Take the 21 day challenge. Use two monitors on your work computer for three weeks (it doesn't actually take that long) and you will never want to go back to working with just one screen. It is incredible how confining you find working with just one monitor.
Let me be clear, that size is not as important as having separate screens (for most people). Dual monitors is definitely better than a single monstrous one. Why? The maximize button.
For many years, everyone has worked on screens too small to entirely display what you were working on. We were always starved for screen space. As a result, we instinctively maximize any window we work from. If you are working on two documents, you will print one and maximize the other.
Moving to a larger monitor, people will continue to maximize out of habit. Only if you get a truly huge screen will you stop maximizing and use multiple windows.
With dual monitors, maximizing will only result in one screen being filled. Also, it is uncomfortable to work on a file that is spread across two screens -- you will naturally keep it to one screen or the other. If you use more than one program (or multiple files from the same program) and switch between them to do your work, you will be surprised how much better it is to work with dual monitors.
Multiple screens are not for everyone, some professions actually benefit more from a single large screen. If you are a designer or photographer, you might benefit from a screen that will display the entire file you are working on.
How about three monitors... or ten?
It really depends on what you use your computer for. From my experience, two 20-24" monitors is the sweet spot for most people. After that, you start to struggle with organizing space -- both on screen and on your actual desk. Programmers, designers, cartographers, scientists and engineers come to mind as people who might need several monitors or very large screens.
Get It Now
The fun part is when people ask me about cost -- often I sense they expect me to be selling them a 'solution'. The reality is, adding a monitor is pretty straight forward. Windows 7 and
Ubuntu both make it real easy. For a number years, computers have come standard with two video ports. Buy a couple of monitors from your favourite hardware supplier (hopefully Weehooey -- but, I'm a fan of
Canada Computers in Kingston too), plug them in and turn on your computer. No computer technician needed.
One last piece of advice. If you decide to move to dual monitors, get two identical monitors. It is much easier to move things from one to the other without resizing. You will be much happier.
