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July 17, 2005
Using Two Monitors
I've heard people extoll the benefits of using two monitors, a configuration that became easier to accomplish with XP. But I was slightly suspicious that this setup was desired more for the cool factor than for a real, practical computing advantage. And besides, I only HAD one monitor. I had no extras sitting around that I could experiment with, and until recently, I'd never seen such a setup in action. Then, a helpful tech guy at work set up my laptop LCD and my desktop monitor in a dual configuration. The first time I moved my mouse from one monitor to the other, I was hooked.
Here's how it works. One monitor is designated as the primary monitor; that's where your start menu and toolbar resides. You can drag open windows from one monitor to the other, secondary monitor, with your mouse. If you're working with two different applications, you can see them both at one time, one on one monitor and the other, well, on the other one. It's really quite simple.
Steve Bass explains the benefits quite nicely in his Tips & Tweaks article, Two Monitors Are Way Better Than One. The ability to see two full-size windows at a time is a big productivity boast. It reminded me of what I miss about working with paper, that is, the ability to spread out and easily look back and forth comparing and referring to several different items without having to obscure my view of any one of them. Cutting and pasting from one window to another becomes infinitely easier, and you don't lose your bearings in the window that is temporarily obscured like you can when using one monitor. When I'm only working in one application, I like keeping my calendar open on one screen at all times on the second monitor in hopes that I'll keep better track of my activities during the course of a day. There are obvious benefits for legal researchers, many of whom have bemoaned the inability to easily look at two full windows at once.
Then I had a vision. Why stop at just two monitors? Why not more? Desk space is limited, you might say. How many monitors can you realistically have? How about smaller monitors? If we really wanted to get retro, perhaps a small "rolodex" monitor for your contacts, another small monitor for you calendar, etc., etc. I think I can see back to the future! Maybe someday...
For information on how to configure multiple monitors, see How To Configure and Use Multiple Monitors in Windows XP from the Microsoft Knowledgebase.
What? You don't have enough room on your desk for two monitors? Try this product, two monitors, one stand. What fun.
Comments
I've been using two monitors at home for years, and think its thoroughly wonderful. There are several scenarios where I find that it directly contributes to my productivity. For example, I can have a document open full screen on one screen, and a browser with reference material in the other. No need to switch back and forth between applications that like to have the whole screen, interrupting my train of thought.
Or, I'm chatting with someone, simultaneously making changes to a web page. Run the chat program on one screen, and have their comments right there, with the editor and browser on the other screen.
So far I haven't been able to convince my manager that two monitors would be so great at work. Maybe this article will help. :-)
Posted by: Erik Y. Adams at July 18, 2005 10:30 AM
I use Synergy (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net), which allows you to use two (or as many more as you want) monitors. However, each monitor requires a seperate computer. This is actually good though, when you're using Linux + Windows + Mac, or any other combination. Synergy works on all three of these platforms. It handles mouse/keyboard actions via TCP/IP..
I have a review posted, along with a video and some pictures on my blog, at http://www.mattisbusy.com/2005/06/20/review-of-synergy-2-with-pictures-and-video/
Posted by: Matt Kaufman at July 18, 2005 03:07 PM
Another interesting alternative is MaxiVista.
This smart software allows using any spare laptop computer as an extra monitor for another PC.
It can link up to four PCs and allows operating all PCs from on one single keyboard.
Jerry
Posted by: Jerry at August 3, 2005 02:53 AM
I've just started using two monitors and I am hooked. I'm a web developer so being able to code in one window and have a browser open for testing in the other is an incredibly productive way to work. If I'm not using the browser I have my mail open in the secondary window to keep an eye on client mails.
Posted by: Tony at July 6, 2006 06:31 PM
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