2 monitors or 1 widescreen for school office + advice

[TwistedHelixis]

We have a new office lady and she had a 2 monitor setup at her last school and wants to be able to fit 2 documents next to each other. Would it make better sense to just get 1 bigger widescreen for her?

 

I have no clue when it comes to monitors and don't want something that will stretch or distort the image for her.

 

Would something like the LG Ultrwide 25" LED LCD 21:9 2560 x 1080 be OK.

 

Thanks for advice and any monitor recommendations would be a great help.

[sted]

personally id go with 2 ideally matched monitors rather than 1 extra wide one

[dry]

What Graphics Card has she got in her PC?

 

Personally I like the 'separation' that having 2 monitors brings, but individual preference dictates that.

 

At my previous place I had 2x Acer 21.5" 1920x1080 Widescreen monitors and found it optimum for having a couple of VMs and Outlook/documents open at the same time.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Personally I'd go for a pair of monitors.

 

It's easier to get staff maximise both windows to a different screen than it is to get them to use the snap function correctly!

[kathabell]

Go with 2 monitors; we use this stand from Amazon

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Monitor-Desktop-Adjustable-Screens/dp/B00HEX6TTW/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1479204720&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=dual+monitor+stand&psc=1 £45

 

and this graphics card: Asus GEforce GT730 2Gb @ £49 from BT Business Direct. We also have a couple of triple monitor setups

 

We use a matching pair of monitors; one utilises the DVI connection and one the VGA.

 

All our admin/support staff, Reception and SLT use dual monitors - the flexibility this setup delivers is highly valued by colleagues and many have said how much easier they find working on multiple files/applications etc. Our finance and assessment staff love the way they can drag a spreadsheet out across both screens.

 

The stand also delivers a high level of flexibility for screen tilt and height, which is part of our "care package" for DSE purposes.

[googlemad]

The only trouble with the dual monitors is once one member of staff has them, they all blooming want them!

[ICTDirect_Dave]

and this graphics card: Asus GEforce GT730 2Gb @ £49 from BT Business Direct

Any machine with at least 2nd gen Core i and intel gfx will be able to handle two screens with no problems without a discrete card.

My Thinkpad T430 powers a pair of 24" Dell 1080p screens with nothing but stock graphics and it's still rapid

[Cazale]

I usually recommend this (2 monitors) for office staff, and is the same setup I use. Makes everything so much easier (especially for techies, you can read off one screen while working on whatever on the other).

[TwistedHelixis]

Thanks. 2 monitors it is then.

[unixman_again]

Personally, I don't get on well with two monitors. Whatever I open, seems to go to the wrong one, which is why my second monitor is off 95% of the time. I only use it when I'm Gimping really wide images. I'd love a wider monitor, but I don't do enough wide images to justify it.

 

I have an ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro in the box and a matching pair of Samsung monitors. Worked great under W7. When we went W10, we had new PCs with VGA and DVI which meant we had to ditch one monitor and get a replacement with DVI. I didn't - I moved the ATI card to the new box and chucked on the W8 drivers. Works a treat - my desk looks heaps better than the rest of the teams.

[elsiegee40]

Another vote for 2 monitors. I moved to assistant Bursar from my IT role and found that 2 monitors worked much better for me than a wide screen when juggling documents, emails, Sage and spreadsheets.

[Joanne]

Our admin staff and SLT have single 27" Widescreens. I have 3 monitors because YOLO!!

[DJ-1701]

YOLO!!

 

I don't get it. *Fixes bowtie*.

 

I would go with two monitors as well personally. Makes it simpler for them to keep things separate, especially if a program needs to be full screen.

[FragglePete]

Echo what's written here; pretty much all our admin staff here have 2 monitors. Once they get a taste of it they won't go back to just one. And me too, I have three monitors on my desk.... but only one at home

 

Pete

[L3OUGH]

Just another +1 for 2 monitors. Although like others have said, once 1 person has 2 screens, the want will spread like a wild fire. We now have a 2 screen setup in most offices where staff are in there 90% of the day.

[zag]

Our school office ladies all have dual 21.5" widescreen monitors, it looks great, but we did need to use the VGA and HDMI port computers.