choices choices..

[splendid bob]

Im gonna have a few quid to blow soon, and Ive decided the purchase has to be new monitor (s)

I currently sport a 19 inch dell, my pc is at work (i have my own business so the office is kinda a second home, I work from here and also play games etc, so its not exclusively used games or work). This dell monitor doesnt have the best response (24 i think).

Do I purchase:
a)2*17 inchers or
b)1*20 incher?

I have a spare 5200 kicking around which i should be able to hook up to the 3rd 17, (sub qn, will running ati and nvidia drivers on the same pc cause problems?, ati for my current gto2, nvidia for the 5200)

In favour of the 17's:
+my total resolution will be effectively 3840*1024=3932160 (as opposed to 3074720 ~ 857440 difference which is like having an extra 837*1024 monitor)
+3 screens is better than 2 for work (can have 3 things maximised)
+will look swanky as No swearing!

In favour of the 20:
+will allow me a much higher resolution on 1 monitor for gaming. (although a negative here is id have to keep buying the greatest graphics cards to play games at this res)
+much larger single viewable area, better for programming

Im edging towards 2 17's, probably as cheap, and the desktop space will be really smart.

What would you folks do?

bob

 

[Mud]

20" 4:3 or 16:10? In either case I'd go for the 20" if I were doing much gaming or watching movies...17"ers may help you divide the work more easily, but this can be done on a single screen in any case.

The productivity increase going from 1 screen to 2 is huge, less so from 2 to 3...an either/or choice (like sending an application to a screen) suddenly becomes a 2-part effort, and it takes more effort to place things where they are most immediate or useful. Are you likely to want to run 3 squarish windows at once?

You're going to know what it is you need better than I can guess, I got kind of confused by your post (2x17"? 3x17"? 1x19"+2x17"?).

I've avoided mixing brands and drivers intentionally, although my fears may be less founded than I've led myself to believe. I'll pass the buck...

 

[Baddass]

i think i'd agree with the above, and personally would rather have one larger screen. Better for gaming on one big screen and work can easily be divided up on a larger screen. All down to preference. Also, you can get a more varied range of panel technologies in the 20" market, since the 17" is pretty much all TN Film and has it's drawbacks