that if you want.

I have a software development environment on one screen and documentation on the other. My monitors are wide enough I can get two normal web browsers open side by side, so I can get a lot of docs if I want, or email, or whatever without interrupting my primary task.

pistnbroke
06-28-2010, 03:02 AM
yes always had 2 and so has the wife ....4 @ 23 in monitors in total ...so much better than a single monitor

ludesign
06-28-2010, 03:03 AM
I'm running an iMac 24" with an additional 24" screen (2 x 1920 x 1200), mainly running TouchCAD and Vectorworks, occasionally with XP in a separate window (if I absolutely have to).

HakimKlunker
06-28-2010, 04:46 AM
This is your system manager:

YOUR MESSAGE IS TOO NARROW TO BE DISPLAYED.






However: chaqu'un son facon

dreamer
07-07-2010, 11:31 AM
I had a friend who used 5 (yes FIVE) monitors. It was like being on the set of Star Trek.

But 2 will do just fine thanks. Ideally, I'd like to have 2 WUXGA, high resolution monitors. If you use any multimedia software that involves timelines, wide screens rule.

HardWare
09-17-2010, 05:48 PM
I have 3 monitors, all different.
24" 1920x1200 LCD
22" 1680x1050 LCD
22" 1600x1200@80Hz CRT

Generally I just use 1 LCD and the CRT for watching TV, the other LCD is for another computer or VM.

View Full Version : how many people work with dual monitors?