Okay, so the article isn’t really called the “Zen” of dual monitors, but rather the “virtues” of a second screen. And having been someone who thought they were happy with a 15-inch CRT back in the day, only to move up to a 22-inch CRT, then a 20-inch LCD, and now finally a shiny pair of dual 20-inch LCDs on his desk (at home anyway) I can attest to how wonderful it is to be able to be writing about something in one screen while I have the thing I’m writing about open in the other. Or, as another example, to be chatting or teleconferencing with other people on one screen, while doing research or reading information (or typing information!) in the other. Or, perhaps my favorite example, to be playing World of Warcraft in one window, while looking up item sell prices and stats on the web in the other. Seriously, once you’ve done it, you won’t go back. I, for one, since recieving my new MacBook Pro, have rigged up even my office desk to support the MacBook on the left and my LCD on the right as a second monitor. It really does help to have the extra real estate.
That being said, people usually either absolutely love dual monitor setups, or they hate them-they love being able to do all of those things I mentioned, or they hate the extra lateral desk space it’ll take up and having to move their eyes from screen to screen-those people might prefer one of Dell’s shiny 24-inch or 30-inch LCD displays: [ Dell Monitors ] But for the rest of us who can definitely get down with more than one display will be pleased at this article in the New York Times this morning about how dual display setups can definitely impact your productivity, 20 to 30 percent, for that matter!
One reviewer leaves alt-tab land and enters dual display heaven, and recounts his story for the rest of us to see. Read on, and join us!