How many monitors do you prefer?
 

How many monitors do you all prefer to use to get work done? 1,2,3.,,

I only use one monitor now but was curious if the multiple increased your productivity?

1 is distracting enough for me

Two is enough for me. But I'm on the road a lot so I make due with my laptop :)

Just one :pimp

2, 30's on my main box. could use another at times...

1 30'' is plenty. I have 2 of them, but one is more than enough.

1 or I get distracted.

One is good enough but I have three

I need 2 but i'd like 3 for comfort.

I'm gonna have 3x27 inch soon.

I have three and I love it.

I have one main screen for work, one dedicated to email, and a third for "whatever" - be it my music software or videos I watch in the background or to help me with my work. It's been awesome - much more productive.

I use 2. The one on my laptop and a bigger screen on the side that I use for ICQ, Skype. Multiple note pads etc.

Prevents me from having to bring up and down screens when I need to refer to something. For some its a time saver for others its not.

Studies show that adding a second monitor to a setup for a person who spends significant amounts of time analyzing data, editing files, cutting and pasting, doing comparative analysis and other tasks that are facilitated by the ability to view multiple files without having to click between windows, will increase that persons productivity by anywhere from 9% to 30%.

on the low end you are achieving a 9% gain in productivity, making adding a second monitor to most situations the cheapest, easiest and fastest way to increase productivity.

I'm a big fan of my single one. I'm not doing much if any visual work, so having a main monitor is a great focus for writing and marketing purposes.

Two is enough for me.

I'm using two now, but I just setup Hybrid CrossfireX on my mobo, so I may bump it up to 3 or 4 soon. I don't think I'll like anymore than two, but I'll try it.

It's super easy to multitask with two monitors. And on those late nights, it's nice to have netflix up on one and work on the other instead of having the TV on. :)

I like two that are linked up. It is nice for me to be able to have communication tools up in one and be working in the other.

a laptop and a monitor 21 but it's busy

1 is distracting enough for me

I used 2 for a number of years, added a third and am loving it.

I have 3 on my workstation with my laptop next to me. All my other computers have 2. I need one for e-mails/ICQ/Skype and 2 for designing marketing and research :)

You definitely want 2 monitors. Once you try it for 30 minutes you won't ever want to go back to just 1. Having 2 monitors gives you so much more room and freedom. It not only makes you more productive but the extra space feels almost relaxing.

I tried 3 monitors for a while but I found it didn't help. It just made my desk a mess, and cost alot of extra money at the time for little return.

If you are upgrading, I suggest 2 x 27" Widescreen monitors and a single kick ass video card with lots of ram and processing power to support them in their highest resolution.

2 do it for me

distracting from what?

2 is a must have for me, I keep one mostly in front and the other to the side a bit. For doing html work or other programming having one window for code and one for output is a huge help. Otherwise, I like to keep my password manager, email and things open on the second monitor. Sometimes I have a large 32" screen above the other two for watching movies or video conference while working. I actually prefer smaller monitors for normal use, I've got 21.5" Samsung ones which are great.

I have three different machines, four monitors.

I would need at least a minimum of two. Assuming I am not doing any rendering.

Two is the way to go...

I do better with two.

I use a 32" and a 23" at the same time in the offices.

Anyone know of a laptop that will do this so I don't have to lug my desktop around?

two widescreens is more than enough
maybe another comp/laptop for stats and minor tasks

As many have said, I use 2.. I'm WAY more productive than I was with just one. I've got my "work" monitor, then my "relax" monitor. Sometimes they're both "work" monitors when I drink more coffee than any human ever should.

By "relax", I mean I have GFY/ICQ/Skype/Sponsors open on this one... Photoshop/Vegas/Blogs up on the other.

that makes sense, didn't even consider that.

i couldn't do more than 2 though.

now if we were talking tabs in a browser then we'd be talking some serious numbers.. hehe

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh I have ~70 open in my other monitor.

I have 4 right now, and realize I only need 2.
here is the setup:

from left to right:
1: CPU monitoring, fan speed, temperature, process explorer
2: main display: internet browser, diverse fapping activities
3: movies, xbox, ps3, skype and other communication tools, extended work desktop
4: winamp

17" macbook pro on the go, 22" Dell in the studio. PIRIOD.

I have a 27" and two 24" on my mains system spread out side by side, and have a laptop on the left for music, and email etc.

Two would be the absolute minimum for me, but three plus the laptop works perfectly

I use 2x27 at the office and 1x24 at home. Honestly, one screen is like having one leg and I can't work effectively on a setup like that. I keep only 1 screen at home on purpose to keep myself from working 18 hours a day...

One Monitor.. I can NEVER understand how people can look at two or more monitors, we only have 2 eyes looking at the same direction...

1 is more than enough, seriously.. I can never understand how some people can work with more than 1 monitor... Makes no sense..

If you have a powerful computer, you dont need more than 1 monitor.. You can manage all in the same monitor, make no sense to have more than one...

The crazy thing is that, by looking at the posts above, I am probably part of the 10% that uses only 1 monitor.. Most people post like saying: "I have 325424352 monitors"... Like they need to show that they have more monitors than other people... That's stupid.. You always finish using only 1 monitor... You cant look at more than 1.. So?..

Pariodo.

without fifty monitors i cant even piss myself

6 here but on 2-3machines at a time with 4port KVM. Each time I add another the more work I get done.

2 x 24in - 1 holds chats the other email
2 x 21in - Usually moving files or encoding on these
1 x 32in - Main display
1 x 17in Laptop screen - Usually scanning covers.

Man, you can do all that in 1 computer with 1 monitor...

That's why I find useless using more than 1 monitor.

It has nothing to do with the power of a machine in my case. It just makes it so I do not have to Minimize and open stuff which saves me time. I can see all processes/chats going at once which is what I prefer. My wife was the same way, then got her a second display and she will never go back to just one again. It is not for everyone however. Any person who I have heard going to an extra monitor loves it. You should just try adding 1 more but I am assuming you have already done this since you are against it.

To each there own my friend.

I have 3 27" at my desk but every other computer in the office only has two.

How can people get any work done with 1?

yes, but you can turn your head also :1orglaugh

Only two.

All my guys use 2, I use one. No problems with 2 display setup, but at the moment this is perfectly fine for me.