New monitor - what size to go for?

[Belisarius]

OK. I'm on the look out for a new monitor. Just don't tell my wife!

I currently have 3 Iiyama 17" 431S TFTs (all black so it looks good next to my Antec 900) running of 2 7600GSs both dual DVI. Now I have a spare DVI there so I really need to add that extra monitor!

Question is, what to go for?

I could get another 431 on the 'bay and have 4 matching which kind of appeals but I kind of fancy a widescreen for viewing movies. So what size? Currents run at 1280x1024 so I'd kind of like to keep the depth similar so that there's not too much of a jump moving across screens. So thought of a 20" at 1680x1050.

Also tempted by a 24" as would like the extra space but not sure I can stretch the budget. If I did then I'd be tempted to go for another 24", have those central and the two 17" on the wings.

Anyway, would be interested in peoples comments.

Cheers

Andy

 

[philjohn]

Sorry to be the voice of reason, but do you actually perceive a need for more than three monitors? You're probably at multitasking overload with the three you have, adding another could cut productivity. I think there was a study a while back on multi-monitor productivity and bar a few special cases like NOC's, the sweet spot for number of monitors connected to a single workstation is 2-3.

If the only reason is that you've got a spare DVI port then why not spend the dot and dash on a better graphics card setup?

 

[Belisarius]

Hi,
Need? Well to a certain extent you're right. However, I use it a lot for development so will have an IDE running on one, VM on another and reference on the third etc. I also play a couple of non-3D games online and again will have game windows on one, map on another and rule reference on the third. It works quite well. It's mainly for the video use (widescreen) and also to use the same for the maps of the aforementioned games.

I'm really looking to get a feel on how a 20" or 24" would interact with the 17"s in day to day use?

However, I was once caught by my wife with all monitors in use, sat in my high backed chair, stroking the cat in my lap, with my little finger resting on the corner of my mouth a la Dr Evil

Andy