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It's been a while since we ran a story about some facet of people's home computer systems and I got to wondering what kind of monitor setup other Soylentils have at home. (If you have multiple systems, feel free to enumerate each setup.)
For example, I run Win 7 Pro on a Dell laptop which has a Mobile Intel Core 2 P8700 Duo processor and which sports NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M graphics. Instead of using the built-in laptop display, I have a several-year-old Gateway monitor with 1920x1200 resolution @ 59Hz and 32-bit color. I do not do any gaming, so I don't need the latest graphic card/monitor.
Some time down the road, though, I'd like to get a new computer and am thinking about a multi-monitor setup. I'd like at least 1920x1200 across 3 screens, though I'd not mind it if I could afford 3 x 4K screens. I'd like it to be compatible with some flavor of Linux or *BSD, preferably without systemd. Does anyone here have experience with that kind of setup? What OS do you use? What graphics card? What monitors and resolutions do you run?
I know there are some gamers on the site, as well. Here's a chance to brag a bit about your rig!
And, of course, please share any horror stories and/or triumphs, too!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 21 2016, @10:26PM
the more pixels / monitors available, the less mental context switches are required, up to the point where you have to actually move yourself/your chair to see more monitor. the sweet spot is 3 monitors.
very important persons have more monitors than are useful. 3 monitors is far from asshole social signalling. some of us like to be actually productive rather than troll all day, and in this age where monitors can be acquired for around $100 and last for over a decade, meh.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 21 2016, @10:36PM
You're bullshitting to rationalize the three monitors you need to stay in the assholes club.
I have never ever needed more than one display, because I am not an idiot, and I have the ability to hold more than one concept in my mind simultaneously without needing everything to be in front of my face the whole time.
Multiple monitors are mental crutches for morons.
(Score: 3, Touché) by ticho on Sunday August 21 2016, @10:43PM
Ah, the good old "everyone is an asshole if they do not do things the way I do, because my way is the only way". Grow up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 21 2016, @10:56PM
Everyone I've met so far who uses multiple monitors has been an asshole, thus by induction, people who use multiple monitors are assholes.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @02:32AM
Looks like we found at least one counterexample with a 1 monitor setup.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @03:28PM
So
I'm going to go ahead and make the obvious intuitive leap:
Some people are assholes!
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Sunday August 21 2016, @10:43PM
I like have two monitors so I can have "top" and "bmon" running on the second one while I wait for a JS-laden browser tab to load. A serial console would work almost as well for that. Sometimes I use my laptop as a third monitor.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday August 21 2016, @10:46PM
I don't need a monitor at all. I'm that good, motherfucker!
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 21 2016, @11:23PM
Braille terminals don't count as monitors. This whole "story" is biased toward the sighted.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Monday August 22 2016, @12:17AM
Punchcards, JCL, dotmatrix line printer and a connection to an IBM system/360 is the only way to do COBOL.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 23 2016, @05:06AM
I prefer a dominatrix printer.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday August 22 2016, @12:13AM
At a former employer you could have up to six monitors (2x3 organization) and I tried it and a new problem AC forgot to mention is mental context switches and mapping such that rather than looking at monitor #5 when you're focused on #2 you'll physical context switch #2 because its a lot of state to keep in mind.
I suppose life is different if you have a job like monitoring atomic reactors #1 thru #6 inclusive where the mapping is simple, vs having six generic viewports into your task.
When I had five monitors I would sometimes leave one on email and one on IRC/messaging and it mostly just increased stress and distraction, although it was sometimes useful. So stress is another interesting aspect.