Lionel's Computer setup
(All pictures can be clicked for a larger image in a separate window)
Having multiple monitors is a must for program development to avoid overlaying windows that one wants to have visible at the same time.
One screen will have the programming code.
Another screen may have the programs forms.
When debugging and testing, another screen may have the app up and running.
My work often deals with databases that are used by the app, so often another screen will be needed to open a database program to view the data directly to see all the columns.
Sometimes current codes needs to be compared to a previous version to determine why a behavior may not be what is expected.
Often a browser may need to be referred to for information on coding or library behavior or reported bugs by the development environment or other information to help further the project.
If a client has reported a request or error regarding a program, it is handy to have that email visible for reference as well.
So having many screens is like having a big workspace where you can see everything at once, like a huge desk instead of an airline tray to work on.
It's also handy to have another computer to test networking across a database and multi-user interactions.
Data is backed up onto a Raid NAS on the network.
2022
Bigger monitors have become much more affordable, so I have a 32" monitor that provides 3840x2160 resolution at 60Hz.
This replaces two of the portrait monitors (1200x1600) that gave up the ghost (2 are still running).
We had a spare 1920x1080 monitor, so now I can have my email program always visible above the 32" to monitor emails that come in.
It also displays selectable clipboard items.
Below:
Spare 17" laptop on left for network testing.
32" laptop is next with 19" above.
17" laptop with another 17" screen above.
2 portrait 1200x1600 monitors on right.
Wallpaper.
Work space.
2015
The 2015 setup is with 6 monitors, four of them at 1200x1600 in portrait mode and two (including the laptop) at 1920x1080.
The laptop has been upgraded to a 17.3", Windows 10 machine (MSI GE72 Apache-Pro-235 Ci7-5700HQ laptop, 17.3" screen, 16GB ram, 1TB HD, GTX960M 2GB video).
There's also an HDMI port to use with the living room large TV, just to the right of the desk.
2010
When we first moved to Phoenix I was using 5 screens.
This shot is one browser screen stretched over the 5 monitors.
The two monitors on the left are Dell 2007FPb 20" monitors in portrait mode at 1200x1600.
The laptop in the center is the driving computer with a 1600x1200 resolution on a 15" screen.
To the right of that is a 1280x1024 on a 19" monitor for viewing things in a bit larger text.
The monitor on the right is a duplicate computer with a 1600x1200 15" screen.
That's a total of 6880 pixels across. All are 4x3 monitors.
The two left monitors are powered via USB ports using
Plugable UGA-165 USB 2.0 to VGA/DVI/HDMI Graphics Adapter for Windows
which allows my ancient graphics card to use the portrait mode and add monitors with a VGA, DVI, or HDMI input.
The monitor on the right is just plugged into the VGA port of the laptop.
The computer on the right is able to be used as an extension of the desktop using MaxiVista,
which also allows using the same keyboard and mouse to control the secondary computer with the press of the ScrollLock button.
That computer is also backed up from the primary computer so that if the primary fails, I can replace it with the backup.
Both computers have a SSD primary hard drive, so they're pretty quick and reliable.
Hidden behind the screens are several Terabyte external hard drives that are also backed up to.
2005
In 2005 we were living full time in our Class A RV.
I had two 1600x1200 15" laptops tied to work as one desktop, along with a behemoth 21" Sony CRT 2048x1536.
We had hooked up one of the early LCD TVs for the RV and it's 32 inch screen could be added as another 1024x756 screen to the desktop.
Windows itself allows up to 10 monitors, ever since Windows 95, and I've been using multiple monitors since the 90s.
Third party software can expand on that.
The portrait mode is great for lots of text
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