Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Apple
Forget the 30 inch monitor, get multiple monitors
Remember that study which Apple commissioned that championed the benefits of using one gigantic monitor (a 30 inch Cinema Display, of course)? Well, some productivity experts are questioning the validity of that report's claims. They say that having one big monitor does increase productivity, but not as much as the report would have you believe. Furthermore, the experts contend that using 2, or more, displays is a much more effective means to enhance productivity.
What does the wisdom of the crowd say?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
someone said 7:16PM on 10-11-2006
i disagree with the multiple-display hoopla.
personally, i like to have my stuff all spread out across one display. in the times i've had my rig set up with 2, i usually end up merely dedicating the second one to my adium buddy list and an itunes window, which doesn't really help my productivity. on top of that, i almost invariably ended up with a pile of windows open on one screen, none (other than the previously mentioned), on the second, and working as though i only have the one display i'm focused on.
so i guess that boils down to my $0.02 are that multiple displays are overrated, and i'll take a single larger one over two smaller ones any day.
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Riscky said 6:44PM on 10-11-2006
The few dual display systems I used tend to have low resolution, making my work area feel cramp, and they where also CRT monitors which made the physical work space cramped as well. Two 15-inch displays definitely doesn't equal the same production value as one 30 inch display... I would say the sweet spot would be two 17-inch displays... then again I think the resolution factors in some place as well.
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masterb said 6:48PM on 10-11-2006
I work in a geo seismic prossesing center, there we use 2x30" ACD or 1x30" ACD.
Before we used 2X19" 1600x1200 ezio displays. I think the productivity have increased.
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Nick said 6:50PM on 10-11-2006
I use one 30" dispaly at work for video post production, but I much prefer my set up at home with dual monitors (17" widescreen LCD and a 21" LCD) Its much easier to use multiple apps for me on dual monitors rather than one hugh screen.
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Patrick Haney said 6:54PM on 10-11-2006
I don't know if I believe that 2 monitors or 1 large (30" LCD?) monitor is better for productivity, but when I was looking for an LCD for home I chose the 24" widescreen Dell over the 30" from Apple/Dell for 2 reasons: 1) price (which is obvious) and 2) the numerous inputs available on the 20" and 24" Dells. At home, I've got my MacBook Pro hooked up to the DVI input, my Dell desktop hooked up to the RGB input, my Xbox hooked up to the Component input, my TiVo hooked up to the Svideo input and my Gamecube hooked up to the Composite input.
How's that for multitasking (especially with PIP enabled)?
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Elwood Blues said 6:58PM on 10-11-2006
I've worked on systems with dual 17" monitors and single 23" and single 30" monitors. I by far think the single 30" is the most productive. The edges of more thanone monitor get clunky when moving apps between screens. One huge workspace gives me the ultimate in flexibility.
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Mark Fleser said 7:03PM on 10-11-2006
The setup I'm using now is a 24' iMac and 17" CRT, that's pretty good but I would like to get a 20" LCD to replace the CRT. It's 4 years old and wasn't the greatest quality so I would like to replace it, but my bank account says otherwise.
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Dave Taylor said 11:29PM on 10-11-2006
Agree completely. I have two 19" Sony LCD monitors hooked up to my dual G5 and it's a terrific setup. I rather hate using my PowerBook now just because it's a one screen device. Now, when they can let me unfold the screen and have two or three visual surfaces, well, that'll be COOOOLLLLLLLL. ;-)
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Racer5 said 7:03PM on 10-11-2006
I use two 17" SGI 1600SW's, 1600x1024 with MultiLink Adapters. Talk about a mess of cables by the way. I have had these for 5+ years and there is no way I could be romanced by a single 30" in their place. The problem lies in the fact that on a single monitor setup the application pallets are placed to the outside edges on the monitor real estate and you have windows over lapping windows and the distance from one palette to the next is a football field. On a dual setup when you open, say Photoshop or Dreamweaver the application uses only the primary monitor unless you move the pallets or documents to the second display.
What I am saying is that it's more productive to keep all your "must have" apps over on the second screen like email, ichat, sling player, yahoo IM, iTunes, your soft SIP VoIP Phone, address book, web browser(s), etc. Then your Main monitor with the workhorse apps like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat Distiller, etc.
Plus it great to watch a movie on the second display and still work on the primary. The reasons are endless.
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Kevin said 7:05PM on 10-11-2006
I recently snagged a second 17" Dell Flat Panel from a colleague who is no longer working at our site. Both run at 1280 x 1024 and I am certain I will not be able to go back to a single monitor setup. I have to run Windows at work so I installed UltraMon software to be able to span a wallpaper across the two screens. I frequently have multiple apps running from where I need to reference data and to be able to have them all open in a reasonable size at the same time is priceless. I refuse to give up the second monitor. On a side note, I keep my 12" iBook next to my rig at work and, strangely, I am more productive on its 1024 x 768 than I am with the Windows total 2560 x 1024. I guess it's true what is said, "It's not the size, it's what you do with it."
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narco said 7:06PM on 10-11-2006
I'm going to go with the single 30". Maybe it's just me, but I can't work with dual monitors. Even thought they are connected, it drives me nuts. Usually when I'm working on a project, everything is related. I could get a second monitor to put Mail.app, iTunes and Adium on one monitor -- but is it really worth the extra cost? Especially since none of them are really work related.
With one single monitor I can still leave room for those programs and have a ton of real estate for Photoshop and Quark. But that's just me.
Fishes,
narco.
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Michael Skelton said 7:08PM on 10-11-2006
Wisdom would suggest it is better to get multiple 30" monitors of course!
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Jon H said 8:42PM on 10-11-2006
The single menubar and single Dock are a real detriment to dual-screen use, IMHO.
I'd much rather have menubars on each screen, showing the menu of the active application on that screen. This would have to be an option, to support those users who use one application across both screens.
It's just a hassle to mouse and turn your head back and forth all the time, when your monitors are side by side, because the menu is way over there.
I'd have to give this one to Windows, sadly. Since the menus are in the windows , it doesn't have this problem in a multi-screen setup.
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Jaron Brass said 7:18PM on 10-11-2006
I use dual 30" Cinema Displays, and have used dual displays since my early days on the Mac OS. I will never go back to a single display -- just too used to the way I keep things arranged.
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Marky Mark said 7:19PM on 10-11-2006
Well just work out the pixels! The report mentions a 30" cinema 2560x1600=4,096,000pixels or Dual 17" monitors typically at 1280x1024=2,621,440 pixels. So its not hard to see that within the parameters stated the 30" gives you more real estate.
Also the fact that the 30" is a more flexible space, imagine you have 3 windows open. One on the right, one in the middle and one on the left. Now arrange the same on 2 seperate screens, what do you have? Either one window split between 2 screens or 1 window on one screen and 2 windows squashed onto on screen!
Also any work with images would be better suited to one large screen than 2 small. Maybe these so called 'productivity experts' are used to using a word doc in xp filling the whole screen and aren't thinking about having lots of windows open but spreadout.
Of course if you wanna get 2 BIG screens then thats a different story!
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Extensor said 7:26PM on 10-11-2006
I recently bought a 19 inch widescreen and then installed VirtueDesktops which I set to six screens (main, mail, web, work, skype/IM, kGTD). So it is like having six 19 inch widescreens. I had dual monitors running before but this is much better. Less deskspace used and, for me it kind of breaks my focus when I have to look for/at a seperate monitor.
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Extensor said 7:29PM on 10-11-2006
#4 Patrick,
Can you please post a video clip of you 'multitasking'? I would love to see you using your mac, pc, xbox, tivo and gamecube at the same time. :D
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Louis Klaassen said 12:51AM on 10-12-2006
Use 2 BIG 30" Displays then :P
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Angel said 7:42PM on 10-11-2006
@4 - I have a similar set up...My Macbook, Mac Mini, Dell Desktop are all connected to my 24-inch Dell monitor. I was thinking about hooking up my Xbox 360 to it as well..How do the graphics look for the Xbox?
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Cody Peacock said 8:30PM on 10-11-2006
i have a secondary display on my macbook and i love it. it is great to watch movies or have itunes open all the way and i feel slhtly more productive too
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