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Game Changers - Dual Monitors

by Joe Mobley
39 replies
There are some things that a person can do with minimal effort or expense that produces an exponential return. Usually the gains are astounding and are hard to describe. Others just don't seem to 'get it'... until they try it.

I call these Game Changers.

One of these game changers for me is dual monitors. I had read how much of a benefit multiple monitors can be. I was keeping an eye out for a good combination on size and price.

One day I found a clearance on 26inch HDTV's. I checked and sure enough it had a PC (VGA) connection. I grabbed it, hooked it up and never looked back.

Having more than one monitor is awesome. Being able to spread things out on an expanded desktop makes work go faster and easier. You can't appreciate how having to click back and forth between applications is such a pain until you don't have to do it.

And if you do webinars or screen video recording, OMG!

If you have a laptop, it probably has a VGA port in the back. If you have a desktop or tower PC, you may need to add a video card. If you do, let me recommend TigerDirect.com. Less than $40-$50 and great service.

If you have questions or comments, leave a post.

EDIT: dsm091 said "How about some pics now of the IM computer setups?", which is a great idea. So, post pics of your monitor setup if you would like.


Joe Mobley
#changers #dual #game #monitors
  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    That's why I have 6 monitors - lots of multitasking.
    http://twitpic.com/bwfi
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
      Thank you Andy.

      I figured that there would be those people with REAL multi-monitor setups (4,6,8, etc.) that would laugh at just having 2 monitors.

      Tell me, do you think that multiple monitors are a huge productivity booster?


      Regards,

      Joe Mobley
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      • Profile picture of the author dsm091
        Everyone should have two monitors. I have to train my users to use two because they are so use to 1 monitor.

        I have 3 at home and 2 at work. I code on one and watch the updates on the other. I would never go back to one. IM is so much easier with 2 monitors. Plus it is the best way to research on one monitor and make changes on the other. Or rewrite articles?? Everything is just easier. Thanks for the post!

        How about some pics now of the IM computer setups?

        I will post mine on Monday.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Lenaghan
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      That's why I have 6 monitors - lots of multitasking.
      Andys Home Office Warrior Setup - 8 Monitors on Twitpic
      My wife thinks I'm nuts for having two big monitors. Thanks for giving me something to show her that my problem is NOTHING compared to what it could be

      I've been using dual monitors for years, gradually getting larger and larger ones as I upgrade.

      One of the big game changers for me was getting on that could swivel to a portrait (tall) layout. It's great for things like Twitter, email or anything where there's a long list of stuff I want to look at but it doesn't necessarily have to be a wide window.

      John
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by shanedavind View Post

      That's beast. Almost like mission control.
      I actually usually work on several computers at a time too since I use my mac for some things and I can leave on PC uploading videos while the mac is encoding others and I'm working on another, so just having more monitors sometimes isn't enough anyway.
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    • Profile picture of the author samuelseeto
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      That's why I have 6 monitors - lots of multitasking.
      Andys Home Office Warrior Setup - 8 Monitors on Twitpic
      Haha, 6 monitors!!!! Never heard of that before. That is crazy.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve Wells
        Originally Posted by samuelseeto View Post

        Haha, 6 monitors!!!! Never heard of that before. That is crazy.
        I'm guessing he could be an online poker player also, who multi-tables like 50 tables at a time......
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve Wells
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      That's why I have 6 monitors - lots of multitasking.
      Andys Home Office Warrior Setup - 8 Monitors on Twitpic
      What do you use to prevent your face from getting screen burn? I only use one screen and it seems to me that at times from being on the computer for long periods, that my face becomes dried out from the rays from the screen.

      With six screens I think I would need a 30 spf sun screen....
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Sure, it means I can have twitter on one screen, WF on another, Facebook on another, be writing a document on another, watching tv on another and also have itunes up
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  • Profile picture of the author 4morereferrals
    Been rocking dual monitors since a flat panels were $800-1000 ea.

    Its been the best tech upgrade Ive ever done - roi wise.

    Unless youre a mobile evangelist dual monitors is just mandatory! you can never go back :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author myaceonline
    I'm very interested in having dual monitors... the thought has intrigued me for quite some time.
    What do you find as the most efficient way of using them? Your main monitor would be for what you are currently working on, web pages, article writing and the like. And then the second monitor used more for keeping up to date with social sites?

    Having 6 - wow, I think I'd go blind, lol

    I'd love to hear how you make them most productive.
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    Best,
    Heather

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    • Profile picture of the author John Lenaghan
      Originally Posted by myaceonline View Post

      I'm very interested in having dual monitors... the thought has intrigued me for quite some time.
      What do you find as the most efficient way of using them? Your main monitor would be for what you are currently working on, web pages, article writing and the like. And then the second monitor used more for keeping up to date with social sites?
      Keeping social sites, email or any other interruption open on the second monitor is the fastest way to kill the extra productivity, in my experience. I use the second monitor for Twitter and stuff like that, but only when I'm in that mode.

      I have stuff like FTP clients, file managers, or other things that are open all the time but not necessarily in use on my secondary monitor, with the main things I'm working on open on the primary one.

      I'll also move stuff over to the secondary monitor if I need it for reference while I'm working on something. It makes it easy to rewrite articles, research stuff on websites or anything like that where you might be reading one thing while working on another.

      John
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      • Profile picture of the author paulie888
        Originally Posted by nichescape View Post

        Keeping social sites, email or any other interruption open on the second monitor is the fastest way to kill the extra productivity, in my experience. I use the second monitor for Twitter and stuff like that, but only when I'm in that mode.

        I have stuff like FTP clients, file managers, or other things that are open all the time but not necessarily in use on my secondary monitor, with the main things I'm working on open on the primary one.

        I'll also move stuff over to the secondary monitor if I need it for reference while I'm working on something. It makes it easy to rewrite articles, research stuff on websites or anything like that where you might be reading one thing while working on another.

        John
        I couldn't agree more about social media being a productivity killer! Facebook and Youtube especially can lead you off on tangents you'd never imagine if you're not careful. What you've explained above is more or less what I do with dual monitors - you can have applications on one monitor and your web browser on the other for easy reference. By having two monitors, you can have multiple applications open and not have to constantly minimize and maximize windows whenever you switch among them (for example, you can have a spreadsheet, Word document and web browser open without having to constantly maximize and minimize these applications when switching among them).

        Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    I've used dual monitors before, and they really work well when you're working on multiple tasks at once and need to have multiple windows open. It's also great when you're doing a webinar and you need some space on the side to prepare your applications/windows for presentation, as well as attend to the chat comments!
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary King
    Count me in - 2 monitors for years - big ole 24" ers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
      Heather,

      For the next few days think about this every time you have to click between items on your desktop or toolbar. That all but goes away with multiple monitors.

      It's really hard to describe. But once you do it for a week or so, I don't think you'll want to go back.

      All the best.

      Joe Mobley
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  • Profile picture of the author gotti3636
    I use 3 monitors and I still need more space! One 30" and a 24" on both sides is not enough!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    Two 28's baby!

    I have a third 28 arriving next week which will be mounted on a pole in front of my treadmill workstation which I switch to from my main workstation using a kvm when I need to get off the ole duff.

    All my employees have dual monitors too. Anything I can do to make them more productive.
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  • Profile picture of the author PaulaC
    I love having two monitors. I find it really hard to work on a computer with only one monitor now. It does increase productivity in my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt MacPherson
    This would cause me to procrastinate and lose focus even more. I already use a program to block access to certain websites. This would cause me to massively lose focus... But if it's working for you that's awesome.

    Cheers,
    Matt
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohsin Rasool
    WELL before every Warrior goes out and buy more monitors I want to add this to shed light on the other side......
    -------------------------
    Day by day I am moving away from big screens and moving to as mobile as i can go.
    Yes i have used dual monitors in the past and i loved it. But now as i work little on actual programming
    stuff, so i think all it can be done with as little as iphone screen.

    Yeah my ultimate wish is to be desk free. So i can move around and do not have to sit on desk all day
    to manage this IM dinosaur!

    Also FOCUS is very important to grow your CORE business and for this you do need less and
    less distractions so better work on ONE task at a time. So you may not need another monitor!
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by Mohsin Rasool View Post

      WELL before every Warrior goes out and buy more monitors I want to add this to shed light on the other side......
      -------------------------
      Day by day I am moving away from big screens and moving to as mobile as i can go.
      Yes i have used dual monitors in the past and i loved it. But now as i work little on actual programming
      stuff, so i think all it can be done with as little as iphone screen.

      Yeah my ultimate wish is to be desk free. So i can move around and do not have to sit on desk all day
      to manage this IM dinosaur!

      Also FOCUS is very important to grow your CORE business and for this you do need less and
      less distractions so better work on ONE task at a time. So you may not need another monitor!
      Mohsin, I'd have to agree and disagree. Ultimately, it depends on the task you're trying to accomplish. If what you're doing can be accomplished using just one open window or application, then dual or multiple monitors are not needed. But if you're trying to accomplish a task that requires you to switch windows and applications on a frequent and continual basis, then dual or multiple monitors will dramatically increase your productivity!

      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author FloridaKash
    I have dual monitors and work. I absolutely love it, been using them for 6 years. At home I just have a laptop that I work from. I get very tired of going back and forth between programs using tabs at home.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by FloridaKash View Post

      I have dual monitors and work. I absolutely love it, been using them for 6 years. At home I just have a laptop that I work from. I get very tired of going back and forth between programs using tabs at home.
      My thoughts exactly, switching between programs and continually minimizing/maximizing them can really kill your productivity and become very tedious.

      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author taji
        On my "must get" list
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  • Profile picture of the author taylormarek
    Nice. Now I have to get me some. Problem is I'm in Taiwan for a year and limited to a widescreen laptop. Ah well, I'll survive till I get back to the States...
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    My setup, after long years of multi-monitor usage, is now a powerful laptop hooked to an external 30" monitor (2560x1600 resolution). That way I get plenty of screen real state while working at home, plus I can take my work with me while on the road.

    It's just what's worked the best for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rough Outline
    Is each screened powered by a different computer? If I were ever to multi-screen then I'd want a computer per screen so I could photoshop etc fast and do simple jobs on the other.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Rough Outline Writing View Post

      Is each screened powered by a different computer? If I were ever to multi-screen then I'd want a computer per screen so I could photoshop etc fast and do simple jobs on the other.
      Exactly. Sometimes you need both multiple computers and multiple screens.
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  • Profile picture of the author darshan1994
    I have two moniters, the only thing I need is to get better processor so I can do many multiple task.
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    • Profile picture of the author DogScout
      Originally Posted by darshan1994 View Post

      I have two moniters, the only thing I need is to get better processor so I can do many multiple task.
      You can get dual motherboards, with load balancing. Have a dual quad core on each one. That would help?
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      • Profile picture of the author bigstu22
        Been playing with this today-with my laptop and an external monitor sitting aside. Not pretty but I LOVE it already! The time saved already is fantastic. I can't understand those that say they'd get too distracted. I'm the King of losing focus easily-but this is just too much of an improvement in efficiency-and I must admit I'm staying focused no prob.


        How do you go about setting up more than two? I think I'm screwed with my lappy but was considering a desktop anyway. I did consider the idea of multiple computers already mentioned but doesn't that mean you'd be fumbling for different mice/keyboards? That would probably negate the time saved with a true extended desktop. I'm ready to be educated otherwise though!
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        • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
          Originally Posted by bigstu22 View Post

          Been playing with this today-with my laptop and an external monitor sitting aside. Not pretty but I LOVE it already! The time saved already is fantastic. I can't understand those that say they'd get too distracted. I'm the King of losing focus easily-but this is just too much of an improvement in efficiency-and I must admit I'm staying focused no prob.
          Glad that has helped.

          Originally Posted by bigstu22 View Post

          How do you go about setting up more than two? I think I'm screwed with my lappy but was considering a desktop anyway. I did consider the idea of multiple computers already mentioned but doesn't that mean you'd be fumbling for different mice/keyboards? That would probably negate the time saved with a true extended desktop. I'm ready to be educated otherwise though!
          I bought a video card from TigerDirect.com. You can get a pretty good education by just checking out their video cards.

          Maybe Mr. 6-pack, Andy Henry could shed some light on the equipment he uses for 6 monitors.

          Hope this helps.

          Joe Mobley
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    Never had more than 21 computers at the same time. (and 5 ISP lines). Most monitors I ever had one a single computer was 3, but the tendency (for me) is to have so many things running the computer cannot handle it.

    Of course, that was with XP that could only max out 4 Gigs of RAM... W7 or a MAC would have probably worked better.

    I try to keep it down to 2 or 3 computers these days. Ever since I stopped running small countries, no need for so many.
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    For web software development, a dual monitor system is brilliant.

    Edit the source code on one and see the results on the other.

    No maximizing, minimizing or switching.

    Love it.

    Actually, we've had this discussion many times on the WF.
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  • Profile picture of the author michael_gourlay
    If you guys want to link a couple computers together (use the same mouse and keyboard to control both of them), I use a software called Synergy (google it, I can't post links yet) to link them together. It allows me to put my laptop right next to my other monitors and move the mouse between computers. It works cross platform too, so you can use it with Mac, Linux, Windows all at the same time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Blogmudgeon
      I have come to hate working on the laptop. So much so that when travelling, I take a 17" panel along to extend to dual. It's been 8 years since I went to dual monitors--and just recently added a third 21" that can rotate to portrait mode.

      While not what I would call a "game changer", multiple monitors sure can increase efficiency and create a proper production environment. At any given point in time I will have a PHP/CSS code editor up (EnginSite), Photoshop, Excel, FileZilla, one or two instances of Word, Outlook, the file manager, and at least two browser applications--usually FF & Chrome. Many times IE and Safari are up too in order to check design compatibility.

      I simply could not imagine trying to do this on a single monitor...
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