dual 20" or single 24"

[strider209]

I use my pc for typical home use: internet, home office, and a decent amount of gaming. What is more practical: dual 20" or single 24"

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[SynthDude2001]

It kind of depends on what video card you have, to an extent...you can't reasonably expect to game well at 1920x1200 with anything less than about a 7800GTX (edit: unless you play pretty old games), but then again, you don't necessarily have to game at native resolution (although I greatly prefer it). If you think you'll be satisfied with gaming on a 20" (I am, and I own a 2005FPW), then dual monitors may be better if you do lots of multitasking and have lots of windows open at once.

Also consider that the 2405FPW (assuming you're talking specifically about Dell LCD's here) has Component inputs and the smaller monitors do not - this may or may not be important to you. One more thing to think about is whether you have a dual-DVI video card or not - I would really recommend against running any 20" LCD (1600x1200 or 1680x1050) over an analog/VGA connection; although if you needed to, you could always just add a cheap secondary PCI card with DVI for the secondary monitor since you wouldn't be using it for gaming most likely.

 

[dug777]

if you go duallies you'll never go back (converted duallie fan here )

 

[gar3555]

I agree, once I switched almost feels mandatory on all my setups, not enough screen space without it

(Also a converted duallie fan here )

 

[pulsedrive]

Yeah, I will have to back the Dual setup as well. Admitedly I only have one 2005 as my main monitor and the secondary is one of dell's cheap 19" LCDs. But then again the second monitor is not as important to me because it is simply used to IE and secondary windows when I am playing WoW. The 2405 is a nice monitor, but I wouldn't get one INSTEAD of a dual setup, because then you would have to resize all your windows if you wanted to set them up side by side, which could be a pain.

 

[JackBurton]

Dual 2405s.

 

[CraigRT]

I wish I had enough desk space to go dual

I'd probably just get dual 17" LCD's since they are not cheap in larger fashion.

 

[akubi]

i have dual 2005fpws... but once i get a better video card I will consider adding some 2405s.. :laugh:

 

[Tebor0]

I'm a new user of the 2405FPW and I can't imagine ever needing to go dual with this screen. Plenty of room to spare and I don't have to worry about a gap between windows.

 

[strider209]

I have an unlocked regular 6800. I pretty much use my pc for internet (web surfing, ftp, email, etc.) 45% of the time and gaming (all types - new and old) 45% of the time. The remaining 10% is used for various tasks: photoshop, word processing, quark, etc. If i plug anything into the screen other than the computer (i.e PS2, DVD player, etc.) it would be rare. I use dual displays at work and it's helpful but I still use one monitor for most tasks and the second display is just for having extra pallets or windows open. I can't afford dual 2405 so it would be either dual 20" or single 24".

 

[NatePo717]

Dual rox! Can't stand single monitor anymore. Even if it is a massive 24". I just wish the vid card in my comp at work supported dual monitor....

 

[ZobarStyl]

My second monitor just went out. Duallie in withdrawal right now, can't wait to get it fixed. Go 2x20.

 

[strider209]

Since I would be gaming a lot of the time, I would be able to span the game to both screens right? I haven't tried this personally, but I heard it can be annoying. Suggestions?

 

[NeuronBasher]

For what it's worth, I went from 2001FP+1800FP to 2405FPW + 2001FP. The 2405FPW is absolutely stunning. I think if I had to choose between two of them and a single 2405FPW, I'd get the 2405FPW -- it's that nice. As an aside, I agree with the poster above that said make sure your card can do dual DVI. I used to run the 2001FP on DVI and my 1800FP on analog and it was fine, since the 1800FP only did 1280x1024. When I got the 2405FPW, it took over the DVI and my 2001FP is running on analog -- and it sucks. I have a new card on the way just so I can get it off of the VGA output.

 

[ZobarStyl]

No, you can't always span monitors, but if the ones you use have small bezels, spanning isn't as ugly as you'd think. Some games can't span worth a damn, some do it with no problem (such as the original UT could just be stretched and instantaneously widen your view) and some need some tweaking, like Doom3 you have to modify the FOV (field of vision) or else it's just a stretched version of the single screen game...however once you do that it's beautiful, you see so much more. The ideal thing for me would be 3x20 on 2 non-SLi'ed cards, so that your crosshair is always in the middle. So expensive though...

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: strider209
I have an unlocked regular 6800. I pretty much use my pc for internet (web surfing, ftp, email, etc.) 45% of the time and gaming (all types - new and old) 45% of the time. The remaining 10% is used for various tasks: photoshop, word processing, quark, etc. If i plug anything into the screen other than the computer (i.e PS2, DVD player, etc.) it would be rare. I use dual displays at work and it's helpful but I still use one monitor for most tasks and the second display is just for having extra pallets or windows open. I can't afford dual 2405 so it would be either dual 20" or single 24".

Your video card can't drive new games at 1920x1200. Keep that in mind.

 

[blckgrffn]

Yep, even the 2005FPW resolution (don't remember it right now, some funky 1600*1050 shenanigans) will be tough for your vid card in newer games. I sense a....7800GTX in your near future!

Nat

 

[strider209]

I only got the card back in November 04 so I won't be upgrading until at least end of this year or later. I'm not a "hardcore" gamer but I do use my computer for a lot of gaming. I was using my Ti4200 until then on my Mitsu 21" CRT. I was playing games at medium to high res @ 20-30 FPS and it was ok for me. Also I could run non-native (I hear it still looks good, just not as good as running native)

BTW: The Mitsu is a great display but it is getting a bit old (1998 model) and it takes a lot of space and it gives off a lot of heat.

 

[IeraseU]

The 2405 actually scales exceptionally well to lower resolutions. You do not necessarily have to play at the native resolution.