May 10, 2024 at 5:42 pm
My current home / work setup is dual LG 27" monitors attached to a KVM switch connected to my home and work laptops (monitors are running at 1080 so not any more real workspace than a 24" it's all just bigger). Keyboard is attached to the KVM switch and the mouse is a spendy logitech thing that switches between the dongles attached to multiple computers. I've also set up a Stream Deck attached to the work machine to handle some hot keys and cut down on the CTRL+? stretches which can cause some finger tendon pain at times. All of that is on a power standing desk. I've used a third monitor at times in the past as a place for Outlook / Skype / Teams windows to reside without using my other workspace. It was also really useful for holding a digital checklist for complex upgrade processes. No easy way to mount one with my current setup and a KVM switch that can handle 3-4 monitors gets rather pricy.
Had a coworker who used six monitors and was trying for eight when told to stop by management as the weight of that many monitors had become a safety concern. He only seemed to use three of them for actual work, the rest were mostly used as livestreams of various internet webcams. Guess he just really wanted a window.
May 10, 2024 at 5:51 pm
I'm using 3 24" monitors for work. Outlook, editor and misc programs on the left, mostly SSMS on the middle and chrome on the right. This works very well for me. If I were to start over, I'd probably have 3 27". I've tried larger monitors but I have to sit too far back, otherwise I have to move my head to see the whole screen. That's a drawback of only having sight in one eye. My field of view is smaller.
May 10, 2024 at 7:10 pm
I have a 49-inch curved at home and at the office. At home I have an additional 27 inch at the top left so I can use the remote desktop window on the big monitor and keep music, Teams and our phone system apps on the smaller one, outside of the remote desktop window.
This solves the issue with sharing my entire screen when at home - when I need to, I drag the remote desktop window to the smaller monitor and share that one. At work I it's still a problem, so I just don't schedule meetings that involve me sharing my screen on days I'm in the office, unless I can get away with sharing a single app's window.
For those of us with Windows 11 and its new window placement features the things you can do with one giant monitor are impressive.
May 13, 2024 at 12:03 am
Hi All,
My setup at home is 2 x 27" 2K monitors that have built-in KVM, connected to work laptop via a docking station, and personal Desktop, plus an old 24" just connected to the Desktop for background YouTube while working. Left and right are in portrait, so I mainly work on the middle in landscape. I don't use the laptop screen at all.
All of my work is by remote desktop, and I find Windows does not manage multi-monitor RDP support very well. It frequently gets confused with windows placements, moving them around between RDP sessions, or even after lock\unlock. I thought they would have fixed this with Windows 11, but its no better. Its extra frustrating when I go into the office once or twice per week and have to go back to a pair of 1080p 24" monitors - besides the lower resolution being hard to get used to, we have to lock the screen when walking away from our desks, so having to rearrange windows is a more frequent occurrence.
I have a stand-up desk at home that I bought during COVID. There are no stand-up facilities at the office besides a couple of those on-desk raisers, but I find them too small and wobbly.
4 Monitors would probably not work for me, but I do like the sound of a single 49". Maybe Windows would handle windows placement better in RDP on one of those. Screen sharing would work by using a windowed RDP instead of full screen, so that would not be a problem. One thing that makes me hesitate though is adapting back to the 1080p 24" when i go into in the office, it makes me feel 'claustrophobic' as it is.
Thanks, Dan.
May 13, 2024 at 7:47 am
All of my work is by remote desktop, and I find Windows does not manage multi-monitor RDP support very well. It frequently gets confused with windows placements, moving them around between RDP sessions, or even after lock\unlock. I thought they would have fixed this with Windows 11, but its no better.
Thanks, Dan.
This annoys me too, even on my single monitor.
I turn my monitor off if I am going to be away from it for a while. When I turn it back on, W11 changes window sizes and placements (though thankfully it remembers which (virtual) desktop an app was on). I use a tool called Actual Multiple Monitors to help me snap windows back into position, but it shouldn't be necessary.
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Martin Rees
You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.
Stan Laurel
May 13, 2024 at 1:56 pm
I have been using a single 50" 4K Vizio TV I bought at Costco for $600 years ago (probably $300 now?). I find the 60 hertz refresh rate is acceptable for coding. Screen wise it is the equivalent of four standard 1280x1024 monitors.
It seems like with multi monitor the divide between screens is always in the wrong place, and that the 4K resolution is wasted on smaller monitors since you need larger fonts to be able to read it.
May 13, 2024 at 4:48 pm
I have been using a single 50" 4K Vizio TV I bought at Costco for $600 years ago (probably $300 now?). I find the 60 hertz refresh rate is acceptable for coding. Screen wise it is the equivalent of four standard 1280x1024 monitors.
It seems like with multi monitor the divide between screens is always in the wrong place, and that the 4K resolution is wasted on smaller monitors since you need larger fonts to be able to read it.
I'd love to see a picture of how multiple windows look if you can get one without disclosing any sensitive info. This has been tempting to me to try.
May 13, 2024 at 5:56 pm
I'm an outlier. I used one 19 inch monitor when I worked at the office. I started working at home when covid started and am now officially a remote worker full time. Now, the only monitor I have is my laptop monitor. Every once in a while, I would benefit from a second monitor, but the single monitor usually works fine.
I do often enough miss having a bigger monitor, but I love the portability I have with my current setup. I find that there is no ideal, single ergonomic position. The best thing for the body is to move around. I have a standing desk setup with stand and separate keyboard and mouse equipment that makes the laptop monitor work at the desk. And I can quickly/easily move around to other locations in the house, including curling up on the couch, as desired. I'll take the flexibility of just having my laptop over enjoying the larger real estate and font of a bigger monitor.
You might think that I would like having more monitors if I just gave it a try. I did try three monitors once when I worked for a few weeks at a different agency. I was excited to try their standard setup of three monitors. But what happened is that I actively got a benefit from using two monitors one time in those three weeks. The rest of the time, all I needed was the middle monitor, while the two side monitors just annoyed me.
May 24, 2024 at 4:47 pm
I work 100% from home. Several years ago, I talked my employer into funding two 24" monitors for my home office. When they agreed, I bought two 27" ones via eBay instead for the same cost. 🙂 I have one on each side of my 15" laptop (which is on an Amazon Basics stand to raise the screen), on a 6' wide desk. The laptop runs 1920x1200 at 125% and the externals have the same resolution, but at 100%.
My left large monitor by default displays Outlook and is where I use all my Office 365 applications and Notepad++. The laptop screen by default displays a browser open to deck.blue, with tabs for Twitter and other things. I also use it for Teams video calls, so I am looking directly into the built-in camera on the laptop. My right monitor is where I do my SSMS work (via RDP, and I've never encountered the issue with it jumping around that others here have been complaining about even though I'm also on Windows 11, [possibly because I run Dell Desktop Manager]), Redgate Monitor (which I access using the same RDP session as SSMS), and various browser windows. I almost always use applications full screen. I may play with rearranging things so my laptop is at one end instead of in the middle, so I could face forward for most of my work.
When away from home, my productivity takes a major hit when I only have my laptop. The two external monitors probably pay for themselves weekly. I could get by with one, but I'm glad I don't have to. If I could run with the laptop closed and have a 3rd 27" to replace that screen things might be better, but that would be difficult to arrange on the desk. Having a second tier (vertically) for one or more monitors would definitely cause me neck/shoulder issues.
Once you are 50+, ergonomics are more important than anything else. That goes for desks, keyboard/mouse height, chairs, and monitor placement.
What I'd really like is to replace the whole mess with a 27" laptop. 🙂
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