Dual of Honour

Why two monitors are better than one.

I recently had a staff member ask for a dual screen setup on their computer workstation.
The cost of getting a second monitor was relatively low and I believe the increase in productivity from them has been measurable. 
Certainly, I now have one very happy team member, which is always a good thing. All I got from them was positive feedback so I decided to try dual monitors for myself.
OK, maybe this was a mistake as there is no going back for me now!
I think running a dual screen setup is one of those little things in life that you don’t know that you are missing out on until you try. No going back to a single monitor for me now.
I found dual screens have a huge advantage over a single monitor with workflow being able to be spread out and multiple applications being able to be referenced at the same time.
Some examples from my own use are having the internet banking open on one monitor and the accounts program open on the other while reconciling transactions.
Having my email open on a separate screen while I am working on an application on the other has been amazing. No more alt tabbing between windows every time a new message comes in.
Internet browsing is also fantastic on dual monitors. Even with broadband, it takes 2-10 seconds for many web pages to appear. Some websites are very slow and can take even longer. While that’s happening, I can be working on the other screen – it’s amazing how much you can do in as little as five seconds. When I do a search on Google, I can leave the search list on one monitor while I check out the websites on the other.
As I take a lot of digital pictures, I have found some of the advantages to having dual monitors for editing the photographs fantastic. For example, I can view the thumbnails on one monitor and use the second monitor to preview the pictures on full screen and to check the image quality. Editing the pictures is a dream as there is no substitute for desktop real estate when you start opening multiple images to work with.
If you can find the room on your desk for the second monitor, I would definitely recommend a dual monitor setup, especially if you are a heavy email user.
Happy viewing!
Cliff Salter
www.pchardware.co.nz