Upgrade to Dual Monitors?

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Thinking about getting a new monitor.

I did use dual ones in the past at work and found them to be pretty useful, so I could use one screen and have something else running on the other.  However, home use, I don't know if I'll fully get the best out of the dual screen. It could be useful when doing document work, but the bulk of that will finish in the next few months.  It could be useful to have them so I can run VLC / iPlayer / watch movie while working.  But them I am happy with music.   Sitting here now, I don't know what I would have on the other screen.  Plus, I don't know whether my graphics card has a dual output.

 

I know it sounds like I am talking myself out of it but that's because I reckon if I did get the dual monitors, then I'd actually use them - but it's double the cost.

 

I currently use a 5yr+ 20" LG.

 

I've read a few opinions online that when you make the switch to dual or triple, you never go back.

 

Opinions?

[DevTech]

More value in a single hidef/hi-res quality monitor such as a 4K 27" to 32"

 

Then later on move to two or three of those.

 

Dual junk is just twice the eye strain!

 

[tsupersonic]

I had a dual monitor (hell even a triple monitor at one time) setup at home. I didn't really see the necessity, and scaled back to just one monitor. For home use, I'd rather have one single large resolution (4k) monitor than multiple 1080p monitors. At work, I'd need dual monitors. 

[DevTech]

4 minutes ago, tsupersonic said:

I had a dual monitor (hell even a triple monitor at one time) setup at home. I didn't really see the necessity, and scaled back to just one monitor. For home use, I'd rather have one single large resolution (4k) monitor than multiple 1080p monitors. At work, I'd need dual monitors. 

He is involved in the "Up to No Good" project.

 

So if he had an array of 6 monitors, it would be easier to secure funding from the "Evil Genius Foundation"

 

Source: Every current TV show and Movie where a geek uses computers.

[The Evil Overlord]

20 minutes ago, DevTech said:

He is involved in the "Up to No Good" project.

 

So if he had an array of 6 monitors, it would be easier to secure funding from the "Evil Genius Foundation"

 

Source: Every current TV show and Movie where a geek uses computers.

I was going for a 6 screen set up, total overkill, but my wife threw on the brakes on that idea  (currently my 4th screen is my TV, so when my youngest wants to watch something while I'm working, I can throw on whatever kid's show is on amazon onto the TV which is overhead of my rig)

[The Evil Overlord]

1 hour ago, Sir Topham Hatt said:

Thinking about getting a new monitor.

I did use dual ones in the past at work and found them to be pretty useful, so I could use one screen and have something else running on the other.  However, home use, I don't know if I'll fully get the best out of the dual screen. It could be useful when doing document work, but the bulk of that will finish in the next few months.  It could be useful to have them so I can run VLC / iPlayer / watch movie while working.  But them I am happy with music.   Sitting here now, I don't know what I would have on the other screen.  Plus, I don't know whether my graphics card has a dual output.

 

I know it sounds like I am talking myself out of it but that's because I reckon if I did get the dual monitors, then I'd actually use them - but it's double the cost.

 

I currently use a 5yr+ 20" LG.

 

I've read a few opinions online that when you make the switch to dual or triple, you never go back.

 

Opinions?

It's your money, if you want it, go for it, just make sure your GPU can handle simultaneous multiscreen (if applicable these days, many years ago, I didn't realise mine didn't)

[+Warwagon MVC]

Dual Monitors for the win. On my couch I have a 30 inch 2560 x 1600 screen, but I still love having my other 2 screens. Once you go dual you never go back.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

My desktop PC is in the same room as the home theatre.

 

The TV is connected to the PC via the A/V receiver.

 

Sometimes I extend the desktop to the TV, other times I duplicate the picture on both screens

[TPreston]

If you can afford it ditch the prison bars and go for a single 34' UltraWide

[xendrome]

5 year old 20" monitor.. man you are missing out...

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Yeah - a lot has changed in 5 years.  In fact, it might be a lot older than that as looking at when I re-built my 2nd PC, that was 2008...  so nearly 10 years old!

My monitor: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lg-l207wt-20-widescreen-lcd-monitor-mo-058-lg.html - LG Flatron L207WT (do they even use that name any more?)

 

I was looking at an LG 23MP68VQ monitor (but get two).  Price when I looked yesterday - £134.  Price today, £126 from Amazon or £117 if buying from Amazon warehouse deal.  But the problem with that, and other monitors I have seen is that the cables stick out the back.  My current one, cables point down which is nice as it's mounted on the wall in front of me, saving desk space and looking... well, not too bad.:

 

 

But then maybe my "rig" isn't strong enough, hence not looking for something massive.  It's a Shuttle PC (FZ68), Quad core i5-3570, powered with an AMD Radeon R9 200 series.

 

The problem is, I don't really use a PC for huge amounts of  heavy gaming, although Planet Coaster does make the processor fans work hard (temperatures are around 50C in the box when playing for an hour or so.
So I didn't want to get a huge case, that essentially is just wasted space inside.

I suppose having dual monitors would put me off gaming, but then I guess I can set it to just use one monitor?

Edited June 2, 2017 by Sir Topham Hatt

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Hmm.  After a little measuring, a possible new monitor is 53cm wide.  My current is 47, so the current set up simply wouldn't work with two of those monitors, and it's not something I can really change.

However, perhaps buying one would give a nice upgrade that would be good enough for years to come.

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

I really couldn't imagine going back to one monitor. I cringe when I have to work on other people's rigs with one monitor... three would be nice. This is important both for work (VITAL for work, in fact) and for home multitasking (which I do a lot, for instance, watching a fullscreen video and have IRC open while posting this)

[Brys]

16 hours ago, Sir Topham Hatt said:

I've read a few opinions online that when you make the switch to dual or triple, you never go back.

I've had two monitors for a long time, and I wouldn't want to go back to one; i've had three but I went back and forth between two and three, I feel I don't use the third one very much

54 minutes ago, Sir Topham Hatt said:

I suppose having dual monitors would put me off gaming, but then I guess I can set it to just use one monitor?

That depends on... plenty of things I guess. The game you play, how you play it. A lot of modern games can be put on "borderless window" mode, allowing you to have a fullscreen game experience on one screen but easily switch to something else; I've been playing games while having a chat app on the side, or some related web browsing, or even sometimes watching a tv show or something. That's more of a luxury than a nececity, if you're like me you don't really need the second screen, but once you have it you'll feel sick if you go back to only one.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

I had dual screens forever, starting in Win XP. Went from 2x17" to 2x20" to 2x23" to a single 34" right now. I recently saw a good deal on a 24" that I got a few months ago.

 

Back YEARS ago when I was doing HTML/CSS/PHP work double screen was a godsend. Having browser and Dreamweaver on separate screens.

 

The 34" and 24" are curved screens. They take awhile to get adjusted to. But are great monitors.

 

Edit: They are both Samsung.

[Mando]

9 hours ago, Sir Topham Hatt said:

Yeah - a lot has changed in 5 years.  In fact, it might be a lot older than that as looking at when I re-built my 2nd PC, that was 2008...  so nearly 10 years old!

My monitor: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lg-l207wt-20-widescreen-lcd-monitor-mo-058-lg.html - LG Flatron L207WT (do they even use that name any more?)

 

I was looking at an LG 23MP68VQ monitor (but get two).  Price when I looked yesterday - £134.  Price today, £126 from Amazon or £117 if buying from Amazon warehouse deal.  But the problem with that, and other monitors I have seen is that the cables stick out the back.  My current one, cables point down which is nice as it's mounted on the wall in front of me, saving desk space and looking... well, not too bad.:

 

 

But then maybe my "rig" isn't strong enough, hence not looking for something massive.  It's a Shuttle PC (FZ68), Quad core i5-3570, powered with an AMD Radeon R9 200 series.

 

The problem is, I don't really use a PC for huge amounts of  heavy gaming, although Planet Coaster does make the processor fans work hard (temperatures are around 50C in the box when playing for an hour or so.
So I didn't want to get a huge case, that essentially is just wasted space inside.

I suppose having dual monitors would put me off gaming, but then I guess I can set it to just use one monitor?

ive been buying 20.1" 1080p Phlips LEDs for work users at £66 each (ex vat) I run 4x 24" 1080s at work. At home i sold all my multimonitor as i only used them when i was working at home, down to a single 27" these days and waiting for a large single 4k display prices to drop a touch.

[Anibal P]

I use 3 at work and 2 at home

 

To me, now, that 2 is the bare minimum, 1 is too limiting and cripples any real multitasking 

[Odom Member]

I have many monitors at work, but for home I don't need that. I used to have a Dell 24'' and wanted to go for something bigger. The 27'' 1440p I had from ASUS broke down and with the money they gave me back I got a Dell 34'' curved Ultra wide. This one is amazing, and really wide!! I don't work with it nor do I watch movies, I mainly use i tfor playing games. Downside is, to push games at that resolution with full details requires the most expensive graphic cards. If you don't game on it, then you also don't need such a graphics card.

These kind of monitors bing their own tools to split up the screen, so that you can snap application windows to multiple modes.

If I ever were to get a 4K monitor, it would have to be something at least 36'' in size or bigger, otherwise the resolution is too small for me to look at.

[+Fahim S. MVC]

One very large monitor generally beats 2 smaller screens. I moved from 2x20 to 1x27 at home. I use 2x24 at work and would gladly swap it for the 27 I have at home.

 

The monitor has to have a good resolution though... 1440P or better  

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Hmm.

 

Lots to think about.

 

The space between speakers is 76cm.  The space for two of the LG monitors above would be just over 100cm.  Because of how I have the shelf above laid out, I don't think two would work very well.  Yes, I could put the speakers on the shelf, but the wall was awful for drilling into and the shelves aren't that strong - certainly not strong enough to put the speakers on.  I suppose they could hold the weight but I wouldn't want to risk it for long term use.  Plus that also means a cable trailing down (something I tried to avoid when setting up).

 

So, I thought about Ultra-wide monitors after it was suggested by @TPreston

Not that I am brand loyal, but the LG 29UM68 could be the one.  I use Windows inbuilt snapping occasionally, so this will give me eons of space without (as @TPreston says) the prison bars.  The problem then is that I'm worried that I'll see loads of empty space everywhere... websites, in Word...  this is what makes me think a single but so much better than I have monitor would be better.

 

My main worry is that I will buy a new monitor and it won't feel like much of an upgrade.  It's so difficult to see without having one physically here.

I suppose I could buy one single monitor and see how I get on with it.  Afterall, while dual monitors are really useful when I need the dual-ness, when I don't need it, it'll be wasted space.  Even now as I type, I only have a few tabs open, VLC running... nothing that I would need a second monitor for.

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

I think before you take the plunge and get two monitors really sit back for a couple of days and ask yourself what will I need them for? 
Yes you can have a movie playing on one, and say Neowin on the other. BUT with say a 32inch monitor you can do that as well by snapping the windows together. 
I would say unless you are planning on actually doing anything that requires dual monitors, then you best bet may be to just buy an ultra wide instead and simply snap windows together as you need them, and use it as a single monitor when you don't.
I myself am a 3D game developer, so I require a dual monitor setup, the left having my main 3d program at the time, and the right one having my reference and photoshop open. 
From what you described though, I would actually be suggesting a ultra wide one, or going with a 27/28 inch 1440p or 4K monitor. (whatever your video card can handle). 

[TPreston]

22 minutes ago, Sir Topham Hatt said:

Hmm.

 

Lots to think about.

 

The space between speakers is 76cm.  The space for two of the LG monitors above would be just over 100cm.  Because of how I have the shelf above laid out, I don't think two would work very well.  Yes, I could put the speakers on the shelf, but the wall was awful for drilling into and the shelves aren't that strong - certainly not strong enough to put the speakers on.  I suppose they could hold the weight but I wouldn't want to risk it for long term use.  Plus that also means a cable trailing down (something I tried to avoid when setting up).

 

So, I thought about Ultra-wide monitors after it was suggested by @TPreston

Not that I am brand loyal, but the LG 29UM68 could be the one.  I use Windows inbuilt snapping occasionally, so this will give me eons of space without (as @TPreston says) the prison bars.  The problem then is that I'm worried that I'll see loads of empty space everywhere... websites, in Word...  this is what makes me think a single but so much better than I have monitor would be better.

 

My main worry is that I will buy a new monitor and it won't feel like much of an upgrade.  It's so difficult to see without having one physically here.

I suppose I could buy one single monitor and see how I get on with it.  Afterall, while dual monitors are really useful when I need the dual-ness, when I don't need it, it'll be wasted space.  Even now as I type, I only have a few tabs open, VLC running... nothing that I would need a second monitor for.

If you can go for the 3440x1440 res version the pixels are huge on the 1080p one, And its not as bad a hit on your gpu as a true 4k monitor

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Yeah, been looking at resolutions.

 

I'm coming from 1680x1050 resolution on an AMD Radeon R9 270X card.

Graphics card isn't the most powerful ever but runs everything I need.  I don't play loads of games, certainly not FPS (at the moment), but Planet Coaster on medium settings can speed the fan and have a temperature of 55°C or so (although it stays steady at that).  The PC is a Shuttle Z68 or something similar.

 

However, the only ultra wide monitors I can afford at the moment are a max res of 2560x1080 - would this be a true upgrade?  I currently draw at 1050 vertically so it'll look the same won't it?

Have looked at some curved options but I don't know if I'll really make use of it, or whether it's just me wanting the latest "toy".

 

Have thought about a whole new PC, which I may need in the future, so I don't want to sink £250 into an ultra wide monitor that'll be for a couple of years, then get a brand new system that could give higher resolutions but be stuck with a monitor that can't.  I'd rather pay less now.

But I suppose that banks on whether I will build a new rig in a few years or not.  As tablets are becoming more and more the norm, things could be very different in the near future.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Sir Topham Hatt

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Just to conclude this, ended up going with a SINGLE LG 23" 1080p IPS monitor (LG23MP68).

Got it on an Amazon Warehouse deal but I can't see the scratches that were supposed to be on it.

 

So far so good.  It's not a huge upgrade but the extra resolution certainly has given me loads more desktop space.  The colours are pretty good out of the box too (it's supposed to be calibrated).

 

The only disappointment is that my old wall bracket can't house it.  Near the bottom of the monitor there's a portion where the plastic sticks out further.  That and the wires stick right out the back.  My old monitor, they pointed downwards so I literally had it against the wall.  The stand is okay but I've ordered a desk arm mount to see if it'll look a little nicer.  It means I can use this monitor for the next X years until 4k becomes a little more normal.

 

However, thank you so much for the advice and thoughts