Dual Video Monitors, Landscape and/or Portrait Mode?

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iMONITOR

Silent Key
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Anyone using dual video monitors in their monitoring shack? I was just discussing this with another member via PM's and thought I'd run it pass the group.

Vertical/Portrait mode can be really nice when running radio software with logging capabilities. Then you can run your browser, email and what ever else you do on the other. I've done this in the past with two DELL 24" UltraSharp monitors that allow you to turn them 90 degrees, works great! Imagine viewing RR on the right and your logging on the left! They don't even have to be the same. You could use a laptop plus a desktop monitor.

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bob550

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I have a primary 24" and a secondary 19" monitor that I use exclusively in landscape mode. I find my needs too variable to commit one monitor to portrait mode even though some programs I use would benefit. If I need more height, I'll switch to full-screen mode. I'd need a third monitor to dedicate to portrait, and that ain't happening anytime soon.
 

iMONITOR

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I have a primary 24" and a secondary 19" monitor that I use exclusively in landscape mode. I find my needs too variable to commit one monitor to portrait mode even though some programs I use would benefit. If I need more height, I'll switch to full-screen mode. I'd need a third monitor to dedicate to portrait, and that ain't happening anytime soon.

I'm on the fence regarding this. I like the idea to view a scanner or SDR log in a long vertical view, however most logs contain numerous data columns that require a wide screen to view them all at the same time. Proscan is an example, tons of information in it's logs! All I know after going from two 24" monitors to one 17" laptop screen it's killing me! o_O

Maybe this guy has the solution? (y)

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bob550

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LOL! Now that's the solution! My wife already calls my shack NASA as it is. Personally though, I'd never considered a laptop due to the lack of flexibility in upgrading/adding components to suit my needs. Unfortunately, desktops are getting harder to find.
 

iMONITOR

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LOL! Now that's the solution! My wife already calls my shack NASA as it is. Personally though, I'd never considered a laptop due to the lack of flexibility in upgrading/adding components to suit my needs. Unfortunately, desktops are getting harder to find.

My laptop is a DELL 7510 Precision Workstation. With the dual internal video cards, Intel HD Graphics 530 and Nvidia QUDRO M2000M and numerous other additional hardware features as well as a really versatile external port replicator it's very flexible. But the small screen is it's shortcoming but I can solve that. I had a Precision Workstation T7810 with dual 8-core processors and tons of expansion options but I needed more room and less heat in my home office.

There are a lot of nice high-end desktop workstations on Ebay from reputable sellers that sell off-lease hardware from large corporations. Most are in excellent almost new condition for pennies on the dollar. The T7810 originally cost around $4,000.00. I paid $1,500 for a new one in a factory sealed box, still under warranty!
 

N9JIG

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I have used up to 6 monitors on my NUC and 4 on my Mac Mini. I have tried using Portrait Mode on some but never seemed to like the results. I prefer to stack monitors in Landscape mode. When using 4 I do a 2x2 grid.

My NUC (Hades Canyon) it supports up to 6 4K monitors with USB-C, HDMI and MDP ports. This is all without using an eGPU. With an eGPU you can support several more.

The NUC is a great platform and models with the Radeon graphics are even better. You configure it the way you want, I bought mine new for about $1000, added a couple NVME SSD's and 32GB of RAM and the thing is an absolute beast.
 

lwvmobile

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Dual monitors here myself, one portrait on the left (Old Dell Monitor at 1024x1280) at an angle, and an LG Ultrawide 2560x1080 on dead center of my seat. I'd take a picture of my desk, but its a tad dirty and messy and I'm too lazy to clean it at the moment. Its a glass desk to dust and fingerprints collects/shows easily.

That aside, I find portrait mode great for viewing most websites actually, including forums and news, among other things, as well as PDF documents, Word Processor documents and random other tidbits. The Ultrawide is great for coding on, having some SDR applications go fullscreen or half screen and having another something open in the other half, and also is the perfect ratio for most feature films since its the same aspect ratio a lot of times. Also, I may have 6 different workspaces/virtual desktops set up at any given moment, all divided out with different themes such as web browsing/entertainment, SDR/Radio, Gaming, Coding, and Security Cameras, and I can quickly switch between all of them leaving the applications open and quickly switching between them when I want to switch what tasks I'm working on at a given moment.

Kind of wish I would have picked up a few more of those old Dell monitors, they had them at a thrift store for $5 each, and they have the fully rotating stand. I'd probably add one to the right side as well if I did.
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