Pankaj Kaushal ([info]spo0nman) wrote,
@ 2008-08-27 07:51:00
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Current mood:awake
Entry tags:desk, layout, multiple screens, screen, work env

more screen space means less work
I've often heard people complain about screen space, and there are many who advocate having two and three monitors. So, I gave it a shot and had a setup with two monitors ... nothing too fancy a 17" screen on top of my laptop.


desk


Having the browser and the codebase bot visible together may seem like an advantage, it is. But not so much as you'd think.

After doing this for a whole month. I have realized that It makes me less productive, as I keep getting distracted by other programs. Maybe, because I can only effectively do one thing at a time. I've a very limited attention span.

So, if you're like me. Don't bother with the multiscreen hype.

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[info]anomalizer
2008-08-27 04:12 am UTC (link)
I've found large screens helping me with 4 things:
  • When browsing decent websites (ones without fixed width), I get to read more without scrolling

  • When I have to invoke split views of my editor

  • My IM desktop (yes I have one where all windows are tiled)

  • My dashboard desktop (one where I tail a few longs, look at top etc. etc. side by side)



Note that how all activities that have worked out for me on large desktops are still logically one thing in my mind (as opposed to vim & browser at the same time).

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[info]premshree
2008-08-27 05:25 am UTC (link)
I have a very limited attention span too, but multi-screen makes context-switching very easy for me. (And I don't see myself using it if I'm not writing code.)

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[info]bluesmoon
2008-08-27 07:47 am UTC (link)
I used to keep my laptop to the left of my desktop, but angled so that I had to swivel my chair to go from one to the other. At times I'd just zone out one or the other, which meant that I could either work or communicate, but not both together.

It was a pain when people at work IMed me links to stuff I needed to check and work on, but other than that, it was fine. Of course, I solved the problem with links by sshing to my laptop and copying the links out of the chat log.

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[info]sajith
2008-08-28 09:45 am UTC (link)
Try synergy?

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[info]bluesmoon
2008-08-28 09:56 am UTC (link)
But I have two keyboards, one mouse, one trackpad and one trackpoint, and I like them separated.

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[info]sajith
2008-08-28 10:03 am UTC (link)
But you don't have give them up. Synergy is also useful to copy and paste text across. (I find using one keyboard and one mouse very convenient though. My desk is really really small.)

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[info]bluesmoon
2008-08-28 10:11 am UTC (link)
My desk is really big. I have a mac book pro, a thinkpad, a HP desktop with a giant screen, a huge 4'x2' white board that I keep flat on my desk because it's easier to write that way, and I still have place left for my bag, and decoration.

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[info]sajith
2008-08-28 10:26 am UTC (link)
Sigh. Sounds like that is about eight times bigger. I'm sure you don't want to swap places with me. :D

Anyway, I was trying to say that using synergy it might be easier to copy-and-paste stuff across desktops. And it's a really cool hack.

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[info]bluesmoon
2008-08-28 10:44 am UTC (link)
It might be easier, but for something that happens about once a quarter, it's of no use. I might still try it out sometime if I ever take the thinkpad to office again.

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[info]code_martial
2008-08-27 08:49 am UTC (link)
It helps when you need to monitor logs that are fired off by a page load in the browser. At least a 13" laptop screen is too small for not viewing the browser in full-screen mode. Actually, I don't remember the last time I didn't full-screen my browser for regular usage.

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[info]spo0nman
2008-08-27 10:33 am UTC (link)
I do all of the above ... I just use different workspace.

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[info]vaibhav
2008-08-27 05:32 pm UTC (link)
I have had to use an external "tube" at Cisco because my laptop is 1024x768 and no LCDs available. Big company, very difficult to phase out older equipment.

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[info]shamans-blues.blogspot.com
2008-08-27 09:21 pm UTC (link)
Hmm. I use 1 screen for my editor (which I need all the time), and the other for my terminal window to compile. Screen #2 is also used to switch to VMWare and hence, windows, FF, Outlook and what have you. Boosts my productivity...

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