Triple Monitor Nirvana

I use to get really excited about building a new computer every few years. I’d geek out and do my online research on the components that are most bang for buck but mostly end up following Jeff Atwood’s recommendations.

Until I went Mac.

I still get excited but usually everything comes in one box and its already put together. But recently I decided to finally reach a place I’ve always dreamed of but never really visited, triple monitor nirvana. I take my computer gear and office setup very seriously (I fully agree with this guy) and have always been willing to try out some of the more high end stuff. I reason internally that with the amount of time I spend infront of a computer, its worth it. I encourage all developers to do the same. These are our tools, make sure they are sharp.

Every since the iMac went full aluminum (2007), I have admired the design but the specs/performance have always been slightly underwhelming.

Until now.

Based on these benchmarks and the myriad of other reviews you can find online, the mid 2011 iMac has finally arrived. The thing that pushed me over the edge was engadget’s video of the iMac with dual 30” displays. I was sold.

Here’s the setup:

• iMac 27” (mid 2011) upgraded to 3.4GHz i7 + 256GB SSD + AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB
• 2 x Dell U2711 (SGD750/piece incl GST) - opted for these as they were half the price of the 30” ones and would maintain constant pixel pitch with the iMac display.
• 2 x mini DP to DP cables (SGD40/piece from simlim) - these plug directly from the iMac to the Dell monitors giving full resolution of 2560x1440 each. I’ve read (from reviews on store.apple.com) that Apple’s mini DP to DVI can only support up to 1920x1200 and their mini DP to Dual-Link DVI is expensive (SGD158/piece), flaky and might not work so well with some 3rd party monitors, though the U2711 seems fine.
• 4 x 4GB RAM (SGD37/piece)

Relived some past euphoria setting up the dual Dell monitors (really I just plugged them in) and did the really simple RAM upgrade (why would anyone pay SGD840 to let Apple do it is beyond me). A sign that you like computers way to much: You enjoy setting up a brand new machine for development. For me this meant Rails and iOS.

A week in, I’m really happy with this setup. 7680x1440 pixels can be overwhelming and I haven’t figured out my window organization for Rails or iOS dev yet, I keep returning to my dual monitor configuration. But to be fair I haven’t really done major dev work on it yet. And I’m not relishing the conversion from Snow Leopard/Xcode 3 to Lion/Xcode 4.

I’m not too ecstatic about the built in speakers in the iMac and I think sooner or later I’ll bring my Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 to the office.

I’ll admit to have pampered myself but now I have another reason to look forward to going to the office everyday.

Now to look for some triple monitor wallpapers.