Ask Slashdot: What Is Your Favorite Monitor For Programming?

First time accepted submitter BadassFractal writes "I'm in the market for a new large desktop monitor (or two) which I intend to use almost exclusively for programming and all sorts of software development-related work. I'm trying to keep the cost down reasonable, and I do enjoy as large of a resolution as possible. What do people 'in the know' out there use these days for that purpose? I'm thinking a 1920x1200 24" would be good, unless there's an affordable 2560xFoo option out there. I keep hearing about nameless Korean 27" screens, any thoughts on those?"

Comments

Re:27" FTW

[ottawanker]

2 monitors are much better than 1 large monitor in my experience, but that may mostly be because of the habits I've gotten into. Newer versions of windows work a bit better with single monitors, but its still not as convenient as having 2 separate ones.

Regardless go 16:10

[jdkc4d]

Bigger tends to be better, but shoot for a 16:10 ratio screen. The 16:9 screens are nice but that extra shortness tends to be really annoying when your code really starts to grow.

Re:27" FTW

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

2 monitors are much better than 1 large monitor in my experience

I agree - one in portrait mode for a full-screen web browser for reading documents and the other in landscape mode for interactive work.

Re:27" FTW

[ChunderDownunder]

I'm glad someone else gets it - many tasks are suited to length rather than width. Whenever a company supplied me with 'pivotable' monitors, I used to get strange looks in the office, even from supposed techies, about why one of my monitors was rotated pi/2.

Monitors that come with a pivotable base aren't the norm, so perhaps it's worth investing in one of those dual vesa mounts that clamp to one's desk. They're typically adjustable for a variety of angles.

Re:27" FTW

[Anonymous Coward]

I too prefer a pair no matter the size.

Mmmm, breasts.

Re:27" FTW

[steelfood]

It's a shame 4:3 and 5:4 monitors are so hard to find. That solves both the length and width issues when coding. I find one 4:3 is good enough to replace two 16:9 (one of which is portrait).

I'm also a huge fan of a low dot pitch, which also seems to have gone the way of the dodo these days. I'd rather code on a 15" 1600x1200 over a monstrous 27" 2560x1440 any day.

My setups are otherwise similar when I'm required to use 16:9 monitors. Otherwise, I'll go with a pair of old 4:3 whenever I have a choice. I'm usually significantly more productive on those than on the 16:9 (having to drag the right window to the right monitor is a huge distraction).