Is two 27 inch monitors overkill? Would love to hear experiences with this set up.
The LG 27UL850-W 4K display I have is on sale and I’m tempted to add a second monitor before it’s discontinued, but I’ve read conflicting things about it helping with focus. How do you find it, less focus or more productive? I’m a designer developer and I’m thinking Figma design on one screen for reference and browser and code on the other display.
I have two 27’ LG Ultrafines (5k and 4k) and before that, had a 27’ iMac with the 27’ 5k Ultrafine as my secondary screen. I absolutely love this setup. Text is huge, which is really comfortable for the eyes, and it absolutely helps me focus. I usually have Scrivener on the main screen and dictionaries / reference / the occasional browser window for inspiration on the other one. I pilot my secondary apps through Alfred when possible, which allows me to find what I need while never leaving my main app. Hugely useful.
I’ve got 3 displays (27" main, 24" ref to the left, 13" MacBook to the right) and love the extra space. I have calendar / Omnifocus on the left, music / focusmate on the right, and that clears up the main central one for whatever I’m working on at the time.
Thanks guys! That’s very helpful.
Bonus question: do you use a dual monitor arm? I really don’t like curved silver bases on the LG monitor and to save desk space I’m thinking about monitor arms, any recommends?
I confirm 100% that these bases suck. They eat up a lot of space for nothing.
I intend to use monitor arms in my next setup when I hopefully move next year, but no current experience, sorry.
I use two separate vesa mount arms attached to the back of my desk. I think this is the one: https://smile.amazon.com/VIVO-Monitor-Adjustable-Articulating-STAND-V001/dp/B00B21TLQU/
Works well, and it gives me a bit more flexibility in arrangement than the dual arm setup (and a nice clean desk underneath!). Downside is that it isn’t adjustable easily (need to get out the hex key!), so if you want ones that move a lot the pricier ones are a better fit probably, but I don’t move mine once set up.
27” iMac with two 24” 4K displays here. I really like a lot of pixels.
For certain types of work 2 displays are wonderful. Before I retired I used 2 19” displays on a Lenovo laptop. Handy to have the app running on one screen and the the supporting items on the other. When I had to handle on-call issues with the 14” screen at home it was painful. Right before I left they were working on a SAP implementation. A lot of the people on that project used wide screen displays in portrait mode for their code window. Prevented a lot of scrolling.
I now find the 27” form factor too tall for my progressive lenses. I have to tilt my head too far back to see the top of the screen. Just went from a MBA with Thunderbolt Display to a 24” iMac. It is the perfect height for me.
I wouldn’t hesitate a second. 2 screens is bliss. Got 3 4k screens myself (one for actual work at hand, one for all types of messaging (Slack, Teams, Signal, Messages), one for reference (Reeder, Tweetdeck).
4K is the ideal resolution to split each space in half. 2 browser windows side by side, 2 teams windows side by side, email and slack side by side etc etc.
Do get monitor arms or a dual monitor arm else you lose half your desk space.
+1 for progressive lens neck strain. I switched to “office lenses” and have never looked back. Brilliant for big screens.
@glenthompson +2 for this.
I got computer glasses (only middle distance + reading) about 18 months ago. Switching glasses depending on what I’m doing is a bit of a pain, but I see the computer so much better now.
Computer lenses. Would not be able to work effectively without them.
EDIT: I have a pair that is single prescription throughout. I also have a bifocal pair that has insets for reading distance. Computer prescriptions are just beyond reading distance.
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JJW
I have 2 28" 4K displays and my 16" MBP internal display. I don’t think that 2 27" displays is overkill at all.
I use two 27” 4K displays with a 27” iMac. Planning to pick up a third 27” display for when I upgrade to an “M1X” mini.
I’m so used to three screens that even two aren’t enough anymore.
I’d share my perspective…
I actually had two 27inch monitors and downsized to one (four years ago) - LG 5k ultrafine
I found that was sufficient for me. Provided me extra space on my desk which felt freeing.
Most importantly though, it did wonders for my focus. Having one large display keeps you focused on one monitor.
This also helped my neck pain. Having two means one can focus on the left/right one which isn’t the best posture.
This is just me…
Tried computer glasses and they worked ok when looking at just the display. Couldn’t see anything else in the room. May have to try something different next visit to the eye doctor. My eyesight has changed weirdly over the past few years. I’ve gone from being nearsighted + needing closeup to almost perfect distance vision with bad close vision. Only correction I need for distance is for astigmatism.
I’ve got an LG 4K display in portrait orientation beside my 5K iMac. No problem getting the same pixel spacing on both so windows move fluidly between them.
The portrait orientation works great. I put two half screen windows on it, and each is a nice nearly square (12"x13") window perfect for Calendar and Omnifocus which I put there by default. A quick ⌃→ gets rid of that when I need the display for a work project. Also, the combination requires less desk space and eye motion than two in landscape would require.
I’ve got a 27-inch iMac and a second 27-inch display. For the first few days I was a little overwhelmed. Then I got into a rhythm and found ways to put that space to use that worked for me. Now l wonder how I ever lived without it.
Same setup. Very happy with it. I have been a two monitor person for decades.
Depends on the use case…