Welcome to Freshview thoughts, a place for our ideas and ramblings about building and supporting a popular web application from Sydney.
Stay in the loop
Dig into a category
Search all posts
Our products
The easiest way for designers to send email newsletters for themselves and their clients.
The ultimate 3 screen setup for a designer
Posted by David Greiner on November 16, 2006 12:22 PM
I often get asked what platform we work on at Freshview, so today I thought I'd walk you guys through my current desktop. After a decade of spending most of my working time in front of a computer screen, I've finally achieved what I think is my dream work setup.
I've combined one PC with dual-screens and a Mac Mini with a single screen into a 3 screen setup with a single keyboard and mouse. I can move my mouse across all 3 screens like it was a single platform and easily copy and paste between both systems. For me, it's the perfect PC/Mac hybrid that Bootcamp and Parallels just can't compete with.
Why I need this setup
Before I get into the details, I should point out that my requirements are probably a little different to most, which is why I can't just choose Mac or PC and be done with it.
- I design and develop on the PC. We're a Microsoft shop developing .NET applications, so I need my PC for source control, SQL Server and few other PC only apps I use every day.
- I need a Mac for testing our software, and also use it for all of Freshview's customer support.
There's just no way that I'd put up with working out of Parallels all day every day when I spend the majority of my day on a PC. I'm also sick of having a lonely Mac stuck in the corner of the office that I have to go back and forth between every time I want to test any UI changes. To me, this is the best of both worlds.
See it in action
This isn't really something that you can demonstrate with screenshots, so here's a quick video showing my PC/Mac setup in action (and yes, it's damn windy in Sydney today).
What you need
To get started, you're going to need the following:
- A PC with a dual-screen capable video card.
- A Mac mini with OSX Panther (10.3) or greater.
- 3 screens, preferably all the same so everything lines up nicely.
- A second keyboard that you can plug into your Mac Mini, hide under the desk and forget about.
How it works
There are only two bits of software you'll need to make this work. One's open source and completely free, while the other will set you back a mere $40.
Synergy
The brains behind this whole approach is an amazing open source piece of software called Synergy, which makes it dead easy to share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple machines, no matter what OS they're running. It's the glue that keeps everything together.
For details on how to set Synergy up so your PC and Mac can share a single keyboard and mouse, check out this awesome how-to by Matt Haughey on Lifehacker that inspired this setup in the first place.
As well as letting you use the same keyboard and mouse for the Mac and PC, Synergy also allows you to easily copy and paste text between both apps. This sounds trivial, but when you start working between the PC and the Mac throughout the day, it's an absolute godsend.
Ultramon
I've tried plenty, and Ultramon is the best dual-screen manager for Windows that I've come across. It extends the default Windows taskbar across both screens and makes it a piece of cake to drag maximized applications between both screens, both of which take almost all the annoyance out of managing a dual screen PC environment.
kazesoze
wrote on November 16, 2006 8:37 PM
Windows does come with built-in ability to work with two monitors. I currently use two 21" monitors and it works nicely. I glanced over Ultramon features and I was just curioss what extra features do you use from Ultramon? Thanks.
kazesoze.
kazesoze
wrote on November 16, 2006 8:41 PM
I currently have two 21" screens running windows XP, and I use the built-in XP ability to spread my desktop area over the two screens. I had a look at Ultramon features and I was curious what extra features of Ultramon are you using that is not already available in XP? Thanks.
Kazesoze.
Dave Greiner
wrote on November 16, 2006 9:49 PM
Hi Kazesoze. To me, the most frustrating part of the default 2 screen setup on Windows is the fact that the taskbar doesn't extend across both screens, and to quickly move a window from one screen to another you have to un-maximize it (is that a word - you know what I mean), drag it across and re-maximize it again.
Ultramon fixes both of these annoyances very elegantly.
Derek Organ
wrote on November 18, 2006 11:56 PM
Very impressive setup. I think I'll be looking to set up something similar myself.
Hasnain
wrote on December 7, 2006 12:53 PM
Thank you very much for this! I've been using 2 19" monitors on XP and Ultramon helps with a few nice features.
What's REALLY important (and great news) to me is that I can now set up another monitor, connect it to a Mac, and I'm coasting! No need to work on a separate laptop on the side.
Dave Greiner
wrote on December 11, 2006 1:40 PM
Derek and Hasnain, great to hear you'll be setting up something similar. Trust me, you'll never be able to go back!
Edward Meehan
wrote on December 22, 2006 2:56 AM
Love it, I want a system set up like this. I currently use the Windows remote desktop on my mac, and the I also have a switch that I can just push a button and flip back and forth. I don't have the easy ability to copy and paste from one to the other, that is a nice feature to have. Love this set up, I am a little jealous.
Ed
Tom
wrote on January 6, 2007 2:16 AM
I always thought KVM-switching sucks, because you just can't be productive if you have to toggle the switch every time you want to switch screens (imagine trying to have to change screens, say, 5 times—switch, move mouse, switch, move mouse, … ). But this is cool, especially the copy'n'paste stuff. I do think Parallels and all those new virtualisation dual OS software is even better though. But I could see this being really cool for a gamer or developer who needs a “true” windows box. Or some Ubuntu-Mac-Win triple-screen setup …
RenegadeLatino
wrote on January 7, 2007 10:27 AM
Great system. I used synergy for a brief time between my desktop and laptop and it does everything it's supposed to do with very little work needed to setup. Great writeup, thanks.
Spare Ink Media - Ben
wrote on January 10, 2007 6:11 PM
A MAY ZING
you have no idea how cool that is... ill definitely be setting something similar up!! only thing is, does it have to be a mini, and does it have to be panther?
GREAT writeup!
Dave Greiner
wrote on January 12, 2007 10:20 PM
Hey Ben, glad you liked the setup. This definitely doesn't have to be a mini, Synergy is built for PC, Mac and Linux, so anything that runs these OS's will be fine. I just checked the site and OS X 10.2 or later is supported.
Marc
wrote on January 17, 2007 2:56 PM
Wow, nice setup! I am thinking about setting something like this up.
I was thinking of just getting one 27" wide angle but I like the idea of concurrent app windows.
So Dave, what are those 19 inchers you're running?
Trae
wrote on January 28, 2007 12:58 PM
Dave, I have been pondering your setup. I've currently got 3 Samsung SyncMaster 930B's setup on my PC and my pain peeve right now is that I can't get all of them to match color-wise. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
Dave Greiner
wrote on January 29, 2007 3:42 PM
Marc, one 27 incher would be pretty nice, but I do like the modular feel of 3 windows so I can have each window maximized and not waste any desktop space. Plus it also means I can run the Mac/PC simultaneously and easily drag and drop the maximized PC apps between both windows. You could get a similar effect using one big screen and Parallels, but because I'm more of a PC user this approach suits me better. All 3 monitors are Samsung Syncmaster 173p's.
Trae, unfortunately I'm not much of an expert there and am just running the stock standard calibration that came out of the box.
...
wrote on February 4, 2007 7:07 AM
I love the setup...careful nothing blows through the window, though. ;)
John Hancock
wrote on February 28, 2007 11:17 PM
I'm running Dell 2007WFP + HP LP3065 + Dell 2007WFP with the Dells in vertical. Ultramon freaks at the 2560px width on the main monitor and doesn't like the vertical position of the Dell's (1050px wide). So for now it's just Synergy to use the right screen with my Windows Server box and use the input switching if necessary. Looking at a 4th 2007 to triple my design box. Only problem is that on busy days the laptop has to be placed on the desk to deal with messaging and mail.
Marc - why not pick up a 30" for extra screen area, or triple of 20" screen for the same cash? Unless you need the bigger dot pitch, an alternative might be to go for the 24" with the same number of pixels, a lower price and a likelihood of not getting a 6-bit screen.
Trae - I'd suggest a BlueEye2 or similar 'puck' calibrator. About AUS$300 or £150.
Deanna
wrote on June 15, 2007 7:22 AM
"Drop the mac mouse and go to your main PC keyboard and mouse....."
Can you stick to your mac mouse & keyboard?
Also, how do shortcuts work out?
Roger
wrote on June 20, 2007 11:15 PM
Hi,
I run a 3 screen setup for the one pc, and the first thing I noticed about yours is that the screens all face forward, instead of focussing on one point, that being where you see them from. Why haven't you angled your screens in? do you slide sideways between them as you use them?
Dave Greiner
wrote on June 21, 2007 8:33 AM
Good pick up Roger, I probably set them so straight for the demo video. I usually have a little angle on the 2 side monitors so I'm not sliding all over the place.
Bhups
wrote on June 26, 2007 9:24 AM
This setup is great and perfect for a designer, I will be planning on setting up something very similar using my macbook pro.
I am interested in your thoughts to Deanna's point above?
Dave
wrote on June 26, 2007 12:19 PM
Bhups and Deanna, if you wanted to use the Mac keyboard and mouse, you need to use that as the Synergy server and not the PC, which is completely fine, but not something I've tested. I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work though, so if you have any luck add your comments on how it went.
All shortcuts, etc work fine in both systems. I'm using a PC keyboard and mouse, and the ALT key behaves just like the Apple key on a Mac keyboard. Once you get used to it (takes a few hours at most), it's just like using a Mac keyboard.
Matt
wrote on July 17, 2007 11:40 PM
I have three 17" lcd monitors at work running on my Quad-Core MacPro, then for windows i use the awesome program called Parallels.
Len
wrote on July 21, 2007 8:38 AM
wow its amazing i really want this to work for me but i cant it wont work i got 3 screens 2 pc and i cant get the second pc to connect it wont see it i wonder if its not my wireless router the problem can you help me :o)
Renegade Master
wrote on August 21, 2007 9:03 AM
Actually the taskbar does extend accross both monitors in windows if you do it in the graphics card settings. Certainly the case with nVidia.
If you have an nVidia graphics card you can make any window transparent (provided there are no video or 3d applications running). You can also throw windows so that they fly accross the two screens meaning you don't have to drag it. And you can also have buttons added to the top of windows so that you can send it to the next/prev screen with a single click, and maximise it to that particular screen and not both (a problem with Horizontal scan is that it always maximised to both screens, having this feature enabled allows you to maximise it to either screen.) You can also make it so that you press middle mouse button to cycle through the window order, a bit like Flip 3d/Aero in Vista, however without the fancy animation, you just see it happen.
It is also possible to automatically maximise videos to the secondary/primary screen. Meaning that you can still use 1 full screen and have the video running full screen on the other. This can also be done in Clone mode, where both screens appear the same until you open a video, then one will have the video window and the other will have the video playing in full screen. (this full screen feature is also possible with ATi graphics cards.)
I also downloaded RKLauncher, which is a dock menu for windows. I run this on one screen and have the taskbar on the other. I also have Safari 3.03 for Windows and Internet Explorer 7 so i get the best of both interfaces from Mac and PC.
Seriously, if you're not planning on including a Mac just get an nVidia graphics card and try out all the multi-monitor options. Also try the multidesktop features, which is like parrallels in a sense, but its not animated, and it just gives you multiple windows desktops, which exist on every monitor.
You can also right-click on the top of a window or the app in the taskbar, and tell it to move either the window, or the application to a particular monitor. Or you could set thewindow to be "Always on top" which can be very useful with Windows Live Messenger, Auction sites, BBC football match updates, and videos.
I have pushed both my ATi and nVidia pc's as far as i can with this stuff, and it really is fantastic what the nVidia cards are capable of in this area, its amazing no one mentions this. I am an ATi fan boy but for multi-desktop's i have to buy nVidia. Even if you're only using 1 monitor, alot of these options are very useful.
With recent driver releases my nVidia graphics card i now able to play a fullscreen game on one screen and a fullscreen video on the other. I find this so much easier to interact with my PC now, i think it up and somehow its possible, and so far other than RKLauncher i haven't had to download any extra software.
I am interested in your Mac and PC multimonitor setup, and had been considering a Mac mini, mostly for the portability of it, and this could be very useful for me. It really is for a developer, and my currently setup is for both entertainment and developing, im gonna have to take a good look at how i would fit it in with my current setup but it would definitely be useful to me.
Andy
wrote on September 11, 2007 10:23 PM
I have two pc that I'm trying to use synergy on, but I do not know the calculations / % I need to use can any one help me ?
Stewart
wrote on January 13, 2008 10:13 AM
Nice setup, I have 3 monitors over 2 PC running Windows. Ultramon is a definite. I've been using Stardock's Multiplicity to much the same effect as Synergy you mentioned, now my 2nd PC has OSX installed I'll look into using Synergy. Cool.
Mike Gnitecki
wrote on March 4, 2008 3:03 AM
What keyboards and mice do you folks at Freshview use? Any favorites?
-Mike
Dave Greiner
wrote on March 4, 2008 9:30 AM
Mike, we tend to all go for Logitech wireless keyboards and mice here.
Mark
wrote on July 30, 2008 5:25 AM
This is very similar to my work setup except I use OpenSUSE on all machines. I have an old 800mhz Dell with 768MB RAM running dual monitors (this is the one with the master keyboard / mouse) and 2 virtual workspaces. To the left is a dual-core PC with a 21" CRT monitor running Compiz with desktop cube (4 virtual workspaces). I have VirtualBox installed on the dual-core PC with Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Ubuntu Server VMs. I tunnel Synergy through an SSH connection so my typing isn't sniffed on the local network, and this also allows me to setup X11 forwarding so I can launch the VirtualBox VMs on either machine depending on my needs. When I need to test pages in Safari, I setup my MacBook to the far right and have a 4 screen setup through Synergy. I recommend that anyone who uses Synergy on a LAN look into tunneling the connection between the computers.
Got anything to add?