Besides the straight-up superiority of the 22 degree angle, the monitor setup that works best varies greatly from one person to the next. It’s interesting how big the difference is. My favorite so far has been two 32” 4K IPS panels, flat!, plus a 15” laptop AND a tablet sidecar display occasionally. I appreciate the difference more clearly after I had a colleage who saw much of the same patterns in code and software architecture as I did – very similar end result of thought processes - but they were happy as a clam with just a 13” laptop and nothing else. It was so obvious that their mind just works differently from mine. My setup only served as a distraction to them and theirs to me.
Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
111–120 of 426 posts
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#112I did the multi-monitor thing for years. Ultimately, I hate moving my head around that much. My current setup is a 4K curved screen, with i3wm. It's enough screen space for up to 9 usefully-sized panes, and also enough for a tall or very wide pane when the situation calls for it. The ability to reconfigure panes from the keyboard is a real game-changer.
I‘m unable to find the combination of „4K“ and „curved“ and „affordable“. What model do you use?
Well... I didn't say "affordable." I spent as much on this monitor as I spent on a laptop in grad school ($700ish). Three factors for me here: I transitioned to working from home and the expense was tax-deductable; I'm not in grad school anymore; I'm very frugal, so when do make a rare purchase, I go for quality.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#113I prefer to work with a single large external monitor. If my device is a laptop I keep it in clamshell mode when attached to an external monitor. I find switching applications with keyboard shortcuts and focusing on one thing at a time has improved my productivity. Using two or more monitors made it so easy for me to get distracted. To each their own though.
I use two 27" 4k Monitors in landscape mode arranged vertically. That way I have one primary monitor just in front of me and some extra space when I need it.
Having the secondary screen above the primary means you won't have neck pain from looking to the one side all the time. In addition, it is quite relaxing to lean back and watch a presentation/video on the secondary screen.
The biggest downside is the position of a webcam. I placed it between the monitors with a 3D printed holder. However, that is certainly not an optimal solution.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#114Am I the only one (fullstack programmer + designer + hobby photographer) here who's perfectly okay with a single laptop monitor? Maybe it's to do with I love being mobile, maybe it's that I use UI and text very small, but I can perfectly fit either 3 Vscode tabs, or website + PIP video, a few terminals, many views in Sketch or a combination of those in a screen (16" MBP). I'm also okay with working with Photoshop or…
I tried a huge "wraparound" dell screen and after 3 months I never got used to turning my head: I kept centering a window that was roughly 4:3 aspect ratio, just enough to fit 80 columns of text and a sidebar in VSCode/Sublime, or a typical browser session.
The biggest problem I had was switching between laptop screen and giant monitor. It sucked, I would constantly have to fix the desktop whenever I went to a conference room and returned to my desk.
I think if you work in exactly one desk, and simply need auxilliary screens that you don't look at frequently, big monitor or multi-monitor helps, but I don't know what situation would call for that when you can just swipe to a new desktop.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#115Once VR headsets gain large FOV and high DPI, working in VR will be ideal and an improvement over any sort of monitor. You can have 360+ degrees of scroll (beyond a full circle, you continue to wind into virtual space), spatial gestures to organize and manipulate your workspace. It'll be like physical trades where workers knoll out their workspaces. We'll finally be able to do the same without clunky, insufficient wi…
> working in VR will be ideal and an improvement over any sort of monitor
For me, that's definitely not true. I have no interest in wearing a headset for more than a few minutes at a time. I also like that I can turn my head and look out the window at trees, clouds or birds or rain. It's how I think.
> I think it'll introduce an order of magnitude increase in productivity once it begins to mature.
I guess that's a good thing, but it's not terribly high on my list of things I want to work on to improve my life.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#116Once VR headsets gain large FOV and high DPI, working in VR will be ideal and an improvement over any sort of monitor. You can have 360+ degrees of scroll (beyond a full circle, you continue to wind into virtual space), spatial gestures to organize and manipulate your workspace. It'll be like physical trades where workers knoll out their workspaces. We'll finally be able to do the same without clunky, insufficient wi…
> spatial gestures to organize and manipulate your workspace
These are things that sounds cool on paper, but become impractical when you do them hundreds of times a day. For common tasks, users gravitate to the least amount of effort. It's why almost everyone knows `ctrl + s` instead of using the `file -> save` menu. Engineers in particular are prescient about their shortcuts (especially VIM users...)
Gestural interfaces will take off when they are the most efficient method for completing a task.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#117Am I the only one (fullstack programmer + designer + hobby photographer) here who's perfectly okay with a single laptop monitor? Maybe it's to do with I love being mobile, maybe it's that I use UI and text very small, but I can perfectly fit either 3 Vscode tabs, or website + PIP video, a few terminals, many views in Sketch or a combination of those in a screen (16" MBP). I'm also okay with working with Photoshop or…
With all due respect comments like this are why hacker news needs a downvote button. Try a decent monitor setup before knocking it.
I did try it multiple times in the past, I actually have a 32" 4K collecting dust right here. I just ended up not using them, ever.
I didn't make a statement like "multiple monitors are useless", which would probably deserve a downvote.
I genuinely asked, with all the respect to everyone who prefers multiple monitors, why they needed them as I might really be missing something that I haven't realized yet.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#118fools begone. The ideal monitor rotation --the one that secures the most favour on HN-- is a slow 1-2 centimetre per second continuous orbit about the office in 2 dimensions on a tracked rail. This in turn ensures that one may not only glorify their monitors rotation, but also glorify their practice of standing whilst working instead of sitting. The movement --which rotates as well amongst its own Z axis-- also promo…
one screen comms, one screen work, comes in at #2
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#119Am I the only one (fullstack programmer + designer + hobby photographer) here who's perfectly okay with a single laptop monitor? Maybe it's to do with I love being mobile, maybe it's that I use UI and text very small, but I can perfectly fit either 3 Vscode tabs, or website + PIP video, a few terminals, many views in Sketch or a combination of those in a screen (16" MBP). I'm also okay with working with Photoshop or…
"Needed" isn't the right word to use here, because you don't really need very much in software development. Use a non-visual text editor without highlighting, like ed. Compile your React by hand. Skip TypeScript, you don't need the computer to check your work. /s Programmers use tools and automation because it makes them more efficient, not because they're needed , and I believe that having multiple monitors (and lar…
I totally agree with ergonomics and back. I try to stay active physically, stand and walk a lot, to compensate to some extent. So far so good for about 13 years on laptops, though I'm relatively young so maybe that's just my body tolerating the negative sides.
Though sometimes I put a box on the table and put the laptop on top, effectively turning into a standing desk a work a few hours like that. It really helps not to be sitting the whole day.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#120I've got 3, left is 90, center is 0 and right is -90. It's Tall,Wide,Tall layout. Works a treat.
PLP. I had this for awhile (20-30-20) with the Dell U3011 back when that was a large monitor.
I have PL now with an ultra-wide but still think about trying to include a third monitor, I miss that setup.