

Ask HN: Should I buy an external display? - dennybritz

Hi HN. Because I move around a lot I have always been working on my retina Macbook without using an external display. In 2 weeks I&#x27;ll be visiting my family for a few months and I&#x27;ll be constantly working from home, so I thought it may be worth investing into an external display. I&#x27;ll be there for 3-4 months and I won&#x27;t be able to take it with me afterwards so I don&#x27;t want to spend too much - less than $1k and ideally less than $500.<p>1. Should I buy one of those 4K monitors? Are they worth it for development? Any experiences?<p>2. Should I buy a &quot;standard&quot; 1080p monitor? Should I buy two of those instead of a 4K?<p>3. Should I save the money and just keep working on my laptop like I&#x27;ve been all along?<p>Any experiences are appreciated.
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gamedna
Its definitely a very personal decision. Depends mostly on what your desktop
real estate needs are.

When traveling, air display (or similar for android) is amazing. I can always
have an extra display when i need it for things like slack/email while my main
display is kept uncluttered for work.

I have worked with USB powered DisplayLink Monitors and they are fantastic as
well. Much larger than an ipad, and dont need to worry about charging it. I
stopped using these b/c with destinations i can borrow spare monitor or hook
up to a hotel TV via HDMI.

Have you considered just buying one or two inexpensive ($150) 24" samsung or
similar monitors? If you buy one on sale, you can generally sell them on
craiglist in 3-6 months for close to what you paid for it.

Here is an example: When I sign up for a booth at a conference, I order some
inexpensive monitors and a 50+" LCD tv from amazon and have them shipped to
the hotel. This ends up being considerably cheaper than renting AV equipment.
Immediately after I arrive, I begin unboxing and photographing them to list on
Craigslist with full disclosure of what we intend to use them for and when the
person needs to come and pick them up with cash in hand for 10 to 15% less
than what we paid for the item. By that evening all of them are accounted for
without me worrying about running around town.

Unless you are producing 4k content, dont waste your money on 4k, or fancy
monitors if this is a temporary solution. You are just wasting your $$.

Lastly, don't hesitate to ask on CL to borrow a monitor while you are in town.
There are nice/honest people out there who may have one sitting around.

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mattkrea
Depends.

At work I use two but really the 2nd one just ends up becoming a spotify or
mail window.

If you are using an IDE for development (if you are even a developer) then you
might want two but me using Sublime at home.. I'm totally fine with just the
built-in display.

~~~
dennybritz
Thanks. I'm a developer but I typically don't use an IDE.

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zer00eyz
There are a few things you can do to make this a bit easier:

1\. Total spaces is amazing. If you primarily develop in one screen, you can
set it up so distinct spaces are left/right/up/down. Everything I want is one
screen away from where I spend most of my time, and my fingers almost never
leave the KB.

2\. If you own a tablet, then you already have an option that you can take
with you. I have used air display on an iPad myself and it works well, but the
android reviews are awful.

3\. Apple TV. Yes you can use it as connection to a 2nd monitor, over wifi so
your not TIED to the tv.

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penguinlinux
you can use an hdmi monitor won't have to spend too much

