I'm thinking of adding a second monitor to my new Mac Mini setup. How many of you guys are running multiple displays? Does it help your efficiency? Any input at all would be great, thanks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kkina,

I run two monitors at work and have to say it is worth every penny. It is great to have multiple apps running and being able to compare from screen to screen. For home I went with a 30" monitor, and while there is a ton of screen real estate, I just don't find it is as efficient.

I've got 3 27" monitors on my desktop.

I wouldn't trade them, except maybe for a Samsung 49" widescreen. I still feel like I'd end up with a second monitor with that, though.

I use 3 displays. Usually my main task on the center screen, email on onen and Excel on the other. It depends on what you're doing by I'd recommend multiple smaller monitors over one larger monitor.

I've been using at least 2 monitors for a long time. At home, I now have a 3 monitor setup; left monitor is dedicated to one PC, right monitor is dedicated to second PC, middle monitor is shared between the two PC and receiver for streaming video.

I'm using 3 27" monitors and I'm getting some neck strain. Would like to get down to a 1 monitor, perhaps 2 at the most, while still being able to view all 3 sources concurrently.

1 large (32"?) monitor with 3 concurrent split screen inputs may be ideal.

For work, 2 monitors at a min: key scenarios include (not all inclusive):
1. working on one monitor (right in front of you), while second monitor on the side for monitoring email, web, Teams.
2. working (presenting, taking notes, chatting, emailing, etc) on one monitor while showing Teams mtg on the other.

I've been using multiple monitors for decades and wouldn't change a thing.

Pro tip (at least with Windows): If you have two different sizes (resolutions) monitors, sometimes an app will open up in the smaller monitor and be partially off the screen (i.e., too big), meaning you can't move it. This is where a hotkey sequence comes in handy. ALT-[SPACE BAR], down arrow once (sometimes twice), [ENTER], use the arrows to re-position the window, then hit [ENTER].

For some reason, Adobe Acrobat is particularly bad at this.

Used a pair of Dell 20" 4x3 / 1600x1200 LCD's for years. Finally went to a Dell 34" Curved that is 3440x1400 resolution, slightly larger than the pair of 20's. Last week I upgraded the other workstation with a 35" LG Curved Monitor, was on sale for $349 (about half the price the Dell 34" was about 3 years ago. Really like it, comes with LG software that lets you split the screen many different ways.

I run 2 monitors off a DELL. Didn't really think it was a big deal until I travelled and had just use the laptop. Definitely worth the cost to have an additional monitor.

Two monitors increases your effectiveness as you don't have to switch between windows. You can have one window open on one monitor and the second on the second monitor.

Having three monitors give you the most flexibility in terms of work space. At the very least, you can have your email, video, or something else on the third monitor.

People that have 4 or more monitors use the additional monitors to monitor processes or dashboard metrics.

Below is my current set-up with two portable monitors on either side of my laptop screen. I can watch the TV screen above the monitors or watch something on the Samsung tablet that is above the monitor on my right.

I use two 32" 4K monitors. They're a bit of overkill for software development. 27" would be fine for my tasks. That said, there is no way I could go back to one monitor and still be productive.

quote:

Originally posted by TomV:
Last week I upgraded the other workstation with a 35" LG Curved Monitor, was on sale for $349 (about half the price the Dell 34" was about 3 years ago. Really like it, comes with LG software that lets you split the screen many different ways.

Could I use that monitor and split it for these various scenarios:
1. Left PC1 (DP); Right PC2 (DP); Center (DP or HDMI) PC1 or PC2. Each split equal size.
2. Left PC1 (DP); Right PC2 (DP); Center HDMI from Receiver. Left / Right can be smaller and assume center is optimized for UHD video playback.
3. Full screen HDMI from Receiver (black bars on left and right since not 16:9/16:10 ratio?)

I work from home. I run one 24” vertical on the left 24” horizontal in the middle and the laptop on the right for 3 monitors. I have multiple windows and pdf open at once all day and I would not be get any work done the laptop screen only. I’d like bigger screens but that would be on my dime and I don’t like my company that much.

Even something as simple as balancing your checkbook is made easier with two monitors. I really like having two.

I highly recommend it, especially if you create documents, spreadsheets, etc.

I did it back when monitors were still 4:3 ratio and I never stopped. Currently have had the same dual 27" since about 2017.

When I think back to before I added a second monitor, all I can think is that it feels life changing. Cuz it kinda is.

Got 3 more on another wing of the desk to the right that you can't see.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
I've been using multiple monitors for decades and wouldn't change a thing.

Pro tip

That tip is also good if you have two monitors set up like I had, one vertical (used for documents) and the other horizontal. Windows made a space the height of the vertical one and the width of both together. Meaning that below the horizontal monitor was space that Windows would happily put application windows into, despite that area not displaying on either monitor.

I finally gave up, and got a new monitor with more vertical pixels than the old vertically-oriented one, and more horizontal pixels than both together had. Let's hear it for advancing tech!

quote:

That tip is also good if you have two monitors set up like I had, one vertical (used for documents) and the other horizontal.

Basically what I'm looking to do.

Creslin, are you sure you have enough monitors?

I'm curious about creslin's setup too. Are all those connected to the same CPU? Can you drag application windows between all of them? Does the OS understand their relative positioning correctly?

As for me, my primary machine is a 27" iMac with an additional 27" monitor attached. This basic arrangement has been standard for me for decades on many systems including Suns, BSD, Linux, and various Macs. The way it has helped most in my day-to-day activities is in having the ability to have a decent amount of real estate for my main operation at the time, while in the other display do things like look up documentation/examples for the working project, and be able to easily cut-n-paste/drag-n-drop while being able to see both windows, and not having to resize anything.

I wish there was better OS and application support for application windows that span displays so that they can effectively become a single display. Especially if the software allowed the bezels and gap between the monitors to interrupt the virtual display kind of like a window mullion. This wouldn't be good for a spreadsheet as the columns would be "obstructed" when the spreadsheet bridges monitors, but it would be very nice for video and other "big screen" applications.

My dream is to mount three 48" monitors vertically, and arranged side-by-side operating as a single virtual display. Almost as good would be a matrix 2x2 or 2x3 of 27" monitors doing the same.

Creslin - Would you care to share what you do that utilizes 12 monitors at a time?