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Hi All,

Well my trusty old CRT is showing signs of age. It is almost not reaching calibration brightness any longer. I expect to have to replace it before the year is out.

I currently run a dual monitor setup.
A Dell 20" LCD for tools and internet & the CRT for color critical editing work.
I really like the idea of a 30" monitor, it would get some clutter off my desk.
But I wonder if it is not smarter to get one of the slightly smaller LCD graphics monitors such as the NEC 26" LCD2690WUXi2 and continue to run a dual monitor set up?

Any thoughts on this?

Best,

Joseph

I used to work on a 30 inch flatscreen (a Dell monitor), and I really loved the sheer size for 100% photo editing, plenty of room for palates etc.. Currently I use a 21 inch Eizo monitor. As much as I liked the Dell size, I preferred a more high end/accurate monitor that was a bit smaller. One day I'll own a 30 inch Eizo.... *sigh*

Personal I would go with the 2 monitors....I am running 3 monitors on my system right now!   

My friend used to use 8 monitors in two big panel setups, 4 each. That was intense looking.

One 30" is my vote. It's what I use, it's plenty big enough for most apps

So far it appears that the responses are pretty evenly split between a dual screen set up vs a gigantic single screen.

One problem I have seen in the past with dual calibrated monitors: even if both monitors are the same brand and type, they never look quite identical.
BTW, these are Eizo monitors I am referring to.

I don't know if the variance comes from manufacturing tolerance or possibly the graphics card not really being up to the task of driving both monitors equally.

It begs the question though, which one is correct?

I use a 27" Dell and a 24" dell at work, and that 27" monitor provides a lot of workspace for digital mapping tasks, where I can use the 24" to display the tables and other window data.  Before it was a 24 and a 19 which seems much smaller now.  Some tasks really seem optimized for better production with dual monitors.

I have dual 24 inch Dell S2409Ws. It's not one of their ultrasharp monitors or anything special and only cost me $170 each. I am not a super pro photographer and don't ever intend to be, so having an ultrasharp crystal clear super expensive monitor was not one of my top priorities. They do look 100% identical though. Perhaps the biggest drawback for me is that they are 1920x1080 and not 1920x1200. For the price though I couldn't be happier.

My input above is probably useless cause you lot need the higher end monitors. But I can offer 1 suggestion! If you are considering a Dell, I highly recommend you check out http://www.dell.com/outlet to see if they have what you are looking for. That is where Dell sells their returned/refurbished products and sometimes offer them at a great discount. My computer cost me about $1000 while it was listed new for about $1500 with the same specs. It took a couple days for a system with the specs I wanted to show up, but it was well worth the wait.   I now have 3 purchases from dell outlet and they all seem brand new to me and still have the warranty.

2 x 22" Samsung displays here and I´m really happy with it. Both are around 1.5 years old and I would never ever give away one of it, or work just with one, even if its 30".

As the prices fall like snow, i would get 2 x 24" at a lower price than i paid for the "old ones" (best price now 179 € for a Samsung), so my next setup will be 2 x 24". But honestly, a 30" looks pretty impressive, but if you sit in front of it, its like sitting in ROW #1 in an movie theatre. Does anyone really like this feeling? Not me!

And don´t forget the cost of a 30incher, no way to get one for less than 1200 €. I´d rather buy 3-4 24ers and spend the rest on a new, wider, desk  


btw. a 12 year old 21" CRT is standing here next to my desk, weight is approx 35 kilos and you can pick it up here FOR FREE (no assistance provided to carry it to your car - promissed!)