What is your display setup and configuration? (Poll)

There are two polls and a third question…

1) Displays

How many displays do you use in your primary setup?
  • Laptop - just its own display
  • Laptop - own display and one external monitor
  • Laptop - own display and two external monitors
  • Laptop - own display and an iPad/Tablet
  • Laptop - own display and external monitor and iPad/Tablet
  • Laptop - with one external display (clamshell mode)
  • Laptop - with one external display and an iPad/Tablet
  • Laptop - other setup (please say in thread!)
  • Desktop computer - single display
  • Desktop computer - twin displays
  • Desktop computer - triple displays
  • Desktop computer - other setup (please say in thread!)
0 voters

2) Orientation

What orientation/s do you use?
  • Single display - landscape
  • Single display - portrait
  • Dual displays - landscape, landscape
  • Dual displays - portrait, portrait
  • Dualdisplays - portrait, landscape
  • Triple displays - landscape, landscape, landscape
  • Triple displays - landscape, portrait, landscape
  • Triple displays - landscape, portrait, portrait
  • Triple displays - portrait, portrait, portrait
  • Triple displays - portrait, landscape, portrait
0 voters

3) Configuration

Please let us know how you are using your setup in the thread :smiley:

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I have 15” MacBook and 12” iPad next to it. Usually have VSC + iTerm on main screen and browser with project on the side screen. But also browser on main screen with hexdocs, elixirforum and other docs.

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15" laptop off to the side on a stand, with a 27" monitor centrally. I think of them as 3 zones - 1 the laptop screen, and then 2 on the external (roughly 2/3 - 1/3).

My most common window layout sounds the same as yours - editor + terminal on the main screen, and app off to the side, and docs at the ready to alt-tab to. I switch things around a bit though (always within the 3 zones) so whatever OS I’m using I always need some sort of tiling and keyboard shortcuts to move windows within & between displays. Most recently those have been PowerToys FancyZones on Windows (a fine example of Microsoft’s naming genius), Pop!_OS shell on linux. I think I used Moom last time I was on Macos.

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I think it’s worth splitting this thread into it’s own. (@AstonJ :pray: :slightly_smiling_face:)
I am using 34" Ultra-wide (5120x2160) with just VS Code on it split vertically like this: files tree, code file, test file, terminal/tests output and 13" MacBook underneath with Slack / Mail / Safari / etc. I tried different setups but always got back to this one.

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Btw how’s 5120x2160 across 34" compared to Retina? Since retina I feel like I can’t watch anything with lower DPI coz it feels blurry. Not that I’m such a snob, but my eyes get tired quicker and I’ve noticed headaches too :smiley:

Asking coz I’m thinking of wide screen display like that + mac mini. Thanks to covid I’m barely ever travelling with computer anymore.

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Well, retina is just a matter of DPI versus the distance between your eyes and the display. So, it’s very nice and I consider that a retina. I have it around 50-60cm from my eyes. see: Is This Retina? - DPI/PPI Display Calculator

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I have a MacBook Pro in clamshell mode with an LG5K monitor. Sometimes I use an iPad via sidecar if I feel I need a little more space.

If I am using MacVim I will use it in fullscreen mode with several windows/panes.
If I am using TextMate I will use it in a shared window occupying the right half, then the left is split by a browser and terminal (around 75/25).

Current setup is an 5k iMac with a 5k LG underneath it angled about 30deg off vertical. I like to keep the code in front on the iMac with everything on the screen below. I prefer this to side by side because it means my neck/back is always straight.

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That’s really interesting Oliver! Do you have any photos? Are you ever tempted to use it as a touch screen?

Different strokes here I think. It works better for me to have an arrangement that affords a bit of movement. For that reason I keep mindful of not having my hands on the mouse or keyboard when I’m not using them, turning my body rather than swivelling my chair, etc. Works for me, but then bodies are different in very complex ways.

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My home setup is a desktop with one 23" monitor and one old 17" monitor to the right. I generally keep vim open in a terminal on the small screen and browser on the larger screen to the left. Rarely have multiple windows on any one screen but switch workspaces. Usually a terminal open with spotify-tui playing music in one workspace. If I need multiple terminals they go in a workspace on the bigger monitor. I’d really like to go bigger on both monitors but it hasn’t felt necessary yet.

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My desktop has a 32" in the middle and a 27" either side, one in portrait for reading docs. Though some people screw that idea by showing a menu over a 1/3-1/2 of the width of the page and shrinking the content.

Need* at least three monitors for when I’m doing SCADA + PLC work.

All HP Z series which look pretty slick.

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Nomading in Thailand with a Dell XPS 15 and an external monitor powered by usbc, Asus Zenscreen. Both screens are 15.6 matte and both devices are lifted up by Nexstand stands.

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Nice one Mathieu!! I’ve been toying with the idea myself and recently posted a thread about it on Devtalk: Digital Nomad Developers - General Dev Chat - Devtalk (you should drop by and share your experience :blush:)

Desktop, single monitor here. Replaced a dual monitor setup with a single 49" curved ultrawide (5120 x 1440) recently.

Very happy with the format. To get the content I wanted available at a resolution I could see, my dual monitor setup required a fair amount of vertical height. As I wear progressive lenses and am too stubborn to buy a set of dedicated computer glasses, I had a lot of neck strain looking up to the tops of those monitors while getting them into the correct part of my lenses for focus. The ultrawide suggestion came in from someone on Hacker News and trading vertical pixels for horizontal pixels has pretty much solved the neck strain issue.

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I develop on a Windows laptop with Ubuntu WSL for the dev environment and Docker for Windows.

The current setup is a standing desk with a 27" 4k Dell monitor on a vesa mount arm in the centre at 100% scale, and the laptop is closed behind it. Layout is usually split in 3rds with code and integrated terminal in the centre, documentation and reference material on the left, and webapp frontend on the right.

I used to work with the laptop as a secondary display but over time my neck and shoulders started giving troubles, so now a mostly dead centre position is best.

Don’t know how you guys do it with the extra wides and multi >27", my neck hurts just thinking about it! :face_with_spiral_eyes:

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Dual monitors - 1920 x 1080 landscape. Works for desktops & laptops. Cheap, readily available, future proof. I’ve had good experience with ASUS zenscreen as second monitor for the laptop.

Still searching for a really great mechanical keyboard that connects via bluetooth…

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For those of you interested in optimising workspace you might be interested in Andrew Hubermans podcast about it. (I summarised some of it on DT: Andrew Huberman Podcasts - #5 by AstonJ - Health & Diet - Devtalk).

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Thanks very much for the link I’ll make some time for it later, just from the show notes I can already see it’s going to be good.

They link to this great study on standing desks IJERPH | Free Full-Text | Effects of a Workplace Sit–Stand Desk Intervention on Health and Productivity

The results indicate that the intervention group significantly decreased their sitting time at work (p = 0.002) and had reduced neck and shoulder pain (p = 0.001). There was a significant increase in subjective health (p = 0.002), vitality in work-related engagement (p < 0.001), and self-rated work performance over a four-week period (p = 0.017)

And regarding this one, The Influence of Ceiling Height: The Effect of Priming on the Type of Processing That People Use, I work from home with tons of natural light and a 4m ceiling, which correlates to the feeling of freedom and creativity that I need in this current systems design phase.

Interesting stuff!

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This should give you an idea

I generally don’t go reaching for the lower one but what always gets me is if I’m running iPhone simulator, then I’m forever reaching to touch it :joy:

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