Would two Dell 30" displays replace 4 17" monitors?

I was thinking that it would be a really good thing if I could have two really big monitors, instead of 4 regular ones. The borders are a pain and also having dual large monitors would allow me to be more flexible about my window placement. I really like being able to nest decently-sized windows in a semi-unordered way. The 4-monitor system doesn't work really well in that respect. I used a friend's 30" Apple display and I really liked the extra freedom it gave me to sprinkle about decently sized windows in one monitor.


Has anyone gone from a quad-17" setup to a dual-large? Any tradeoffs? The other question is what exactly do you need in terms of the PC for two 30" displays? I have a Quadro NVS 400 which I presume isn't good enough. The Dell site wasn't very clear about it.

The main requirements is to have an OS and videocards that can handle TWO Dell 3007s (or TWO Apple 30s)

Graphics boards based on the ATI x1800 series and the x1900 series are the only CONSUMER-level graphics cards that have the requisite TWO dual-link DVI ports to drive 2 Dell 3007s (or 2 Apple 30s). There are many more graphics cards available with ONE dual-link DVI port if you only need to operate ONE Dell 3007.

Trade-off: Price - Much cheaper to buy 4 17" than a 30" LCD monitor,
Trade-off: Replacement cost. Much cheaper to replace a 17" if 1,2,3, or all 4 go bad than to replace a 30" monitor.

You should not be disappointed with the 2D image quality of ATI graphics cards. There have been isolated complaints of the image quality of some graphics cards. But since so few people have these 30" displays, the complaints can't be generalized to a particular brand, a particular GPU, etc.

If you like 2 Dell 3007s (8.2 megapixels), what would you say about a 56" display with 3840x2160 resolution (8.3 megapixels) which was already displayed at CES 2006 and is supposed to start selling in the 3Q 2006?

My needs for this machine and the display is pretty much limited to 2D. Bloomberg, Project, Excel, Word, etc. If a Quadro series card does a better job in terms of image quality I'd rather go with that.

What about a 3/4 monitor solution with 23/24 inch screens? That would be a better compare.

It's not just the windows thing, but about mouse movement, neck strain and desk space. I had the 4 monitors arranged in a 2 x 2 rectangle, but I started getting neckaches. Now they're horizontally arranged, it's actually a big hassle getting from one monitor to another, especially as the perception of mouse movement gets disconnected with each screen's bezel.

Seems to me that the dual large monitor would relieve some of this problem as well. 3 x 24" looks like a half-ass idea and 4 x doesn't solve my other issues, plus it'll take up a tremendous amount of desk space. Cost isn't an issue and I'll be buying the appropriate warranty, plus it's not 'mission-critical' so no need to worry about failures.

Will Windows XP support two 3007's?

Windows xp will support it just fine.

Indeed your Quadro NVS 400 won't work with the 3007.
Unfortunately if you want a single card solution with two Dual-Link DVI ports you are looking at only higher-end cards. The most affordable of which are the X1800XT and X1900XT(X) cards, if you want a quadro with this feature you're looking at well over $1000. Another option is to buy an SLI/Crossfire or Nforce 4 Ultra based board with two X16 slots and use two cheaper video cards with one dual-link dvi connection each.

Pay special attention to this dual-link DVI port business like these guys tell ya and which cards actually have two dual-link ports. Remember, this isn't about picture quality, it's about being able to display the picture at all.

Good luck with the setup, make sure to post pix

In physical area alone, two 24" monitors are the same size as 4 17" monitors. Two 30" monitors is 50% larger than your current quad-panel arrangement.

Myself, I use a triple monitor setup-- 2 21" inch CRTS with a 20" LCD. It may not look as elegant as an all-LCD solution...but I get CRT quality when and where I need it.