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I'm curious as to how many of you out there are running Pro/E (Creo) on a dual monitor setup. I'm trying to separate the coolness factor from what is truly gained by having two screens. Having been a Pro/E CAD operator full time for many years I can see it as being helpful in several scenarios:
As a CAD admin I'd have to build a business case for it, we'd be looking at buying minimum of 50 monitors. I know I'd have some users that wouldn't want a second screen andsome to whom it would be a constant distraction. For those of youthat are using two screens, what are your thoughts? In what ways do you feel it improves your work process? I don't see it as something that is easy to quantify to justify the cost, especially if it starts the "two monitors" snowball rolling down the hill (all of a sudden it's $20k in monitors).
What technical issues / glitches have you run into?
I started a survey over on the PTC community page here: http://communities.ptc.com/polls/1312
Thanks
Erik
(WF4 M220, PDMLink 10 M030, Dell T3400-T3600, Win7 64, Nvidia Quadro 600 typical)
Erik
We went to dual monitors in the CAD group here a few months back for the reasons you listed as well as some that Jonathan listed. I cannot see ever going back. Having the ability to have multiple screens open at once without having to shrink them to one side of the monitor or the other or having to bounce between screen is a huge time saver.
We are running dual 23" flat screens.
Adam
I started using a dual setup in 2006. For myself, on the few occasions I've had to temporarily move to a single monitor there were many times the single-monitor setup felt much slower.
There have also been studies done about the productivity increase.
http://www.corecommunication.ca/4-studies-which-show-that-using-a-second-monitor-can-boost-productivity/
Three of these show an increase from a low of 9% to a high of 52% in productivity. (The fourth one only studied larger monitors compared to smaller monitors for a range of 39-74% increase in productivity.)
In Reply to Erik Gifford:
I'm curious as to how many of you out there are running Pro/E (Creo) on a dual monitor setup. I'm trying to separate the coolness factor from what is truly gained by having two screens. Having been a Pro/E CAD operator full time for many years I can see it as being helpful in several scenarios:
- when assembling a component, having it open in a separate window on the 2nd screen
- having a reference drawing open on the 2nd screen
- reference part or assembly model open on second screen
- PLM system open on second screen
- other applications open while Pro/E is on its own screen
As a CAD admin I'd have to build a business case for it, we'd be looking at buying minimum of 50 monitors. I know I'd have some users that wouldn't want a second screen andsome to whom it would be a constant distraction. For those of youthat are using two screens, what are your thoughts? In what ways do you feel it improves your work process? I don't see it as something that is easy to quantify to justify the cost, especially if it starts the "two monitors" snowball rolling down the hill (all of a sudden it's $20k in monitors).
What technical issues / glitches have you run into?
I started a survey over on the PTC community page here: http://communities.ptc.com/polls/1312
Thanks
Erik
I just want to say that I in my opinion, all computer users can benefit from dual monitors. Maybe not a mail room clerk or the receptionist. All the uses & benefits have been covered rather well in this thread.
Personally I have two Dell 20" Ultrascans 1600 X 1200 couldn't be happier. At home I use two 27" 1920 X 1200 which might be a bit on the large size for Pro/Creo. I can't imagine going back to one monitor. Or having to give up my 1200 horizontal lines. Dual monitors enable higher productivity. At todays prices it seems to me to be a no brainer to provide them to users. Consider what we used to pay for 21" monitors & Unix workstations...!
Regards, Joe S.
Thanks to everyone for all the great feedback. Sounds like the general consensus is a dual monitor setup is worth the price.
I’m ballparking the price at $150 for a 23” LCD monitor. That’s what the majority of our ~50 CAD operators have now as a single screen setup. Ideally I’d want them to have two identical screens. The $20k potential cost I mentioned is because we have a total engineering staff of around 120, and I can see the “need” (whether it’s a need or a want) growing to that or beyond. Trouble is some people will interpret it as setting a precedent and you then have the receptionist claiming she’ll be more efficient with two screens.
I like the references to the old CRT monitors. I remember getting the first 21” Trinitron tube monitor on a Sun box. Thing was huge and heavy and cost a fortune. That and our first look at moving to PCs where they had Elsa Gloria video cards that cost more than a couple of entire setups do today.
Many good replies on this topic, so I will not try to repeat what has been said so far.
We have Dual 24" Monitors for all our Engineers. Many examples have been given on how much more productive they are so I won't go into that.
Here is something to think about when trying to get justification. None of our Engineers would ever want to give up Dual Monitors.
"Too many people walk around like Clark Kent, because they don't realize they can Fly like Superman"
We may have implemented it in a slightly novel fashion to reduce the initial cost. We were running single 20" 4:3 monitors purchased in 2006. We then purchased enough 23" widescreen monitors to upgrade half the department. There was a drawing to see who would get 2 new monitors. The old monitors were then paired and given to the ones who didn't win the drawing. Everyone wins (just some a little more than others)! Now as the old monitors have started to fail, they get a pair of 24" monitors as a replacement.
The cost of the monitors is miniscule compared to the productivity gains. Many users will claim they are 30 to 50 percent more productive with two monitors.