Is dual monitors much better for web development?

Hey,

I was just wondering everyones thoughts on running dual monitors when designing websites. I'm just wondering how useful it is going to be. I'm fairly new to web development so I'm just wondering if it will be worth it.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Alex

quite honestly, it's overrated. you don't need dual monitors, unless you plan on working on several projects open at the same time and you're looking for a way to seperate everything.

Agreed. Once you can use alt+tab without thought (or cmd+tab on the mac), there isn't really need. I even use a KVM switch to use 2 computers on 1 monitor... I haven't much space on my real-world desktop, see.

I am a hardcore advocate of dual monitors... honestly, you can't appreciate it until you've used it. Personally I keep the code on one monitor and the browser on the other. It helps me visualize the CSS or Javascript I write.

Recently I aquired a 24" Widescreen beauty... so now I keep my music player, chat windows and distracting slacker stuff on the smaller screen (13" laptop) and do my work on the widescreen... It's different than before, but still fun.

I find dual monitors helps for other things than web development too... I can do my banking in my accounting software while comparing stats on a browser on the other screen. In my downtime, I also watch movies on one while chatting on the other... It's also perfect for following tutorials of any kind.

Nah, double screens ain't that useful....



That's why I use three.



Code, output and reference manuals all at once.

And since I run most screens at 1600x1200, I also use Winsplit revolution to cram even more windows open at once....

I have seen few of my friends using only one screen for development purpose.I think it depends on what is comfortable for you. New developers start with one screen and as they get professional the number of screens may increase.

Three monitors? bah... you never know when you might be, uh, hacking the matrix or something.

http://img.engadget.com/common/imag...264859791011042
(not my rig)

Is it so that if you have three monitors your output is increased by 3 times or you can handle three different things with the same concentration level on all three? I'm just curious to know some more.

My output is not increased threefold (I'm not that good). I do however find that I can work much faster, since I spend much less time swapping windows.

Factor greatly depends on the number of files I'm working on. If I've got one large piece of code, the increase isn't that great. If I've got a lot of pages open because I'm working on a website, the reduced overhead of swapping between editor and browser, and opening files makes a huge difference.

yeah its goog i think

At somepoint I will be able to afford a second monitor and go dual screen

You may find usefull tool 'XRefresh' if you are using dual monitors on windows.

It simply performs browser refresh whenever you save modified file into working directory. In other words it automates what you have to do anyway.

You are so right, dual monitors are a solid solution! Keep your work on one and all the little staff like ICQ and muzak on the smaller one!

I'm curious if anyone uses Virtual Desktops (or Spaces as OS X likes to call it).
I think the idea is cool, but I haven't figured out how to use it efficiently.