Are you using 2 monitors yet?

Gotta love dual monitors.

Try 6......... At least I used to have that, then I change the layout of my room and took it down to 2. No need for 6 monitors if you aren't doing stocks or serious programming (which I'm getting back into).

So who knows, maybe if I add the other 4 I'll post a pic.

I have been using two for some time.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I would be interested in those of you who are using three or four; how you are doing it.

To the OP, I don't feel right without a second screen and even travel with one.

CT

Yes using 2 monitors can be time efficient, when using many programs.

Disclaimer: Using 2 monitors will not double your profits.

I wish I were, but I'm not...

I have a 52" HD TV on my wall that runs as my main monitor. My laptop screen is for notes, and my apad is used instead of a mouse. This set up is great, and the apad works perfectly for graphics, especially when you use it as a graphics tablet with a stylus. Chuck in DSN and you're looking at the future.

Edit: The fact I have the laptop sitting on an OAP's food trolley does rather spoil the effect.

I use 3 I did 4 just to say I could do it but I hardly ever used the 4th one.

How did I do it? 2 graphics cards with 2 DVI ports on each of them.

I have two, but I will soon be upgrading to 4.

That means 2 27" monitors and 2 21" ones.

I was just going to add that I don't see why more people don't use TVs as monitors.
Admittedly this used to be an awful idea due to the poor graphics quality, but modern flat-screens work brilliantly as monitors.

Also if you set your screen saver to a classic painting, then when you aren't using your computer it looks perfect for the in-laws visit.

Macintosh Desktop, Two Screens 24inches.

I have 3. One big 32 inch, a smaller 19 inch placed vertically, and a little 10 inch one for my chats and to do list.

I found an old CRT about a year ago and for a while was using that as a second monitor to my laptop but it got frustrating so I stopped.

I went out yesterday though and bought a 19" LED monitor which I connected up with my laptop and I have seen a huge boom in productivity. I might add I also worked straight through the night and didn't realise until the birds broke my trance at about 7am.

Wow 2 monitors, I'd imagine you need some power under your hood for that. What kind of graphics cards do you need?

I don't use 2 monitors as such:
I use my iMac mostly but i also have 2 HP 12" tablets (ebay $400) which run throughout the day.
It works well for me, in can write articles on one when the other 2 are busy rendering or downloading files etc.
i find that i'm more productive using all 3 machines in tandem.
cheers

It definitely helps ya.. I currently have 2 laptops.

I'm planning on using dual monitor because there are a lot of my friends who tell me how easy it is to do programming, designing, etc with dual monitor. I want it too to increase my productivity thus increase my profits...

But I don't know how to do it (and I don't have second monitor!) perhaps I'll try ask my friends on how to it or pay someone to install it for me.

I have been use two monitors at one time for do work quickly.

Yep, use the laptop screen as the secondary one, usually for programs I am not staring at all the time but need to reference. 22" LCD is the main one. Would never go back - being out and about with the laptop now is really frustrating with just one screen.
How to set up? Google it But in short, just plug in the additional monitor, look for Extended desktop in Display Settings and tinker - sometimes takes a few attempts to get the right orientation, resolution, primary display etc. The exact procedure depends on the make of graphics card but it's rare to find a newer PC with graphics card that doesn't support this.

Right now, I am thinking about using two or three monitors. Someday, my business will grow big enough that my office will look like Watchtower on Smallville.

I run two computers one never gets connected to the internet so never any malware virus problems, whatever I'm working on (graphics etc) can sit there if I need to do something else.

I used to use 2 computers at the same time side by side. Worked pretty good, but every now and then I would get all mucked up going WTF? and realize I was on the wrong keyboard, or the keyboard would be right but the mice got switched etc.. .
Then I got a multi monitor setup and a faster computer, allows me to get more done for sure.. pretty sweet too. It's like outta the matrix.. . or star trek.

Yes, I'm using dual monitor here. Had 3, but got more room now. They are 24 inches each. I'm happy with 2 of them. Enough for the multitasking I do during the day.

Take care,

Bernard St-Pierre
Marketing Consultant
Copywriter/Teacher

Yes, I have 2 23 inch HP monitors mounted on a dual monitor stand-alone desk bracket. Both monitors are side by side. Both are connected to the same computer and graphics card, which has 3 output slots.

When doing graphics with photoshop, and using dreamweaver, skype, notepad++, email and pandora.com and other things, it really helps to have more screen realestate.....

My second monitor is identical to the first, cant handle the set-up not looking uniformed. Got it for like 167.00 and got the dual monitor stand on craigs list for 50.00, normally one like I have costs over 200.00 so I got a great deal.

If you have the space and the money, its well worth it and really helps your work flow....

BELOW IS THE ULTIMATE MONITOR SET-UP!

I actually have one monitor hooked up and a second one left over from when I sold my old pc(the monitor is current). My current computer is spec'd for dual monitors, I just haven't gotten around to hooking it up yet. Maybe I should

Sweet... I'm going to give this a shot.

Never knew it could actually help productivity.

This probably doesn't count as multi monitors, Heck I wouldn't even know how to set that up, but I do use 4 computers all at the same time and each has a monitor. I love to be able to go from email to WF to PhotoShop to etc. etc. From computer to computer rather than doing everything on the same computer.

George Wright, P.S. I'm counting my Droid as a computer. He thinks he is one.

17" laptop and a 23" lcd monitor works perfect for me.
I can fit 2 webpages/docs next to each other on the 23" so its like having 3 monitors really

I am using samsung 22" lcd as extended desktop with along my laptop. It works perfectly for me. I keep lot of notepad windows with important notes on the extended display, it keeps me reminded the priority things without annoying me with reminder popups. Also extended display helps while working with video tutorials.

Yes. it really improves your productivity..

All our employees except for the bookeeper have dual monitors. I would not have it any other way. Its too important for productivity.

Giving them large dual monitors ruined their experience at home or anywhere else that does not have them... they just jones for the extra desktop space ;-)

I have 3 x 28 in monitors in my office. Two are for extended windows desktop and the third is for my DIY Hackintosh pro or if I swivel it backwards it faces my treadmill workstation. A kvm switch allows me to switch from the windows to mac machine with the click of a button without having to switch keyboards.

The third monitor rests on a monitor stand support system I created from some some steel pipes screwed into a steel base screwed to a base board and attached to a pole monitor mount like this one:

VITEK MOUNTS & HOUSINGS - VT-LCD/PMT LCD Monitor Swivel Pole Mount

I am putting casters on the bottom of it tomorrow to make it easy to roll around the office.

I am also building a second similar setup to use in the video studio area of our office as a video camera monitor support for a large video camera monitor when filming myself without assistance.

My DIY setup is quite a bit cheaper than buying a solution but if you are just in the market for multi monitor setups here is a company I use a lot for hardware around our office:

LCD Pole Mount Selection - Flat Panel Monitor Arms on Poles

ok, that's it.

I'm getting my second one!

I used to use just one - a 19" LCD - but then I bought a new laptop, which is what I spend most of my time on. So I now work primarily on a small 12.1" laptop screen (which isn't as bad as it sounds), and occasionally plug into my old monitor and extend my desktop onto it, so that I can have a couple of things maximised at once.

Anyone considering the move... don't wait for your business to grow in order to justify it. It wil be the best investment you can make.

I have saved hundreds of hours of time on tasks that require multiple windows and/or apps running at the same time.

For me it is ok My Samsung 22" monitor, and i will not add any other monitors because i don't work at NASA.

Are you sure you guys don't just do it so you can have the WF open all day while you're working??? hehe

I do, actually. I have an iMac and recently added a Dell 24''. I'm into programming so it has huge effect on the productivity.

And there's me thinking my 24 inch was big enough!

...Better upgrade!

James

I love my two monitor set up at work. At home I have a huge 27 inch screen so I can easily do all my work on one screen. At home I really like Windows 7's functionality where you can grab the window and drag it to the side of the screen and it auto fills just one side. It's very nice if you just have one screen as well.

It'a very good idea using 2 or more monitors at same time. IT helps you to make money faster than using 1 monitor. I will buy another one to relieve my work

Hell Yeah!

I Couldn't live without 2 monitors anymore, gonna go for 3 This year, if the misses lets me

I use 3 a lot of the time I have one dv out to my 42" flat screen for watching Photoshop and coding tutorials, probably don't need the 3 but nice to have.

Lookin

I used to have dual screens in my 9-5 job back in 2003 and it was great for productivity. Don't know why I have never tried this at home especially as I mainly use my laptop on the desk beside my pc which normally goes unused now. It has a great large screen rightin front of me on the desk which is rarely switched on. Going to hook it up to the laptop now for a dual screen.
Even better, I have another large flatscreen monitor gathering dust in a cupboard so might even go for a triple screen display now.
It has crossed my mind from time to time but now that I've seen this thread I'm going to do it.

Its something I have been tempted to do for a while but kept putting it on the pile of things to do - now I've got my video camera, headset and webcam it might be the next investment. Anything to improve productivitiy!

No, and I don't care to either.

I've only got one head, and two eyes. That means I can only watch one screen at a time.

If I need to run two apps at the same time, I can launch them both on the same screen, and switch between them via alt/tab.

If I need to see two websites on the web, most browsers have what is called 'tabbed browsing' which does the same thing. If that isn't enough, I can again open multiple instances of the web browser, and again switch between them via alt tab.

The only people I've seen benefit from multi monitors, are hard core fps gamers and serious flight sim fans...both of whem do it for a more immersive experience.

So, if you want to run your electric bill up for the sake of a novelty, by all means don't let me stop you. I just don't see anything you can do with that kind of screen real estate that I can't do with a couple of keyboard clicks.

Haha sure am, I love it.

A classic example is when I am repurposing existing documents. I have the original document open at 75% and it shows 6 pages on the screen.

I then have the working doc opened on the screen and I can quickly copy, paste or move around content at will without scrolling etc.

Dual monitors save me at least 1 hour time wasting per day. Even if you value your time at $25 per hour, that's $125 in 5 days.

I'm in... going to two...

Save time......

Seriously, you waste like 5 seconds every time you switch between windows and sometimes when I used to have like 10 tabs open I had to look through all the tabs to find what I was looking for and once I found the tab I had to scroll through the whole page to find the darn thing and after copying I had to switch back to Word etc.

I often wasted like 20-40+ seconds trying to find exactly what I wanted.

Also, when I am clicking multiple times in like 5 different windows and programs to find what I am looking for, I lose focus.

And who can forget the old "oh, jimmy just sent me an email" problem. While looking for something you come across your email tab and here is a new email from an awesome marketer who is giving you "ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY that will CHANGE the internet FOREVER" and then suddenly you jump on that because you don't want to miss out and there goes all your productivity.

Multiple screens work best for me and they save me tons of time and help me stick to the task and not lose focus.

So there is my reason for using multiple screens. It's not for "novelty" but it serves a very important purpose (makes me productive and helps me stay on task - I love being redundant )

EDIT: BTW, I too was a huge skeptic and was a "one screen FTW" kinda person but like they say "Once you go multiple, you never go back "

for me, i use only two which one is my main laptops and anther one is LCD :p

Ah! Great thread. I've been considering incorporating a second monitor in our upcoming setup because all the toggling back and forth was driving me batty... thought I was a bit nuts thinking it would make a difference in productivity... but apparently that's the case! Thanks for all the info about setting it up.

I'll give it a try after all the positive comments

Sadly I am old enough to remember when people told me they had no use for a fax... or a cellphone for that matter.

I challenge anyone to try it for a few months then go back to a single monitor. I just took my laptop away on my vacation and frankly, it drove me nuts.

I currently have 2... 1-27" and 1-32" monitors and about to add a 2nd 32" to keep my spread sheets open at all times. I've been looking into it and it might be just as easy to go to 4...

I have been using 2 monitors for several years now and am completely paralyzed w/out them. I can't get a thing done w/ just one.

I've even expanded on the 2 monitors (people who have seen it think I'm mad ).

I have 3 more laptops open and running up on a shelf nearby - just out of reach. I run things like TweetAttacks, Scrapebox and BookmarkingDemon on them. Now, instead of actually getting up and walking over to the shelf, I log into them via TeamViewer on 1 of my 2 Monitors and work on them from there.

5 screens moving at once. :p

Actually 8 monitors here on one machine. And yes, I actually do use them all...

I have two 22inch monitors and then a 40 inch display above the wall behind me (mostly just so I can show clients pretty graphs). I saw a huge improvement in my workload after adding the second monitor.

I also have my laptop which is on a slide out part of the desk next to me and I mostly use that for automation tasks.

2 monitors heck yea

i am using 4 monitors for a perfect view ;-)

Hmm, looks like I gotta switch to at least 2 monitors - something I've been putting off since the last 6 months...

Cause my screen is undergoing a population explosion!

My vision can only take in one screen at a time, and linux workspaces is like having a wall of virtual monitors that I can pan though.
I don't really see the need to take up physical space when I have so much virtual space to play on.
But then again, I'm not a gamer.

I only run on a Toshiba Laptop and that works fine for me as of now. I don't see the need for me to use 2 monitors quite yet.