So I've been working from home for a while, and my contract has been renewed for another year so I envisage working from home even more.
I've been seeing deals for 34" monitors recently, and was wondering for someone who 99% uses excel, word etc (no gaming). Is it better to sell my current dual monitor setup and switch to an ultrawide 34"? Its more so to save desk space (limited) + I'm constantly switching laptops (work and home), so having one monitor I can use a KVM switch or similar.
Ultrawide Monitor Vs 2 Monitors
wau2 on 16/11/2021 - 09:15
Poll Options
- 2734" DELL
- 434" Xiaomi
- 10Stick to Dual monitor
Comments
what i tend to do instead is shorten the width of excel so i can fit two files in one screen!)
Then you’ll be shortening it four times, instead of two! Will that be a hassle?
I love the snapping feature that lets you easily put two side by side. I don’t know how the snapping would work for four across, but I can imagine it would be harder on an ultrawide.
Not sure if this would impact your decision?
Install PowerToys (it's an MS tool) and you can setup fancyzones so 4 across is easy to do.
Personally I use a 38 ultrawide and wouldn't go anything smaller having used a 34 and 2x27 before that.
32" Dell 4K that went for $450 recently. It is basically 4x 1080p. 1080p is $150 per monitor which means you're paying less for uninterrupted display.
Or you can just save the money and stick to dual.
I love my 32" 4k Dell, would use 2 in his position!
With your use case of Excel, you may actually be better suited to just rotate one of your monitors to portrait mode and get a VESA arm for them. That's the configuration that I run at work and it works very well (data science/management, so lots of Excel).
34" Ultrawides (21:9) are really only a 30% increase on width/pixels over a single monitor. If you want to replicate the full two-monitor experience with a smaller footprint, you really need the 49" ones (32:9). If you do decide to go with Ultrawide however, I would recommend sticking to an IPS screen with at least 100hz refresh to help your eyes. I would also HIGHLY recommend getting MS Power Toys which has a feature called Fancy Zones. This allows you to segment your physical display into virtual snap zones to allow for easy window rearranging.
would love to see your office arrangement
Hey, mind sharing the name of your work keyboard?
@booftermatt: It's a custom-made, 34 key, low profile keyboard that uses Choc switches called the Sweep. I am using Bluetooth MCUs to control it. If you're interested, I build them in my spare time. Hit me up if you'd like a quote.
can't say much without knowing your current monitors spec. And do you use scaling? Some people pay for 4K display and have scaling at 150% which is a waste of money to me.
no scaling
I'm still a dual monitor guy but I've used my 34" xiaomi for work most of last year, it's okay as a productivity screen since I do a lot of spreadsheet work.
It's not better or worse, just different to use since you can see more but it's also a lot smaller (higher resolution?) so I ended up squinting or hunching over most of the time.
It definitely needed fancy zones to split the screen a bit better but being a work laptop, I can't install anything new.
Ugh… the more I read about monitors the more severe my decision paralysis becomes!
I'm in the market for a new monitor and I need to just pull the trigger because at this point any productivity gain I get when using the optimal monitor will never make up for the time I spent looking for the aforementioned monitor.
25% gaming (not so much FPS anymore)
50% work (programming + CV + spreadsheets)
25% general use (life admin, youtube, etc)34" UWQHD or 32" 4K?
I need someone to tell me what monitor to buy… I can't bring myself to look at another monitor spec sheet. My budget is around $500 +-200 any recommendations?
I'm in the same predicament now! Reading and watching so many reviews has done my head in. May I please ask whether you've bitten the bullet? If yes, what did you end up getting? THANKS!
I ended up getting a 144hz 1440p 27" IPS (Viewsonic VX2758) primarily because of my budget limitations. I think it's pretty good: super smooth; the ideal resolution for that size + distance from the monitor; heaps more screen real estate over a 27" 1080p. I have noticed that my PC (i7 8th gen + 2080 Super) handles games well enough at 1440p at max settings, but I thought it would be better. I never reach 144fps even in games a few years old (probs around 100fps average in the Witcher 3 with only a few mods), but maybe I was overoptimistic! Also, while IPS is great for colour and viewing angle, it's terrible for glare to the point where I'm getting eye strain.
If I could have my time again I would get a curved UWQHD VA panel with a 27" "auxiliary" monitor in portrait. I think UW monitors aren't great alone for work/productivity because you only get about 30% more real estate than a regular 1440p 27" (i.e. about 60% of the total screen real estate that comes with 2x27" QHD). I can see a use case for programming on UWQHD with the code on the left with output on the right, but then you can't have any resources open at the same time because it's not quite two monitors. I think I'll keep an eye out for a UWQHD in the next round of sales to make that setup happen.
Hope that helps!
Thank you peterjacko for sharing your insights! Really helpful =)
I am using dual 34inch setup for work and home, still craving for work spaces.
I am considering to upgrade to 40” + 34” or 40”+49” setup.
do you do any neck exercises? had go to from 49 to 38 because i'm weak
Do you find you want to widen the excel wider than your current monitor, so that it goes across both screens?
I work with excel but not often so for me I only ever need it wider than a standard monitor like half a dozen times a year, which doesn’t warrant an upgrade for me. But if I had to do it weekly I would definitely go ultrawide.