Looking for some advice on a unique monitor setup, this thread seems to be one of the most knowledgeable places on the net for monitor info. So I have 2 separate applications I need screens for.
1.
The first (and probably easier decision) is for my office, we only get laptops to work on, and I know I could be more productive with more screen real estate and using a larger screen in conjunction with my 15" laptop screen.
For a single screen, as multiple screens plus laptop would probably look too strange for the office, I would assume bigger is better here....but obviously price becomes an issue above 22" it seems, and I don't know much about quality. If it will be a better setup though I am not strongly opposed to doing multiple screens, but I think it may be overkill.
Primary use is Word, Excel, Lotus Notes, database queries, usually have 8-10+ programs running, and actively working with the same amount of Excel application instances. I have poor eyesight and my eyes often get over stressed (tired/sore/blurry/stressed to the point of getting styes/hordeolum, etc at times), so considering I will be looking at this screen from 8-5 everyday, something easy on the eyes would help and be worth it.
This seems to be the best deal on the net for value right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824236051 with mostly good reviews for a 22" 1080p at 160 shipped, and ($5 cheaper at ZZF but haven't dealt with them
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10009786 ), but I'm not sure how good these screens really are. I've bought a cheap 19" LCD before for $400 about 5 yrs ago, and it lasted 3 years or so. I don't think its worth spending money for the top of the line, as the prices continue to drop so fast on bigger and better screens, so I am looking for something that will suit me well, for a good deal so I won't waste so much money tossing it/upgrading in a few years. Any recommendations/suggestions/advice?
2.
The second application gets a bit more complicated and interesting=D. This is for my home office, I'm an FX (foreign exchange/currency) trader, and I need to be able to view at least 12+ charts at once, plus my execution platform, some chat windows, videos, and some other programs.
I will be spending a LOT of time in front of these screens, probably a solid 4-8 hours at home every day AFTER work, so anything that can help my poor eyes will be great. With all the stuff I want to be able to view, and maximize productivity, it sounds to me like multiple screens is the way to go here. I am thinking anywhere from 2-6 screens, ranging in size from 19s to 30s, whatever will give the maximum screen real estate, usability, comfort, productivity, and value. I don't need to buy them all at once, I can start with 1, 2, and build up from there.
Now I have seen that sometimes if using fewer large monitors it can be a pain to re-size all the windows you want to view on each one to all fit together how you want them, and you lose a lot of space between the borders of all the stacked windows on one screen. And it also may be easier to have more smaller screens for organiziation purposes as you can dedicate each screen for a specific task and maximize it, to quickly just look to that screen for what you want to do, without having to worry about re-sizing/stacking windows, etc.
19's are only $110 shipped now, so could pretty cheapy get 6-8 of them for the price of one or less than the price of 2 big 30" screens. Of course then the mounting and video card setups get a big more complex too though. The same 22" for $160 shipped above, in 2-4 seems like a good setup also. Please share your thoughts/advice/suggestions. Thanks!!