I’m reworking my computer setup, and I’m currently debating with myself over whether I want to pick up a second monitor, or sell my current one and replace it with an ultrawide. I figured I’d seek out anecdotes to see which setup people tend to prefer.
Edit: Thanks y’all for the responses. I see a lot of people doing UWD+1, a few using dual, and very few using none at all. I’m at least going to roll with two monitors, but I’ll have to do some measuring to see if I can make an UWD+1 work for my desk.
Well, I’m not Beeple, but I’ll try to answer the question anyway.
Honestly I’ve done it all — 4 monitors in a 2x2 grid, four side by side, two side by side, two side by side and one vertical. Honestly, what I took away from the experience is that monitor space is like the size of a bowl for goldfish. You’ll pretty much always stretch out and figure out how to use screen real estate
When I simplified things down, I found I was happiest with one UWD, and a small second monitor off to the right. It’s well suited for graphic design work, cus I can keep a document or Slack open on a small monitor and have a full UWD to handle all my toolbars and stuff.
100% agree, also… I believe beetle refers to beehaw people, which you are.
Interesting. What physical size and resolution are you working with?
I have also recently recovered from the 2x2 setup and prefer one UWD now
Maybe I’m the only one who is happy with a single, ultrawide monitor. I used to have two monitors, but with one big screen I don’t have to deal with keeping track of which screen has focus, or with the gap between them.
I did hold out for an ultrawide with the same vertical pixel count as a 4k which it turns out is expensive. With more pixels I can make the code smaller and still read it comfortably.
It helps to have a window manager that is good at laying out windows side-by-side. I’m a big fan of PaperWM which is an extension for Gnome.
The biggest appeal to me was the simplicity of only having one display to worry about for both cabling and display server stuff. Do you ever game and watch videos at the same time on yours?
No, I prefer to focus on the game. Or if I do have a video going it’s on my phone.
Ultrawide w a secondary vertical monitor on the side.
Making use of the ultrawide is so so so so much better with an advanced tiling window manager, I use the one that’s included in Microsoft PowerToys
I prefer this over just the ultrawide and over the H layout triple monitor setup I had before I got the ultrawide.
Y’all are making me jealous with these UWD+1 setups. I’m tempted but I would probably need a larger desk 😭
I’ve had this setup for quite a while, it is very good, I’ve used the vertical monitor for my browser.
I have an ultrawide and I wish I had room for a second monitor anyway, because I spent a lot of time watching videos on fullscreen.
I was a mere peasant working on one monitor. When I finally decides to take advantage of double and triple monitors, my eyes were enlightened, and I transcended as I could focus on multiple screens without having to rearrange windows that much. I recommend getting another smaller monitor because it can fit on your desk space easier. You can also turn a moutor vertical, so it’s more configurable. Ultrawide monitors imo are not worth the cost, although they do look cool.
Multi-monitor, no question. I uss 3 at work and 4 for my home desktop.
I’ve done both and I do like ultrawide for gaming. Spreadsheet/Email/Research work I like dual monitor better because I can write something while looking at source material without as much rearranging.
Dual ultra wide. Not even kidding. PPI might not be as swanky as it can be, but you can’t beat that amount of screen real estate.
I definitely prefer a dual-monitor setup over an ultrawide, as there are definitely times when you really do want separate monitors rather than trying to get multiple windows to tile nicely on a single ultrawide.
If you’re doing any gaming, I’d recommend a triple-monitor setup rather than dual, as even with edgeless monitors, games just look better when the centre of your field of view is on one whole monitor, with the other two providing peripheral view. Not every game works on multiple monitors, but those that do are absolutely amazing with a triple-monitor setup.
My home setup is a dual monitor, with the secondary to the side in portrait mode.
I prefer that to the time I tried an ultrawide, partly because it’s a lot easier to configure secondary windows when gaming – game is fullscreen/fullscreen borderless).
I have a triple 27" 4k setup and like it. I keep most of the active applications on the center monitor and have youtube/browsing/etc on the sides.
I use i3-wm so an ultra wide is super nice/preferred. Though I have a second vertical 1440p monitor to the side for best of both worlds, I’d pick the ultra wide. If I was using Windows though I may stick to dual, because snapping windows around and resizing them with the borders is annoying. Not sure with Mac, I’ve never used it, but I do notice many Mac users run programs without maximizing them at all, so probably ultra wide lol
You actually just made me remember that GNOME with Tiling Assistant only supports up to quarter tiling, so that’s something I’d need to consider. If only I used a tiling WM 😭
Dual monitor; this is because my workflow requires me to use two very different tools together and having them on large and wholly separate monitors helps maintain the separation while retaining a pleasing aspect ratio.
When I had a single ultrawide it worked but it always felt awkward even though technically it wasn’t cluttered.
I use a 34 inch UW as my main monitor and a 17 inch as my secondary on the side. I mostly have Discord on the secondary but sometimes use it for productivity if required. I try not to rely on it too much because it’s quite a stretch for my neck and will hurt after a while.
I have an ultrawide at home and dual at work and I like both for different things. Having an ultrawide is really nice for gaming (when it’s supported) but it’s annoying having to tab out to look something up so I’ve been looking at getting a second monitor recently. Dual is great for work since I need all the screens, makes it easier to work than tiling windows on one screen.
