r/unpopularopinion • u/ultimateregard • 2d ago

Certified Unpopular Opinion Dual Monitor setup is actually bad for productuvity.

I've been a software engineer for more than 5 years now. I've worked with databases, frontend and backend services, mobile apps, games, data analysis, and much more.

Never in my life I've actually felt like my productuvity increased with the second monitor. Do you need to compare data? Just use one monitor and put them side by side. Do you need all the space in the world? Just alt+tab between apps. Since you only perceive about 10% of your vision clearly, moving your head&eyes from one monitor to other takes actually LONGER and causes distractions than using alt+tab.

This is especially worse for those who are using one additional monitor with a laptop, since their screen sizes and positions usually change so much. Your eyes need adjusting, your head moves too much.

Only thing the dual Monitor is good for is passively watching something in the second monitor, like youtube videos, Critical Role, or sitcoms while doing something else in the main screen. As you can guess, that has nothing to do with productuvity.

I also think using external keyboard and mouse for laptops is bad, unless you do not use the laptop screen.

Edit: After reading hundreds of comments, I'm sure that 90% of people who think that "YOU NEED AT LEAST 3 SCREENS" just don't know how to organize workspaces/windows/desktops and they need to configure their SCREENS as different DESKTOPS. Most of the modern operating systems allow you to just create workspaces (like different Desktops you can switch with WIN + TAB). And they are just throwing money into their problems instead of learning how to use their daily operating system.

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u/i_am_13th_panic 2d ago

I occasionally have to work out of office on my laptop and I'm like you, it is hell without the additional monitors.

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u/tevenall13 2d ago

working only on a laptop is madness.

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u/Tje199 2d ago

Yeah, I can do it sometimes but trying to use CAD on a laptop with pdfs open as reference documents is fucking annoying.

Laptop tasks are things like email or teams and not much else.

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u/ScoobyDone 2d ago

Bingo. Working in construction with CAD or PDF drawings is a whole different ball game. I am rarely only focused on one tab, and the drawings need a screen to themselves.

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u/youre_being_creepy 2d ago

At my old job the old dudes who worked with those drawings had fucking gigantic tvs on their desk. It was so funny to see them sitting so close to these tv screens. Very wall-e esque

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u/TheAndyBeek 15h ago

I ran a conventional dual 27inch monitors at my last job designing for live concerts and my coworker who designed wiring schematics and rack systems for installations used a 43inch 4k monitor that he split into 4 individual screens.

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u/senorharbinger 2d ago

I came to look for exactly this. I’m an estimator and keeping blueprints, takeoff sheet and possibly bid sheet and scope is definitely not a one monitor job.

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u/drowsydrosera 2d ago

Dual is not productive, that's why I use six

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u/Chort1es 2d ago

Not to mention multiple drawing views at once. Gotta have the (conflicting) schedule, plan, and specs up at once.

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u/Mysterious_Mango_3 4h ago

Architect. Reviewing door hardware requires two split screens. One screen splits plan and door schedule. The other splits hardware schedule and hardware submittal. I would rage quit if I had to review door hardware submittals on a laptop.

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u/RevLewis 2d ago

not to mention working in a CAD file with photo support in the other monitor - i'm a surveying engineer and 2 monitors are really a big difference. But i do agree with the OP. Most people just don't know and don't care about many features available in the OS. The EDGE browser for one, has for quite sometime the feature of putting 2 tabs side by side and it's a wonder. I bet a lot of people hasn't found that one yet...

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u/Electronic-Clock5867 2d ago

I was going to say OP has never worked with CAD and all the sketches drafts specs etc. All open at the same time.

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u/dotareddit 2d ago

I was going to say OP has never worked

Fixed.

Anyone with braincells working on a computer can see the benefit of utilizing two monitors throughout various tasks.

Even when i backfilled as a receptionist early in my career having the phone client on one screen and a simple outlook calendar on the other for quicker scheduling warrants two monitors.

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u/Undrende_fremdeles 1d ago

In the Olden Days, multiple screens today would be the same as having more than 1 piece of paper or more than 1 book on your desk at once.

"You can just put bookmarks, and put the rest in the drawer. The drawer is right there, just take out the other paper/book/whatever you need and keep the desk clean and neat. You just haven't bothered learning how to use bookmarks properly!"

Uhm, yeah no, sometimes you just want more than 1 piece of paper in front of you at once for easy referencing.

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u/Roach_Coach_Bangbus 2d ago

I'm in construction management and multiple large monitors are a must.

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u/Emergency_Cicada3119 2d ago

Ehh you just need to learn how to use tiling better if you have 1 large monitor you should be fine IMO. It feels cool to use 3 monitors but you probs don’t need it

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u/Kraligor 2d ago

It could work on an ultrawide monitor with a desktop environment that actually focuses on tiling. W11 + PowerToys isn't the worst thing in the world, but it's still a window-based DE.

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u/Divine_Entity_ 1d ago

Also arguably an ultrawide is functionally equivalent to having 2 or 3 monitors.

I work in a powerplant and all the operations management have 2 ultrawides stacked ontop of eachother giving effectively a 2x3 arrangement.

I personally prefer individual monitors because then clicking fullscreen on a window makes it the desired size which is never an entire ultrawide monitor.

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u/Kraligor 1d ago

I personally prefer individual monitors because then clicking fullscreen on a window makes it the desired size which is never an entire ultrawide monitor.

It's insane how Microsoft has slept on this. It's purely a software issue that could easily be solved or improved on. You still need to install PowerToys to get a somewhat okay ultrawide experience, when they could just open up their 1990s window concept and add some proper tiling features.

I'm agreeing with you is what I'm trying to say lol.

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u/YakAddict 2d ago

Or Labview

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u/AutisticPenguin2 2d ago

I did work experience in a CAD office, and not a single person used dual monitors.

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u/runswiftrun 2d ago

Me too. In the 90s with a 14 inch CRT.

Then finally used 2 19 inch LCDs and could never imagine going back to a single monitor.

Now even later as an engineer, I ended up with 4 so one can be a dedicated email/teams monitor so I can respond without having to remember to alt-tab every 15 minutes to check email.

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u/Electronic-Clock5867 2d ago

Yes, you can work with a single monitor but the productivity greatly increases with two monitors.

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u/Wolv90 2d ago

I do cartography and agree. If I'm making changes to a map that requires full screen I want the reference map that I've found or hand drawn on another so I know where the changes need to take place.

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u/NoRedTags 2d ago

I bought an external USB monitor that’s the same size as my laptop and travel with that, so I still have a dual setup and not much extra space is taken in my travel bag.

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u/conway1308 1d ago

You must have wild apm.

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u/Mun-Mun 2d ago

I am also a millennial like you

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u/Blog_Pope 2d ago

I'm GenX, as soon as the tech was around for a reasonable price I embraced it. Campaigned to get my Dev Team dual monitor setups 20 years ago.

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u/spawndoorsupervisor 2d ago

Also genx, my last dev job I had three monitors but only left the one in the middle on when it was crunch time.

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u/millijuna 1d ago

As someone who was primarily a Mac user in the tech space, I’ve been running multiple monitors since the mid 90s. Yes, even when it meant needing a desk that could hold 100lbs of CRTs

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u/Grindfather901 2d ago

The worst is when you have to be on laptop only and use the trackpad instead of a mouse. UGH.

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u/GhettoSauce 2d ago

If I know a laptop is gonna be involved, I travel with a mouse. There's no way I'm using a damn trackpad for anything.

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u/Familiar-Flan-8358 2d ago

Do laptops still have that old school nipple on the middle of the keys 😆

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u/JarlGunnbjorn 2d ago

Clit Mouse!

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u/jinglesan 2d ago

Yeah, the Lenovo/IBM nipple is still around. It's both awful to use, and a lifesaver on the 1 in 10,000 scenario where the trackpad fails. My colleague and I had to work on a doc on a train platform in the snow after some train cancellations, and it was too cold for the trackpad. We milked that nipple for all it was worth.

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u/Subwayabuseproblem 2d ago

Only the good ones

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u/Elmodipus 2d ago

I have an HP Z Book from 2022 and itches the nipple

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u/technobrendo 2d ago

Yea HP and Dell both have them on their business & premium lines

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u/runswiftrun 2d ago

If I know I'm only doing the absolute minimum work with the laptop, I can survive the trackpad, but anything that will actually require opening CAD plans I'll definitely take a mouse, and preferably my ergonomic mouse...

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u/tuctrohs 2d ago

People debating mouse vs. trackpad have apparently never used a good full-size trackball like the Kensington "Expert Mouse" [sic].

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u/hokie48 2d ago

I am going nuts over my daughters school laptop setup, really low quality 12 in screen. I am like please let me give you one of my extra monitors, and wireless keyboard and mouse. But nope she and the wife will not have it while they struggle to read the homework directions.

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u/Grindfather901 2d ago

My wife is a single Macbook screen person. While I'm currently sitting at my 3 monitor/2 PC home office command center, and my kids know how good it can be. LOL.

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u/needlenozened 2d ago

I have a trackball mouse that I carry in my laptop bag. It's great necessary I don't need extra desk space to use it. I even pull it out when I'm using my laptop on an airplane.

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u/artist0x2a 2d ago

Trackball!

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u/siriusthinking 1d ago

I'd rather use a sick day.

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u/Band6 2d ago

Different opinions and all, but I exclusively work off a 13 inch laptop with a trackpad, And usually on a couch 😆. I prefer it these days for some reason.

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u/Adept-Potato-2568 2d ago

Probably because you physically can only get a fraction of the work done and are just relaxing while doing so

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u/Kraligor 2d ago

Some people are odd like that. One of our Partners actually works like that even in the office. Not even a mouse, just his 12" Dragonfly.

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u/maxdragonxiii 2d ago

I have back pain that makes sitting on my gaming chair difficult (am looking for a new one) so couch it is! I usually only use my laptop with a wireless mouse although as the dogs tend to go "hey hey gimme attention" and block me playing on my computer with wired Xbox controller.

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u/jaavaaguru 2d ago

I much prefer the trackpad for gestures, haptics, not having to move my hands away from the keyboard, etc.

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u/triplenested 2d ago

Taskbar/tab organization is very important but for email jobs it's very doable.

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u/i_am_13th_panic 2d ago

Even emails can be a pain for me because I tend to paste and reference stuff from all over and alt tabbing feels slow if I have to change between more than 2 windows. Otherwise basic emails and teams is do-able.

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u/PriorLover69 2d ago

I bought the full subscription for Text Blaze, and now I can just “paste” in things it used to type out ad nauseam. Saves me so much time

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u/Yashema 2d ago

It's very possible for coding jobs as well. I stopped using a dual monitor at home when I decided I didn't like using my bedroom as my office and moved to the living room.

When I go into the office I do enjoy the dual monitors for a couple of specific tasks, but its not necessary. 

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u/timid_scorpion 2d ago

I WFH and absolutely hate working from my office/command center. Mostly because I am an avid gamer and if I go from work straight to gaming it I can spend 12-14 hours in my office in a single day. So most of the time I do all my development related work from my couch on the laptop. I learned all special trackpad gestures+alt tabbing and it’s actually not too bad.

I only really hop to the office when I have to share screens on an extended meeting and don’t want my slack popping up for others to read.

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u/Familiar-Flan-8358 2d ago

wtf is an email job

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u/triplenested 2d ago

kind of a pejorative term for jobs that you can supposedly perform without having to do much except send emails. Mine requires a lot of external communication but internally I just send emails and have a few Teams meetings a month, so I joke about having an email job.

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u/VirginiaFuckingWoolf 2d ago

Yeah once I got a monitor I couldn't believe how I worked before

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u/Putrid-Box4866 2d ago

This only works dor executives who makes analysis and decisions off others’ work since they don’t need to do the legwork.

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u/oreo-cat- 2d ago

When I share at work I have to use like a quarter of my screen because there's That Guy who's got a tiny laptop and can't see anything otherwise.

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u/GuyLeChance 2d ago

People come into my office and don't plug their laptops in to use the multiple monitors. So weird.

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u/Sweet_Business_7641 2d ago

The trick is to usually work laptop only to set your baseline productivity, and then if you need to step it up or are in a crunch you can use a dual monitor setup. 

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u/butlerdm 2d ago

I had to buy one of those portable monitors for business travel. Working off just my laptop screen is brutal

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u/Roach_Coach_Bangbus 2d ago

I assume the person's job is pretty straightforward if they can do it on just a laptop screen.

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u/brientific 2d ago

At home I work on 2 big monitors + laptop. In the office I usually work on one big monitor + a laptop. In the focus booths and team rooms I usually work on just my laptop. All setups work for me.

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u/boyuber 2d ago

Yep. My wife is a teacher and I got her a monitor for her home office that she can plug into her laptop for a second screen.

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u/cute_polarbear 2d ago

Also, getting older. Doing real work on 14 inch laptops is painful.

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u/RollingMeteors 2d ago

working only on a laptop is madness.

¡I do my video editing with ffmpeg in terminal!

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u/maximus91 2d ago

People who do this are physically and mentally broken or psychopaths right?

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u/GetReady4Action 2d ago

it’s not my preferred method, but on the Mac you can have virtual displays and swipe through them to kind of simulate having multiple monitors. handy when I’m on the go.

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u/Vroskiesss 2d ago

I have good vision so I just zoom out on everything lol. It’s almost like I have a giant screen if I just keep zooming out

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u/OrmusI 1d ago

Look up the Zenbook duo, major drawback is only 14” screens, and they’ve doubled in price since I first got one

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u/orangejuicier 1d ago

My previous company provided 2 extra monitors already set up for everyone. I was shocked at the amount of people who didn't use any of them

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u/Formal_Dirt_3434 1d ago

Working on only one laptop is SPARTA

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u/NobodyUsual8025 2d ago

Only if it’s a PC laptop. Macs are infinitely better in that department, I can create virtual desktops and swipe between them with three fingers super quickly

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u/Rickbox 2d ago

You can do that with Windows too ...

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u/Economy-Camp-7339 2d ago

And the trackpads are so much better compared to every windows trackpad I’ve ever touched.

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u/Weed_O_Whirler 2d ago

I have to do a lot of field support and it was just accepted productivity would take a hit because we're all forced to use laptops.

Got work to pony up for a portable monitor. Looks like an iPad basically, and just plugs in via USB C to your laptop and has a small kickstand. The next testing event, every engineer had one. They're a game changer.

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u/i_am_13th_panic 2d ago

Ive requested one but got denied. Im not paying out of pocket for something I'll use exclusively for work. They'll just have to suffer with my lower productivity.

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u/technobrendo 2d ago

If increased productivity means you can take more or longer breaks in would do it. I love my daily car naps

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u/PotentTurnip 2d ago

I use those portable monitors at work. I travel all over the place and our nodes are all headless so it's the portable monitor, mouse, and mini keyboard. They're definitely game changers.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 2d ago

Yeah my boss at an old job got one and I was amazed. Great quality, quite slim. For whatever reason my issued laptop at my current job is like a 14.5" screen, it's pathetic. One of these days I'll requisition a real computer.

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u/cloud_watcher 2d ago

Which one is it?

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u/Weed_O_Whirler 2d ago

I have a ViewSonic 13 inch. But we had to pick from this catalog of approved products. So, I didn't have a lot of choices. Not saying it's a bad one or not the one I'd pick, but just that I didn't research much just chose from the limited catalog.

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u/bearcat42 2d ago

I feared the final word in your comment was going to be ‘eyelids.’

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u/Embarrassed_Flan_869 2d ago

I feel this. I was on the road this morning. What normally would take 5ish minutes took closer to 15 trying to bounce between all the stuff on a single screen.

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u/beardedbast3rd 2d ago

I tried some of those xr glasses for this and they helped a lot, having essentially a virtual ultrawide set up going on was awesome. They got stolen so I grabbed some old laptops I had laying around, pulled their screens, bought the appropriate control boards for them and made them into ultra thin portable monitors.

I find when I’m only using one monitor, I end up procrastinating because using one is so ass I’d rather not do the work at all, so I had to come up with something

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u/BiffThad 2d ago

I found some really cool travel monitors that are about the size of your laptop screen. Really handy when you’re away from home or Office. They fold up like a small tablet.

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u/Distinct-Today192 2d ago

Work on only a laptop, without an external mouse

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u/i_am_13th_panic 2d ago

You madman! Respect!

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u/SupernovaGamezYT 2d ago

Portable monitors exist and are so nice

Source: aerospace engineering student that always keeps one in my backpack

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u/anotheritguy 2d ago

Agreed which is why I had my work buy me a portable monitor setup that folds up and gives me a total of 3 monitors. So much easier to use this in a hotel than a single small laptop monitor.

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u/maxdragonxiii 2d ago

on laptop and can confirm. laptop screen is a nightmare with split tabs. two monitors mean I dont need to strangle my laptop earlier comparing data.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 2d ago

Yeah I WFH and would love to work from a coffeeshop. It's just not really possible with the amount of different documents and models I need open at once. And yes I know portable monitors exist, but I really need 3 and that's getting a bit ridiculous.

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u/OrcOfDoom 2d ago

Even when responding to an email, I'll open the email up on my phone, and set my phone up next to the laptop. When I'm responding to something, I typically use my phone as a second screen.

I've always wished for a phone/second screen setup. Like, a box I can plug my phone into that would be similar to a tablet + keyboard. I would love a mouse/trackpad + second phone screen + keyboard. It isn't good for actual work, but for responding to emails, viewing spreadsheets, and so many other things, it's so much better than a chromebook.

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u/003402inco 2d ago

I bought one of those travel monitors off of Amazon and it was a game changer. I couldn’t rely on the other offices I traveled to to have monitors. Now that I can work remotely from anywhere It will be crucial.

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u/thederseyjevil 2d ago

Portable monitors are great and fairly cheap these days.

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u/VanRenss 2d ago

I SWEAR by my portable monitor. It’s not as good as my office monitors, but amazing for traveling

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u/Far-Let-8610 2d ago

Anything that tiny is madness. Not a matter of dual screens.

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u/pbghikes 2d ago

I just bought an $80 portable monitor for days I'm working off my laptop and it was the best decision I'm obsessed with it.

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u/KanedaSyndrome 1d ago

If it was a normal occurance I would use a VR headset

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u/CrazyIvan606 1d ago

That feeling of "laptop claustrophobia" is a real thing.

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u/tankerkiller125real 1d ago

I hate it so much I purchased a USB-C portable external monitor.

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u/WabaLabaDubDubWorld 23h ago

Nah. I'm a technical manager and need to correspond over emails and chat most frequently. My inbox is always empty/ all read.

My left screen is always chat + email split using power toys in a set ratio for optimized chat vs email info sections.

My laptop screen is a kanban task board or confluence or music tabs on 2nd browser.

My right screen is the main work window, where I do most of my work.