

Ask HN: Why developers at startups use 3 monitors? - thepanister

Hello,<p>There is something that confuses me, and I can't find an answer for it.<p>Why the developers at startups, use 3 or 2 monitors? What is the point from using many monitors?<p>Why a startup would spend 3x on monitors, while they can save that money? Is there a ROI from using 3 monitors per developer?<p>I am really curious to know...<p>EDIT: It would be great if you tell me how do I install 2 monitors per machine... Does the hole screen appear devided into 2 screens? Or the 2 monitors dislay the same thing?
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jud
I use synergy <http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/> for sharing one mouse and
keyboard across two monitors and OSes. I use Linux on the right and Mac on the
left. Would never go back. Like someone said read documentation on one, code
on another.

~~~
racy_rick
Cool setup, thanks for the info. I know you can do that with vnc somehow as
well.

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AndrewO
1) Why? As others have said, enhanced productivity. I usually keep API docs,
examples, and a terminal with autotest on my secondary. Also, in my case, my
machine is a laptop (I use that screen as my secondary) and knowing I have a
24" screen waiting for me is incentive to come into the office instead of
telecommuting or siting in a coffee shop :).

2a) How? Been awhile since I've had to deal with installing new hardware, but
as far as I remember, you can install new video cards and it'll register fine
(or get a card that has two DVI ports). As for OS support, I think Windows
does it (although I don't know if you have to have a certain edition), Mac
supports it on most models out of the box (in the past you had to do a
software hack on iMacs, don't know if that's still the case—other than that
completely painless), and I know it's possible with Debian (probably most
other Linuxes as well).

2b) What's it look like? Most current hardware will support spanning across
multiple screens (OS support: see caveats above). In the past, some video
adapters didn't have the horsepower to do anything other than mirroring (where
the screens show the same thing), but all of the ones I've dealt with recently
can (again, YMMV). Mirroring is still useful when hooking up to a projector,
but beyond that, spanning is the way to go.

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tmilewski
Definitely try it. I will never be able to go back to one monitor.

Here are some statistics:
<http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000012.html>

Here are instructions: [http://lifehacker.com/software/dual-monitor/how-to-
set-up-du...](http://lifehacker.com/software/dual-monitor/how-to-set-up-dual-
monitors-218991.php)

~~~
thepanister
Thank you so much for the link to the video.

It's very easy to setup and really amazing... I just tested it out on my
laptop with my computer's monitor(I plugged my computer's monitor in the
laptop instead)... and it's really cool.

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mannicken
I use two 15 inch laptops (Vista and Kubuntu) and one 22 inch screen in the
middle.

Depending on the type of work I do (Windows development or _nix) I physically
switch main screen between two laptops. For example, when I do Outlook add-in
dev, my screens might look like this:

Vista laptop: Outlook where I test. Vista main screen: Studio. Kubuntu laptop:
docs.

or

Vista laptop: docs. Vista main screen: Studio. Kubuntu laptop: VMWare with
different OSes. This way I don't overload Vista machine which is already
running studio.

For _nix dev, I like this setup:

Vista laptop: chats, music, videos, whatever. Kubuntu main screen: Emacs
fullscreen. Kubuntu laptop: docs.

As is probably obvious, my setup looks like this:

Vista - Main Screen - Kubuntu

I also use synergy to handle supporting laptop (Kubuntu or Vista) from main
machine.

I have to say, it really helps. There is a lot of ease on my brain which helps
me relieve some of the anxiety.

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ErrantX
I can think of a couple of reasons

\- Sheer geekery (though that doesnt work with your comment about cost, I
admit).

\- Multiple PC's (example: at my desk I have a dual screen setup for working
on, a 3rd screen connected to a different PC for email, IM [chatterous via
Gtalk ftw] & personal stuff and a smaller screen off to one side which is a
build machine / test client. Using a KVM to share Kb/M _but_ still being able
to see all screens is a great advantage :))

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trickjarrett
It's a documented trend that more monitors enhances developer efficiency.
There is a point of diminishing returns as well, so two or three is the sweet
spot. Some can see improvement with four, but not many.

I apologize, I can't find the source of the study for efficiency.

That being said, some prefer a single screen. I love dual screen as I'm a big
proponent of code on one screen and website on the other so I can easily see
the results of my code.

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silencio
I have a main setup comprised of 3 displays with one desktop and a laptop,
it's quite nice to work like this, especially when I run macosx and then have
windows in vmware fusion on another display.

The only thing I'm torn on is rotation. I've flipped a display 90 degrees
around and I can't decide if I like it or not. It's decidedly odd but quite
useful in some ways (i.e. for me, reading long things without using scroll so
often).

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racy_rick
Left monitor has mozilla with tabs and behind that a terminal with database
command line.

Right monitor has outlook and my main terminal window plus itunes in the
background (or whatever I'm listening to).

It is incredibly nice to compare 2 files across the monitors. Also it is nice
to be able to have ie6 or ie7 in one windows with mozilla or safari in another
to make sure everything lines up correctly.

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joubert
Imagine you're trying to write a letter on a piece of paper but the desk
you're writing on is only 3cm². Were it bigger, it would be so much easier.

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indiejade
Testing sites for browser compatibility and rendering issues, most likely;
though having 1+ screens probably isn't necessary. I would think it would be
much easier, and more cost-effective to go with a KVM switch than a bunch of
different monitors. Perhaps could be useful for testing site renderings on
different monitor resolutions.

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gaius
Once you've had double-headed there's no going back. Try it!

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noodle
2 monitors is cheaper than 1 really big monitor. more screen space makes
multitasking easier, improving productivity.

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hs
maybe it's the 'secret weapon' for those startups

is there any data of #monitors used during early product development on
various startups?

~~~
tmilewski
All of the studies out there are pretty rudimentary, so, I would doubt that
there are detailed statistics like that.

