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I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel li

I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel like a big monitor is optimal for most work and wouldn't want a permanent situation with just laptop. I like to have logs, command line, and editor all visible, and ideally a browser too. The editor alone is much more useful in a big window where you can see a file tree and multiple files.

jankotek 9y ago
Just take a display with you...
clappski 9y ago
It depends on what work I’m doing - in the office I have a 32” and two 19”’s, when I’m remoting I use my T420 which has a 14” (I think). If I need to tail logs or remote onto a few servers the extra real estate is invaluable, if I have a coding or SQL-script-writing task it doesn’t make a difference. It might even help having a single small screen by removing obvious distractions e.g. emails I don’t need to read, IRC messages.
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
They're nice but if you don't spend a lot of time with one you don't miss them that much.
petercooper 9y ago
If I'm in full-on development mode, I like to have at least one separate screen, though for more casual maintenance stuff I'm happy on a laptop. I seem to recall DHH (Basecamp/Rails) said in the past he frequently developed on an 11" MacBook at some point, only using a monitor when sat at a desk, so I guess it's doable.
- DamonHD 9y ago
  I do all my dev and other work on a 13" MacBook Air and have done for years. I haven't had a desktop monitor since my last gig with a client in the City. Yes, the ergonomics suck relatively speaking, especially now that my eyesight is getting worse with age (and from falling off a Segway!), but it means that I can work anywhere and my desk at home can be tiny.
  - pferde 9y ago
    I don't really get this rationale. You're basically saying that you know that you are hurting yourself, but on the plus side, you are able to be hurting yourself anywhere.
    - DamonHD 9y ago
      I mean that I am a real developer still (and have been one of the world's relatively best paid), and 13" works fine for me to get stuff done. Here I am 200 miles from home in a hotel right now with all my tools. No monitor lugging required. Yes, laptop ergonomics aren't ideal, but neither is life. There are always trade-offs. And I have some colourful language memories from earlier sysadmin jobs getting horrific shocks while lugging other users' colour CTRs around for them... I'd suggest that anyone who thinks that they "need" a huge monitor as opposed to "prefers" should considers needs vs wants. If I was living in a van, and I'm a tiny house fan BTW, a large monitor would NOT be on MY 'needs' list. Another commenter made a good point about more screen space being more distraction, and debuggers being a big part of that as an example of not solving the real problem. Given that you only have a few cm^2 of full-definition vision anyway, you have to manage that one way or another. More pixels is not necessary that way.
      - pferde 9y ago
        The screen-space-as-a-distraction argument sounds to me more like an excuse for not being able to keep one's attention on the task at hand. If a person can not resist filling the screen space up with useless clutter, it's that person's problem, not the problem of having the screen space. Someone else is able to use that extra screen space productively. All in all it seems a "I can't have it, so I convinced myself that having it would be bad, so I don't miss it as much" self-deception.
        DamonHD 9y ago
        No. Having (a) tried it various ways, and (b) having complete freedom as to how to organise my work life, I believe that keeping it small and simple and focussed works well on balance, at least for me. And it may work for others. You do know that humans (other than yourself, maybe!) are not perfectly rational creatures? B^> Oscar Wilde's quote "I can resist anything except for temptation" is an astute observation.
coldtea 9y ago
>I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? No. Some of us work even more focused on a single smaller screen even than having 10 BS windows asking for our attention (and I include debuggers in those, the ultimate hop-around time sink for some developers). Besides, people managed to write software for several decades before larger than 14" screens became the norm. Heck, until the late seventies many people didn't even use a visual editor -- they only edited their files line by line in ed. And until the 90s even color was not that common -- there goes syntax highlighting (and many other uses of color). So I don't think big monitors are any sort of necessity in the days of 15" laptops with excellent retina screens.
- maaaats 9y ago
  That's some serious gatekeeping.
  - m0nty 9y ago
    AKA "an opinion".
  - coldtea 9y ago
    Keeping the gate of what? As I wrote "some of us" prefer smaller/single screens for focus. If it doesn't work for you, or if you can manage NOT to get distracted by 5 open windows in 2 x 24" monitors, then more power to you.
    - maaaats 9y ago
      It was your tone. It reeked of "real programmers" don't use debuggers etc.
      - coldtea 9y ago
        Aah. I'd say real programmers use debugger when they make sense -- but lots of programmers use them to jump around checking this and that without any reasoning what is going on, and thus taking 5x the time of a simple printf.
virtualwhys 9y ago
> don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? Yes. I've been on the road for more than 10 years now; travel with a lightweight (6.5 lbs) 23" LG monitor and my 15" Dell Precision laptop. It's a fair bit of gear to heft around, but I tend to setup shop for at least 2 months at a time so the added weight isn't much of an issue. Of course, I'd like a giant primary monitor to accompany the laptop, but that will have to wait for the day when I finally settle down.
skate22 9y ago
At work, i love having two monitors for productivity. At home it turns into dedicated youtube, facebook, etc screens which distracts me. I guess it depends on how you're going to use them lol.
p0nce 9y ago
I develop wth a mobile setup (3G/4G + laptop + laptop stand) most of the time, but not with a nomadic lifestyle. I don't miss big monitors while on the go. Either I forgot how good they were or one get used to it. What I favor infinitely more is the mobility itself. I don't understand why remote people don't move more when given the chance. YMMV, I still have a big monitor at home, else I would feel cut from my customers' typical setup. A problem with smaller screen is the additional eye strain.
- lilbobbytables 9y ago
  > A problem with smaller screen is the additional eye strain I almost have more of an eye strain with multiple monitors because of more horizontal movement of my eyes, and often being a little bit further from the monitor. (and my bigger monitor isn't the same resolution as my laptop)
  - ehnto 9y ago
    My home setup has a screen directly in front and one to the side, as if I have them both offset then I am always at lesst a little bit strained and I end up using the inner parts of the monitors anyway. I have considered one below and one directly in front as well so it's up movement instead but I have yet to come up with a good mounting solution!
    - skiman10 9y ago
      How about a mount like this one? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CUW5HDU/ref=psdc_490624011_t1_B000E9DO5U https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CUW5HDU/ref=psdc_490624011_t1_B...
ceronman 9y ago
I used to use three monitors: Two 22 inches plus my 15 inches laptop monitor. It though it was a really efficient way of working, but it had a problem: Moving was a hassle. I decided to get rid of the monitors for a while to test their value and I found out it's not such a big improvement. Now I only work in my laptop screen. I have a full mobility and I love that. I don't miss my monitors at all.
brookside 9y ago
I use the app "duet" to connect an iPad as a second monitor for the cases when a second display is really useful (like playing spot the difference with a site vs Sketch design). This would be wonderful I'm sure with one of the newer 12.9" iPad pros. And for 1/10 of the cost you can pick up something like a "15.6” Widescreen Flat-Panel USB 3.0-Powered Portable LED Monitor - $99"
- lilbobbytables 9y ago
  The only time I want multiple monitors is when doing web work because of the design aspect and needing to referring back and forth as constantly.
- jsjohnst 9y ago
  The problem is the USB powered monitors generally all use the same driver, one that frequently crashes on macOS and Linux. The driver is literally one of the worst I’ve ever used.
  - mjbrownie 9y ago
    If you're using the tablet for terminal stuff (log tailing etc), I've found just sshing into your laptop from the tablet using juice ssh or similar to be more stable as well as your laptop graphics card doesn't need to be rendering two screens
    - jsjohnst 9y ago
      Agree re: using a tablet, but I was talking about the USB3 monitors that use a DisplayMate (think that’s the name) driver.
      - mjbrownie 9y ago
        Ah sorry I mixed up with Duet in the gp
ja27 9y ago
I spend most of my coding time on just a laptop (15" MBP with 1680x1050 matte screen) and the only thing that bothers me very much is the position it puts my neck in. I try to sit lower than usual to help that. I do use multiple desktops on macOS and a quick swipe of the trackpad to switch them is almost as good for me as multiple displays. I do tend to use an iPad as a aux display though. Sometimes I run Duet Display to have it act like an extra display for my MBP but most of the time it's home to my distractions like Slack, email, social media, etc. But it is good for books and websites while coding.
- theodorton 9y ago
  Unless you're looking for a neck injury, you should get a laptop stand. It's close to impossible to maintain a good posture while working on a laptop over time.
peteretep 9y ago
Thought I would, but haven't done. Bigger screens, I just put more distracting stuff on them. As mentioned elsewhere, you can mirror a big-ass iPad on to it, and there are some large USB displays that are very portable too.
toomanybeersies 9y ago
Personally, I've never had a problem developing on a 13" MBP with no peripherals except headphones. There are plenty of options for portable monitors these days though, if you do want a second screen while traveling.
thearn4 9y ago
I have a thunderbolt display and the my macbooks screen when at work. Text editing, bash, and web browser are on the monitor, with e-mail and slack on the laptop screen.
zepolen 9y ago
I've used all types of setups from triple 24" and dual 27" monitors, and every laptop from 11" up to 17" In the end, I'm most productive on a 15" macbook at 1920x1200 resolution, the main reasons are: 0. I have my full perfect environment with me at all times, there is no switching between laptop/desktop etc. This is huge. 1. It's small and light enough that I can carry it around everywhere (unlike 17") - increasing productivity by a lot. 2. I'm forced to use the keyboard more which exercises the muscle memory so I switch much faster to any window in the current state without thinking about it. 3. My head doesn't need to move from one screen to another, this action is more expensive than an instant alt tab. 4. I found that the best work gets done in certain "focus scopes". Adding more windows/screens to this as you say "logs, command line, and editor all visible, and ideally a browser too" - leads to unnecessary visual data - since you can't process all those windows simultaneously anyway. The 15" has just enough room to comfortably fit the necessities for each one I use: a) 2 side by side editor @ 80 chars + file tree b) a browser window + debug tools c) terminal sessions with up to 8 panes d) a combination of browser / editor / terminal The one exception is when needing to run background tasks which output logs - which you want to 'keep an eye' on - for this I found a vertical monitor on the side is helpful - although in the end replicated it by putting the terminals to the bottom right/left of the screen beside the dock - that way I can see the output, but they are not distracting.
- ido 9y ago
  I find the ultra high-res (what apple calls 'retina') modern displays make reading much easier on the eyes.
googamooga 9y ago
> I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel like a big monitor is optimal for most work and wouldn't want a permanent situation with just laptop. That is why we, coders, are different from other 99,99% of population of the Earth. I gave the original post to my wife and her first question was “How’s the guy coping to live alone?”. But my question was exactly this: Why he has no monitor and using that inconvinient laptop stand instead? :)
- egeozcan 9y ago
  I directly skipped to finding a solution to that "problem". I literally found myself browsing amazon for monitor stands that can be folded and easily mounted in a van. What happens if I break hard? Hmm... I came up with requirements for a monitor stand suitable for use in a van. For a moment, I remember being depressed about the zero number of perfect solutions for this "basic" use-case. Now I'm convinced that I'd never give-up my home-office for a van-office until serious advancements are made in the monitor-stand industry.
  - taude 9y ago
    Surely if you're customizing a van for #vanlife you can figure out how to build your own monitor-stand.
  - w0m 9y ago
    not sure if serious or not; but just move monitor back against wall it's attached to and strap it down while moving. Generally solved issue in the RV industry with TVs.
  - jsjohnst 9y ago
    You didn’t see VESA mounts in your Amazon search that allow you to screw the stand into the monitor and into a solid surface (desk or wall) with an articulating arm that allows you to adjust the monitor’s location!?
    - 9y ago
ido 9y ago
I find it ok as long as the laptop display is high resolution (mine is 3200x1800) and at least 13-14" big. If I had to do it more permanently I'd have probably gotten a 15" laptop tho. It also reminds me that when I got started the common display was a 14" CRT (i.e. viewable area more like 13") :)
holri 9y ago
In Emacs switching between all needed buffers and tiling them around is very fast, once you learned the keystrokes. Emacs can display almost every information in its buffers. No big screen needed to have all the information immediately available. Emacs was designed on and for small screens.
- jlebrech 9y ago
  s/emacs/vim
jmkni 9y ago
I think for a lot of developers, it's a style thing. Coding hunched over a laptop looks cool and hackery, coding with a big 27-inch monitor (maybe a couple) looks businessey. I know a guy who does a lot of Excel work on a Macbook Air (1366x768 IIRC), and it just looks painful. When I suggest investing in a decent size/screen resolution monitor, he looks at me like I have two heads. Looking like Mr Robot is more important for a lot of people than being practical, even if they end up with back problems in later life!
kalleboo 9y ago
When I was a broke student, I scrouged CRTs people threw out and had a 3-4 monitor setup, but still found myself only concentrating on the middle monitor ignoring stuff off to the sides. Then I got Apple's nice big 30" cinema display and everything was good. Then it broke and right after that I started living nomadically with my 1900x1200 equivalent 15" retina laptop and never minded the difference. I have good eyes after correction and use 9 point fonts everywhere so I can fit a lot of text on screen.
inDigiNeous 9y ago
I got used to it. A nice high DPI display like that on the Macbook Pro 15" helps, 2880x1800 is a pretty nice resolution to work with. Helps focus and minimize your toolset in a way too, you want to be focused on one thing more than multiple things, so I guess that's kind of a good thing also, making things simpler.
zitterbewegung 9y ago
You can buy a portable display by Asus or Acer . Or you can use an iPad / iPhone on a Mac.
e59d134d 9y ago
Not really, I prefer to code on my 13" MBP. I have 24" monitor but I rarely ever use it. Ability to lay back and put legs on coffee table are more important to me.
- koolba 9y ago
  A huge desk, huge monitors, comfy executive chair, and a foot rest gives, IMHO, the best of all worlds.
  - endymi0n 9y ago
    This might be something for you two guys if you can afford it... http://mashable.com/2015/10/28/altwork-station-laying-down http://mashable.com/2015/10/28/altwork-station-laying-down
    - skeeterbug 9y ago
      Reminds me of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohcwksrvDOg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohcwksrvDOg
    - koolba 9y ago
      Haha. The look on that guys face just made my day. I'd be paranoid that the monitor would fall on me. That may be good thing though as I'd avoid procrastination to get out of the danger zone as soon as possible.
    - kbutler 9y ago
      I can't see how the mouse would avoid sliding down, without adding unacceptable (and perhaps asymmetric) resistance to motion.
      - eequah9L 9y ago
        They mention magnets in the article. Presumably you get a custom keyboard and mouse?
thedz 9y ago
Different people have different work styles - some prefer the focus. Fun fact: Antirez worked on Redis solely on a MacBook Air 11" http://oldblog.antirez.com/post/apple-mba11-my-sole-computer.html http://oldblog.antirez.com/post/apple-mba11-my-sole-computer...
kerkeslager 9y ago
I prefer to code on my laptop. You may be able to see more on a big screen, but you can't concentrate on more. I have GNU Screen set up with multiple command line tabs that I can switch between using hot keys, which is automatic enough that it happens at least as fast as I can mentally switch. I keep things in a consistent setup (bash on tab 0, editor on tab 1, etc.) so I never have to figure out what tab I need to go to. When using a large screen, I struggle with figuring out where to look on the screen quickly. I could build habits that would remedy this by distributing things consistently on my screen, but then I'd have to build separate habits for my big screens and little screens.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Yeah, for coding my 12" is fine. I only use my large screen for movies, games and the occasional image editing.
taude 9y ago
Sometimes, like when I'm working on a UI, it's nice to have the code, the chrome debugger, and the UI view all up and running. But I'm finding it less necessary, because of the trade-off. I really enjoy the simplicity of my 11" MBAir and the portability of working anywhere. You get really good between swiping between desktops. And having limited screen space means I quiet down all the distracting notifications, popups, email, etc... Also, a lot of dev work I do REPL-first development, then copy the code into the actual editor (on a different virtual desktop) and this minimizes the swiping around, and increases my productivity that way.
- cat199 9y ago
  > REPL-first development, then copy the code into the actual editor side topic, and not to start editor wars.. but you might want to look into emacs.
elmiko 9y ago
> I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? i don't. i have a laptop and a couple 24" monitors but over the last few years i've found myself just using the laptop more and more without the externals.
hvs 9y ago
I used to be like that, too. But I've been working primarily on my 15" MBP for the past 4 years and I love it. I still have a triple monitor 27" iMac sitting in my office upstairs, but I hardly ever use it. I find the ability to work out on my patio much more relaxing than sitting in my home office.
bitexploder 9y ago
I researched this. With a decent battery and solar system you can power a monitor and laptop all day long.
- robotresearcher 9y ago
  The most demanding hardware requirement list ever.
  - bitexploder 9y ago
    Lol. It reminds me of that scene from the Steve Martin classic. A laptop, monitor, keyboard, mouse, Herman Miller embody, Heat/AC... That's all I need. If you want to be inspired by some cool hacks, though, look up Sprinter Van Conversions. People get into it and do some amazing work. They share their specs too! You can outfit a van with my above hardware list for about 4000-5000 if you don't get fancy. You have to plug in th AC usually. Heat is easier, you just have to insulate well. I got pretty far along this path of research. Some day.
pizza234 9y ago
I'm flexibily minimalist with my setup and I don't miss big screens for programming work. I did lots of development on a 12" Surface Pro (although for small setups, I like 13"). Terminal/editor/browser are areas one doesn't work on at the same time, so windows switching does the job, at the condition of having only the strictly required windows opened (I have four: browser, email client, terminal, and editor), and even the browser has generally at most 2 or 3 tabs open. I can see the convenience of having a log open while debugging, but I can live with terminal tab switching while having a REPL session. System administration is different. It may be almost necessary at times, to have an individual look at several systems at the same time.
j45 9y ago
An external USB 3 monitor like the Asus MB168+ or MB169+ fits great in the backpack, and gives 1920x1080 resolution for a little under $200. https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Monitors/MB169BPlus/ https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Monitors/MB169BPlus/
crehn 9y ago
I used to have 2 24" monitors and a 15" MacBook Pro. Nowadays I prefer working on my 12" MacBook. Instead of getting greedier, I learned to manage my space, reduce distractions and improve workflow. I learned to appreciate sane defaults and keep shit simple. My Terminal.app+tmux+vim+Bash setup is plugin-free and a git clone away. I mostly use standard Unix tools and feel super comfortable on any box. My Mac is light, synced with iCloud, uses little battery and has very few dependencies. I can work from anywhere and expect little. It's very liberating.
jsjohnst 9y ago
I’ve been thinking about building an RV similarish to what’s described by the article for a long time. All the plans I’ve drawn up explicitly have a setup for big monitors (VESA mounts make for secure attachment).
t----------- 9y ago
I've been using an iPad with Duet as my secondary monitor when working from coffee shops. It's pretty awesome, very portable. The FPS is a bit low, but for a debugger window its excellent.
kylixz 9y ago
I definitely do miss my multi-monitor setup in our travel camper. I've been fulltiming (thanks to some articles and prodding from other HN members) in a trailer for almost a year, and can admit that I am looking forward to a bit of a break with at least one more monitor. Like a few other comments I've looked at some swinging arms I could mount but space is at such a premium that its hard to justify. On the plus side, it has made me simplify my work and life overall. I get outside more and go for walks, exercise, spend more time with my wife and friends.
pault 9y ago
I have a 42" monitor and a $1000 Herman Miller chair, and for some reason I end up doing all of my work in bed on my 15" MacBook. It doesn't feel like working when I'm in bed and the dogs are there hanging out with me.
driverdan 9y ago
You can still have big monitors and live in a vehicle. I built my bus with a standing desk and a Dell 34" ultrawide monitor. Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUhYiNhFQOA/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BUhYiNhFQOA/ I've seen others with projectors and big TVs. It's doable even in a standard size van.
- bemused 9y ago
  got a 24" LG 1080p monitor in the van that needs less than 20W - doable with a small extra battery and 100W solar. the 4k monitors from LG are quite energy efficient as well (<30W)
Tehnix 9y ago
Personally, whenever I long for a second monitor, I'll use my iPad and hook it up via duet, which is usually only for web-dev where I need the browser to be a minimum size, with live reload. Else I heavily use spaces (macOS Mission Control thing), iTerm with quake/visor-style terminal on hotkey, and usually have my code wrap around 80 chars, which gives quite a bit of screen real estate leftover on a retina mac. I greatly prefer mobility over a monitor, and back when I used to have extra monitors it didn't provide that much more of a benefit. It would still be as much of a context switch the distance my eyes would travel to that other space on the monitor, as pressing ctrl + 2 into my second space.
johnvega 9y ago
Healthy eyes with good eyesight, Super HD 15 inch monitor can work just as efficiently and effectively. I have used 7-inch and 15-inch USB powered LED monitors is the past with my laptop, at least once simultaneously. Works great for debugging CAD, Computer-Aided Design related bugs.
hutzlibu 9y ago
I travel and code mobile a lot and yes, I do miss my 2 big monitors, I have in my office. Especially if I only use my 10" Laptop. And then for example sitting in a loud, bumpy bus - well sure, office is much better. But ... sitting on top of a mountain or somewhere else in the wilderness, is an awesome place to code. And combined with solar panels and camping equipment, can lead to very long and productive sessions(over days) .... Because the outside beauty easily offsets the less comfortable workspace for me ... But it also depends on the kind of work I do. If I have to do bugfixing ... that involve lots of logfiles, debugger-windows, console output etc. etc. than I am more productive in my office. But allmost everything else, especially designing a new module and also implementing it, I rather do outside ... much better inspiration.
mod 9y ago
I code on a laptop, and I prefer it to big, dual-screen setups. I do admit it's a very large laptop, but it doesn't have to be. I code in Vim, inside tmux, inside a terminal. All of my ide-type tasks happen there. Tests, code, whatever else. Then I have a browser open. I keep it on a different virtual desktop and switch between. I'm a web developer so that's about it. Sometimes I have postman or insomnia open, and I typically keep that on the same desktop as my browser.
kelnos 9y ago
I code on a 13" laptop screen, regardless of where I am. I have a 27" monitor on my desk at work that I never use. I find the lack of extra screen real-estate helps me focus. (I used to code quite happily on an 11" MacBook Air, but Apple seems to have stopped caring about that line, so I abandoned them.)
- photojosh 9y ago
  The 12" is an absolute gem, and is quite obviously the successor to the Air line. Pricey, unfortunately.

jankotek 9y ago

Just take a display with you...

clappski 9y ago

It depends on what work I’m doing - in the office I have a 32” and two 19”’s, when I’m remoting I use my T420 which has a 14” (I think). If I need to tail logs or remote onto a few servers the extra real estate is invaluable, if I have a coding or SQL-script-writing task it doesn’t make a difference. It might even help having a single small screen by removing obvious distractions e.g. emails I don’t need to read, IRC messages.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

They're nice but if you don't spend a lot of time with one you don't miss them that much.

petercooper 9y ago

If I'm in full-on development mode, I like to have at least one separate screen, though for more casual maintenance stuff I'm happy on a laptop. I seem to recall DHH (Basecamp/Rails) said in the past he frequently developed on an 11" MacBook at some point, only using a monitor when sat at a desk, so I guess it's doable.

DamonHD 9y ago
I do all my dev and other work on a 13" MacBook Air and have done for years. I haven't had a desktop monitor since my last gig with a client in the City. Yes, the ergonomics suck relatively speaking, especially now that my eyesight is getting worse with age (and from falling off a Segway!), but it means that I can work anywhere and my desk at home can be tiny.
- pferde 9y ago
  I don't really get this rationale. You're basically saying that you know that you are hurting yourself, but on the plus side, you are able to be hurting yourself anywhere.
  - DamonHD 9y ago
    I mean that I am a real developer still (and have been one of the world's relatively best paid), and 13" works fine for me to get stuff done. Here I am 200 miles from home in a hotel right now with all my tools. No monitor lugging required. Yes, laptop ergonomics aren't ideal, but neither is life. There are always trade-offs. And I have some colourful language memories from earlier sysadmin jobs getting horrific shocks while lugging other users' colour CTRs around for them... I'd suggest that anyone who thinks that they "need" a huge monitor as opposed to "prefers" should considers needs vs wants. If I was living in a van, and I'm a tiny house fan BTW, a large monitor would NOT be on MY 'needs' list. Another commenter made a good point about more screen space being more distraction, and debuggers being a big part of that as an example of not solving the real problem. Given that you only have a few cm^2 of full-definition vision anyway, you have to manage that one way or another. More pixels is not necessary that way.
    - pferde 9y ago
      The screen-space-as-a-distraction argument sounds to me more like an excuse for not being able to keep one's attention on the task at hand. If a person can not resist filling the screen space up with useless clutter, it's that person's problem, not the problem of having the screen space. Someone else is able to use that extra screen space productively. All in all it seems a "I can't have it, so I convinced myself that having it would be bad, so I don't miss it as much" self-deception.
      - DamonHD 9y ago
        No. Having (a) tried it various ways, and (b) having complete freedom as to how to organise my work life, I believe that keeping it small and simple and focussed works well on balance, at least for me. And it may work for others. You do know that humans (other than yourself, maybe!) are not perfectly rational creatures? B^> Oscar Wilde's quote "I can resist anything except for temptation" is an astute observation.

coldtea 9y ago

>I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? No. Some of us work even more focused on a single smaller screen even than having 10 BS windows asking for our attention (and I include debuggers in those, the ultimate hop-around time sink for some developers). Besides, people managed to write software for several decades before larger than 14" screens became the norm. Heck, until the late seventies many people didn't even use a visual editor -- they only edited their files line by line in ed. And until the 90s even color was not that common -- there goes syntax highlighting (and many other uses of color). So I don't think big monitors are any sort of necessity in the days of 15" laptops with excellent retina screens.

maaaats 9y ago
That's some serious gatekeeping.
- m0nty 9y ago
  AKA "an opinion".
- coldtea 9y ago
  Keeping the gate of what? As I wrote "some of us" prefer smaller/single screens for focus. If it doesn't work for you, or if you can manage NOT to get distracted by 5 open windows in 2 x 24" monitors, then more power to you.
  - maaaats 9y ago
    It was your tone. It reeked of "real programmers" don't use debuggers etc.
    - coldtea 9y ago
      Aah. I'd say real programmers use debugger when they make sense -- but lots of programmers use them to jump around checking this and that without any reasoning what is going on, and thus taking 5x the time of a simple printf.

virtualwhys 9y ago

> don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? Yes. I've been on the road for more than 10 years now; travel with a lightweight (6.5 lbs) 23" LG monitor and my 15" Dell Precision laptop. It's a fair bit of gear to heft around, but I tend to setup shop for at least 2 months at a time so the added weight isn't much of an issue. Of course, I'd like a giant primary monitor to accompany the laptop, but that will have to wait for the day when I finally settle down.

skate22 9y ago

At work, i love having two monitors for productivity. At home it turns into dedicated youtube, facebook, etc screens which distracts me. I guess it depends on how you're going to use them lol.

p0nce 9y ago

I develop wth a mobile setup (3G/4G + laptop + laptop stand) most of the time, but not with a nomadic lifestyle. I don't miss big monitors while on the go. Either I forgot how good they were or one get used to it. What I favor infinitely more is the mobility itself. I don't understand why remote people don't move more when given the chance. YMMV, I still have a big monitor at home, else I would feel cut from my customers' typical setup. A problem with smaller screen is the additional eye strain.

lilbobbytables 9y ago
> A problem with smaller screen is the additional eye strain I almost have more of an eye strain with multiple monitors because of more horizontal movement of my eyes, and often being a little bit further from the monitor. (and my bigger monitor isn't the same resolution as my laptop)
- ehnto 9y ago
  My home setup has a screen directly in front and one to the side, as if I have them both offset then I am always at lesst a little bit strained and I end up using the inner parts of the monitors anyway. I have considered one below and one directly in front as well so it's up movement instead but I have yet to come up with a good mounting solution!
  - skiman10 9y ago
    How about a mount like this one? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CUW5HDU/ref=psdc_490624011_t1_B000E9DO5U https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CUW5HDU/ref=psdc_490624011_t1_B...

ceronman 9y ago

I used to use three monitors: Two 22 inches plus my 15 inches laptop monitor. It though it was a really efficient way of working, but it had a problem: Moving was a hassle. I decided to get rid of the monitors for a while to test their value and I found out it's not such a big improvement. Now I only work in my laptop screen. I have a full mobility and I love that. I don't miss my monitors at all.

brookside 9y ago

I use the app "duet" to connect an iPad as a second monitor for the cases when a second display is really useful (like playing spot the difference with a site vs Sketch design). This would be wonderful I'm sure with one of the newer 12.9" iPad pros. And for 1/10 of the cost you can pick up something like a "15.6” Widescreen Flat-Panel USB 3.0-Powered Portable LED Monitor - $99"

lilbobbytables 9y ago
The only time I want multiple monitors is when doing web work because of the design aspect and needing to referring back and forth as constantly.
jsjohnst 9y ago
The problem is the USB powered monitors generally all use the same driver, one that frequently crashes on macOS and Linux. The driver is literally one of the worst I’ve ever used.
- mjbrownie 9y ago
  If you're using the tablet for terminal stuff (log tailing etc), I've found just sshing into your laptop from the tablet using juice ssh or similar to be more stable as well as your laptop graphics card doesn't need to be rendering two screens
  - jsjohnst 9y ago
    Agree re: using a tablet, but I was talking about the USB3 monitors that use a DisplayMate (think that’s the name) driver.
    - mjbrownie 9y ago
      Ah sorry I mixed up with Duet in the gp

ja27 9y ago

I spend most of my coding time on just a laptop (15" MBP with 1680x1050 matte screen) and the only thing that bothers me very much is the position it puts my neck in. I try to sit lower than usual to help that. I do use multiple desktops on macOS and a quick swipe of the trackpad to switch them is almost as good for me as multiple displays. I do tend to use an iPad as a aux display though. Sometimes I run Duet Display to have it act like an extra display for my MBP but most of the time it's home to my distractions like Slack, email, social media, etc. But it is good for books and websites while coding.

theodorton 9y ago
Unless you're looking for a neck injury, you should get a laptop stand. It's close to impossible to maintain a good posture while working on a laptop over time.

peteretep 9y ago

Thought I would, but haven't done. Bigger screens, I just put more distracting stuff on them. As mentioned elsewhere, you can mirror a big-ass iPad on to it, and there are some large USB displays that are very portable too.

toomanybeersies 9y ago

Personally, I've never had a problem developing on a 13" MBP with no peripherals except headphones. There are plenty of options for portable monitors these days though, if you do want a second screen while traveling.

thearn4 9y ago

I have a thunderbolt display and the my macbooks screen when at work. Text editing, bash, and web browser are on the monitor, with e-mail and slack on the laptop screen.

zepolen 9y ago

I've used all types of setups from triple 24" and dual 27" monitors, and every laptop from 11" up to 17" In the end, I'm most productive on a 15" macbook at 1920x1200 resolution, the main reasons are: 0. I have my full perfect environment with me at all times, there is no switching between laptop/desktop etc. This is huge. 1. It's small and light enough that I can carry it around everywhere (unlike 17") - increasing productivity by a lot. 2. I'm forced to use the keyboard more which exercises the muscle memory so I switch much faster to any window in the current state without thinking about it. 3. My head doesn't need to move from one screen to another, this action is more expensive than an instant alt tab. 4. I found that the best work gets done in certain "focus scopes". Adding more windows/screens to this as you say "logs, command line, and editor all visible, and ideally a browser too" - leads to unnecessary visual data - since you can't process all those windows simultaneously anyway. The 15" has just enough room to comfortably fit the necessities for each one I use: a) 2 side by side editor @ 80 chars + file tree b) a browser window + debug tools c) terminal sessions with up to 8 panes d) a combination of browser / editor / terminal The one exception is when needing to run background tasks which output logs - which you want to 'keep an eye' on - for this I found a vertical monitor on the side is helpful - although in the end replicated it by putting the terminals to the bottom right/left of the screen beside the dock - that way I can see the output, but they are not distracting.

ido 9y ago
I find the ultra high-res (what apple calls 'retina') modern displays make reading much easier on the eyes.

googamooga 9y ago

> I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? I've done a fair amount of coding on laptops while travelling and it's okay, but I feel like a big monitor is optimal for most work and wouldn't want a permanent situation with just laptop. That is why we, coders, are different from other 99,99% of population of the Earth. I gave the original post to my wife and her first question was “How’s the guy coping to live alone?”. But my question was exactly this: Why he has no monitor and using that inconvinient laptop stand instead? :)

egeozcan 9y ago
I directly skipped to finding a solution to that "problem". I literally found myself browsing amazon for monitor stands that can be folded and easily mounted in a van. What happens if I break hard? Hmm... I came up with requirements for a monitor stand suitable for use in a van. For a moment, I remember being depressed about the zero number of perfect solutions for this "basic" use-case. Now I'm convinced that I'd never give-up my home-office for a van-office until serious advancements are made in the monitor-stand industry.
- taude 9y ago
  Surely if you're customizing a van for #vanlife you can figure out how to build your own monitor-stand.
- w0m 9y ago
  not sure if serious or not; but just move monitor back against wall it's attached to and strap it down while moving. Generally solved issue in the RV industry with TVs.
- jsjohnst 9y ago
  You didn’t see VESA mounts in your Amazon search that allow you to screw the stand into the monitor and into a solid surface (desk or wall) with an articulating arm that allows you to adjust the monitor’s location!?
  - 9y ago

ido 9y ago

I find it ok as long as the laptop display is high resolution (mine is 3200x1800) and at least 13-14" big. If I had to do it more permanently I'd have probably gotten a 15" laptop tho. It also reminds me that when I got started the common display was a 14" CRT (i.e. viewable area more like 13") :)

holri 9y ago

In Emacs switching between all needed buffers and tiling them around is very fast, once you learned the keystrokes. Emacs can display almost every information in its buffers. No big screen needed to have all the information immediately available. Emacs was designed on and for small screens.

jlebrech 9y ago
s/emacs/vim

jmkni 9y ago

I think for a lot of developers, it's a style thing. Coding hunched over a laptop looks cool and hackery, coding with a big 27-inch monitor (maybe a couple) looks businessey. I know a guy who does a lot of Excel work on a Macbook Air (1366x768 IIRC), and it just looks painful. When I suggest investing in a decent size/screen resolution monitor, he looks at me like I have two heads. Looking like Mr Robot is more important for a lot of people than being practical, even if they end up with back problems in later life!

kalleboo 9y ago

When I was a broke student, I scrouged CRTs people threw out and had a 3-4 monitor setup, but still found myself only concentrating on the middle monitor ignoring stuff off to the sides. Then I got Apple's nice big 30" cinema display and everything was good. Then it broke and right after that I started living nomadically with my 1900x1200 equivalent 15" retina laptop and never minded the difference. I have good eyes after correction and use 9 point fonts everywhere so I can fit a lot of text on screen.

inDigiNeous 9y ago

I got used to it. A nice high DPI display like that on the Macbook Pro 15" helps, 2880x1800 is a pretty nice resolution to work with. Helps focus and minimize your toolset in a way too, you want to be focused on one thing more than multiple things, so I guess that's kind of a good thing also, making things simpler.

zitterbewegung 9y ago

You can buy a portable display by Asus or Acer . Or you can use an iPad / iPhone on a Mac.

e59d134d 9y ago

Not really, I prefer to code on my 13" MBP. I have 24" monitor but I rarely ever use it. Ability to lay back and put legs on coffee table are more important to me.

koolba 9y ago
A huge desk, huge monitors, comfy executive chair, and a foot rest gives, IMHO, the best of all worlds.
- endymi0n 9y ago
  This might be something for you two guys if you can afford it... http://mashable.com/2015/10/28/altwork-station-laying-down http://mashable.com/2015/10/28/altwork-station-laying-down
  - skeeterbug 9y ago
    Reminds me of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohcwksrvDOg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohcwksrvDOg
  - koolba 9y ago
    Haha. The look on that guys face just made my day. I'd be paranoid that the monitor would fall on me. That may be good thing though as I'd avoid procrastination to get out of the danger zone as soon as possible.
  - kbutler 9y ago
    I can't see how the mouse would avoid sliding down, without adding unacceptable (and perhaps asymmetric) resistance to motion.
    - eequah9L 9y ago
      They mention magnets in the article. Presumably you get a custom keyboard and mouse?

thedz 9y ago

Different people have different work styles - some prefer the focus. Fun fact: Antirez worked on Redis solely on a MacBook Air 11" http://oldblog.antirez.com/post/apple-mba11-my-sole-computer.html http://oldblog.antirez.com/post/apple-mba11-my-sole-computer...

kerkeslager 9y ago

I prefer to code on my laptop. You may be able to see more on a big screen, but you can't concentrate on more. I have GNU Screen set up with multiple command line tabs that I can switch between using hot keys, which is automatic enough that it happens at least as fast as I can mentally switch. I keep things in a consistent setup (bash on tab 0, editor on tab 1, etc.) so I never have to figure out what tab I need to go to. When using a large screen, I struggle with figuring out where to look on the screen quickly. I could build habits that would remedy this by distributing things consistently on my screen, but then I'd have to build separate habits for my big screens and little screens.

icebraining 9y ago
Yeah, for coding my 12" is fine. I only use my large screen for movies, games and the occasional image editing.

taude 9y ago

Sometimes, like when I'm working on a UI, it's nice to have the code, the chrome debugger, and the UI view all up and running. But I'm finding it less necessary, because of the trade-off. I really enjoy the simplicity of my 11" MBAir and the portability of working anywhere. You get really good between swiping between desktops. And having limited screen space means I quiet down all the distracting notifications, popups, email, etc... Also, a lot of dev work I do REPL-first development, then copy the code into the actual editor (on a different virtual desktop) and this minimizes the swiping around, and increases my productivity that way.

cat199 9y ago
> REPL-first development, then copy the code into the actual editor side topic, and not to start editor wars.. but you might want to look into emacs.

elmiko 9y ago

> I'm curious - don't people miss big monitors when coding on a laptop? i don't. i have a laptop and a couple 24" monitors but over the last few years i've found myself just using the laptop more and more without the externals.

hvs 9y ago

I used to be like that, too. But I've been working primarily on my 15" MBP for the past 4 years and I love it. I still have a triple monitor 27" iMac sitting in my office upstairs, but I hardly ever use it. I find the ability to work out on my patio much more relaxing than sitting in my home office.

bitexploder 9y ago

I researched this. With a decent battery and solar system you can power a monitor and laptop all day long.

robotresearcher 9y ago
The most demanding hardware requirement list ever.
- bitexploder 9y ago
  Lol. It reminds me of that scene from the Steve Martin classic. A laptop, monitor, keyboard, mouse, Herman Miller embody, Heat/AC... That's all I need. If you want to be inspired by some cool hacks, though, look up Sprinter Van Conversions. People get into it and do some amazing work. They share their specs too! You can outfit a van with my above hardware list for about 4000-5000 if you don't get fancy. You have to plug in th AC usually. Heat is easier, you just have to insulate well. I got pretty far along this path of research. Some day.

pizza234 9y ago

I'm flexibily minimalist with my setup and I don't miss big screens for programming work. I did lots of development on a 12" Surface Pro (although for small setups, I like 13"). Terminal/editor/browser are areas one doesn't work on at the same time, so windows switching does the job, at the condition of having only the strictly required windows opened (I have four: browser, email client, terminal, and editor), and even the browser has generally at most 2 or 3 tabs open. I can see the convenience of having a log open while debugging, but I can live with terminal tab switching while having a REPL session. System administration is different. It may be almost necessary at times, to have an individual look at several systems at the same time.

j45 9y ago

An external USB 3 monitor like the Asus MB168+ or MB169+ fits great in the backpack, and gives 1920x1080 resolution for a little under $200. https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Monitors/MB169BPlus/ https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Monitors/MB169BPlus/

crehn 9y ago

I used to have 2 24" monitors and a 15" MacBook Pro. Nowadays I prefer working on my 12" MacBook. Instead of getting greedier, I learned to manage my space, reduce distractions and improve workflow. I learned to appreciate sane defaults and keep shit simple. My Terminal.app+tmux+vim+Bash setup is plugin-free and a git clone away. I mostly use standard Unix tools and feel super comfortable on any box. My Mac is light, synced with iCloud, uses little battery and has very few dependencies. I can work from anywhere and expect little. It's very liberating.

jsjohnst 9y ago

I’ve been thinking about building an RV similarish to what’s described by the article for a long time. All the plans I’ve drawn up explicitly have a setup for big monitors (VESA mounts make for secure attachment).

t----------- 9y ago

I've been using an iPad with Duet as my secondary monitor when working from coffee shops. It's pretty awesome, very portable. The FPS is a bit low, but for a debugger window its excellent.

kylixz 9y ago

I definitely do miss my multi-monitor setup in our travel camper. I've been fulltiming (thanks to some articles and prodding from other HN members) in a trailer for almost a year, and can admit that I am looking forward to a bit of a break with at least one more monitor. Like a few other comments I've looked at some swinging arms I could mount but space is at such a premium that its hard to justify. On the plus side, it has made me simplify my work and life overall. I get outside more and go for walks, exercise, spend more time with my wife and friends.

pault 9y ago

I have a 42" monitor and a $1000 Herman Miller chair, and for some reason I end up doing all of my work in bed on my 15" MacBook. It doesn't feel like working when I'm in bed and the dogs are there hanging out with me.

driverdan 9y ago

You can still have big monitors and live in a vehicle. I built my bus with a standing desk and a Dell 34" ultrawide monitor. Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUhYiNhFQOA/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BUhYiNhFQOA/ I've seen others with projectors and big TVs. It's doable even in a standard size van.

bemused 9y ago
got a 24" LG 1080p monitor in the van that needs less than 20W - doable with a small extra battery and 100W solar. the 4k monitors from LG are quite energy efficient as well (<30W)

Tehnix 9y ago

Personally, whenever I long for a second monitor, I'll use my iPad and hook it up via duet, which is usually only for web-dev where I need the browser to be a minimum size, with live reload. Else I heavily use spaces (macOS Mission Control thing), iTerm with quake/visor-style terminal on hotkey, and usually have my code wrap around 80 chars, which gives quite a bit of screen real estate leftover on a retina mac. I greatly prefer mobility over a monitor, and back when I used to have extra monitors it didn't provide that much more of a benefit. It would still be as much of a context switch the distance my eyes would travel to that other space on the monitor, as pressing ctrl + 2 into my second space.

johnvega 9y ago

Healthy eyes with good eyesight, Super HD 15 inch monitor can work just as efficiently and effectively. I have used 7-inch and 15-inch USB powered LED monitors is the past with my laptop, at least once simultaneously. Works great for debugging CAD, Computer-Aided Design related bugs.

hutzlibu 9y ago

I travel and code mobile a lot and yes, I do miss my 2 big monitors, I have in my office. Especially if I only use my 10" Laptop. And then for example sitting in a loud, bumpy bus - well sure, office is much better. But ... sitting on top of a mountain or somewhere else in the wilderness, is an awesome place to code. And combined with solar panels and camping equipment, can lead to very long and productive sessions(over days) .... Because the outside beauty easily offsets the less comfortable workspace for me ... But it also depends on the kind of work I do. If I have to do bugfixing ... that involve lots of logfiles, debugger-windows, console output etc. etc. than I am more productive in my office. But allmost everything else, especially designing a new module and also implementing it, I rather do outside ... much better inspiration.

mod 9y ago

I code on a laptop, and I prefer it to big, dual-screen setups. I do admit it's a very large laptop, but it doesn't have to be. I code in Vim, inside tmux, inside a terminal. All of my ide-type tasks happen there. Tests, code, whatever else. Then I have a browser open. I keep it on a different virtual desktop and switch between. I'm a web developer so that's about it. Sometimes I have postman or insomnia open, and I typically keep that on the same desktop as my browser.

kelnos 9y ago

I code on a 13" laptop screen, regardless of where I am. I have a 27" monitor on my desk at work that I never use. I find the lack of extra screen real-estate helps me focus. (I used to code quite happily on an 11" MacBook Air, but Apple seems to have stopped caring about that line, so I abandoned them.)

photojosh 9y ago
The 12" is an absolute gem, and is quite obviously the successor to the Air line. Pricey, unfortunately.