Ask YC: Monitor setup recommendations?

[ericb]

I'm buying a macbook pro (17") tonight and looking to fix up my monitor setup. I currently have an 18 inch monitor and have never even tried a dual monitor setup.

I'd like to be able to easily have 2 full size windows open. I'm curious what other people have used and recommend. I'm a little reluctant to shell out the extra 800 bucks for a 30 inch cinema, but also tempted as this is the device I spend most of my time staring into. On the other hand, 2 side by side monitors might accomplish the same thing and I could buy the 23" and set my 18" monitor next to it. I'm wondering if two monitors better than one and if a 30" is worth the expense. Thoughts?

[martin]

At home, I have a 15" MacBook Pro with Dell's 30" panel, and I like that setup a lot. The 30" has enough room for all the apps I'm actively using, while things like iChat and iTunes sit on the laptop display off to the side.

I'm also pretty sure there's no way to drive two external monitors from a MacBook Pro. But my previous setup was a Power Mac with dual 20-inchers, and I like the single-large-display setup better, at least on OS X -- there's just more flexibility in sizing and arranging your apps onscreen.

If you're going to go the 30" route, the Dell's worth considering -- it works well and will probably save you 25%+ over the Apple, especially if you can find a coupon code for it.

[mechanical_fish]

Um, can you use two external monitors with a Macbook Pro?

I have a 20" widescreen and a Macbook, sitting side by side on the monitor arms recommended here:

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000959.html

I find that awesome. The arms are like $200 from Provantage; you can get a 24" widescreen monitor for $300 to $400. That puts you at $500 or $600; buy another arm for $100 and you get to use the 18" monitor too (although, again, I didn't know that worked. Are Macbook Pros even niftier than I thought?)

[ericb → mechanical_fish]

On the 17-inch MacBook Pro: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with dual-link DVI support and 512MB of GDDR3 memory * Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

But maybe I'm misunderstanding that (as in, maybe it can't drive two external ones)? Can anyone confirm?

[ericb → ericb]

Hmm... looks like I AM misunderstanding most likely.

[mechanical_fish → ericb]

Yeah, if you could drive two monitors PLUS the internal monitor I would get the Macbook Pro religion, pronto. But I'm pretty sure you can't. You've got two displays, but one of them is the Macbook Pro's built-in display.

This is one reason why people bother with that big-ass 30" display. The other is that, admittedly, the 30" display is one nice piece of hardware. But pricey.

As it is I plan to buy an iMac, plant it in the center of the desk, and use my monitor arms to put my secondary display to the left and my Macbook to the right. Then I have two computers and three displays. Use Synergy to share mouse and keyboard between the two computers -- I've done that between Mac and Linux before, and I presume it will work from Mac to Mac.

[bootload]

"... . On the other hand, 2 side by side monitors might accomplish the same thing and I could buy the 23" and set my 18" monitor next to it. I'm wondering if two monitors better than one and if a 30" is worth the expense. Thoughts? ..."

I've just upgraded my old sony trinitron 17" to "a" new 22" Asus & have thought about some of the q's you have asked. Some things I'd suggest are:

- if you use double monitors try to make the the same size, ratio

- check the hardware will realistically support 2xmonitors at max rez

- check if graphics card has 2 vga ports (eg: NVidia)

- check OS supports max rez

- look for tip/tilt egonomics

- check text rez for reading

- check if you are getting right monitor for use editing + (heavy dvd usage?, gaming?, colour correctness for graphics?)

- power consumption. some of the new LCD's are guzzlers

2 x monitors is good for individual apps on 1 screen (1 for code, 1 for browser etc) but I find virtual desktops (Virtual Pages) are just as handy. I'd advise against mixing monitors. I've tried it but the different sizes make it hard (but not impossible) to use.

[cdr]

Rands: http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/04/04/more_messy_... and http://www.flickr.com/photos/rands/2198653768/in/pool-pixelr...

Another Atwood: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000740.html

The best I've ever seen is a 30" with a 20" vertical on both sides: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/content/binary/WindowsLiveWrit...

[goofygrin]

At the last place I was working (as an employee) I had 4 displays.

17" laptop display 2 - 24" Dell monitors (I think 24") 1 - 19" LCD

Frankly it was too much. I mostly used the two 24"ers in the middle and used the outriggers for email and other junk like that.

It actually did make it nice to have VS.NET, Flash, FlashDevelop and IE open full screen on a separate monitor, although I lost track of the mouse quite frequently.

In your case, I'd recommend buying the biggest monitor, with the highest resolution you can afford. I'm with Rands on this that the most pixels win.