Multiboxing Monitor Arrangement

I gave my physical monitor setup quite a bit of thought. I have seen several different methods of control - ranging from a central monitor and several larger ones flanking it to five and the upper corner being used for extra browsing and the like. The most popular options tend to be a central monitor and several flanking on either side, with the central monitor the same size as the rest or sometimes larger.

Other people have spread their monitors out, but I don't suggest this as it makes monitoring and moving from box to box almost too slow to be practicable.

To take a look at some of the monitor options out there, take a look at my favorite rip off company - Digital Tigers. They will sell you the monitors and the Ergotron DS 100 Mounts for a 200% markup. Thanks guys, I guess. Just buy your own monitors and mounts - you still have to put it together anyway.

This would be a perfectly viable 5 box setup:
http://digitaltigers.com/images/zv-c...me_650x388.jpg


I would not suggest this type of setup - you want your resolutions to be the same - keeps the mice in sync.
http://digitaltigers.com/images/zv-a...hd_340x228.jpg

As inspiring as this display is, I would not suggest it for multiboxing.
http://digitaltigers.com/images/zv-p...eme700x249.jpg

You want to be able to see each screen in your peripheral vision. This helps when one character gets sapped, polyed etc. When you spread out too far - you lose the ability to "see" everything at once. This is a considerable downside in PvP and hurts in PvE as well.

For those who are dual boxing or triple boxing - simply stick a monitor side by side. When you hit 4 boxes at the same time, you might want to consider the Ergotron Quad 2x2 system with 15, 17 or 19" LCDs. If you decide to upgrade, you can sell one of the dual arms on eBay and buy a triple arm upgrade kit - and simply use your existing LCD mounts for the lower level.

http://www.ergotron.com/Portals/0/im...096-200_sm.jpg
Ergotron Quad 2x2

You CAN use CRTs but I highly suggest against it. For one, it seems like a bad idea to be staring at cathode ray tubes, hurling electrons at your face. Secondly, they weigh a ton - makes them hard to mount. Lastly they use a ton of power. You will already be using a ton of power - best to stick with LCDs. They can be had on the cheap now a days.

In my opinion, Ellay's setup (and mine and several others) is the best way to 5 box. 6 monitors, 3 on each level. The lower middle is your main, the far left and right are your boxes and your middle top is for the internet / vent / email / etc. This allows you to monitor every screen at once and keeps the information density as high as possible. This will require some kind of mounting option unless you use Ellay's ghetto "stack monitors on boxes" method :). Please see my http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums2/viewtopic.php?t=410 Wiki/FAQ for more tips on how to do this. Ignore his Nostromo N52 hand controllers - I have no idea why he used/uses them. They don't work in a 5 boxing setup.

http://www.dual-boxing.com/Images/Ellay6box.jpg
Ellay's Setup

lol, just trashed my ghetto 'monitors on boxes' setup! I love it :) I've actually changed my displayed so it's 5 across and 1 on top, since I only 3 box.

Well, it worked :) Kinda :) It was creative, I will give you that!

Large monitors are annoying, even if you're just two boxing. I've got two 24" widescreen dells and you really can't watch the second character that well, even with them side by side. I haven't tried stacking them (even with boxes) to see how that would work but I would imagine it would be better than looking a foot to your right just to see the character model.

I agree. 17" is about the perfect size. 19" is pushing it. Even 15" for the boxes might not be a bad idea and get a 19" for your main box? Try to keep the same resolutions though. Plus, any larger than 19" or so and it is going to get hard to monitor everything.

And you WILL need to do so - people LOVE to sap/stun/etc one character and try to pick them off.

If you are not paying attention (health bars may not go down until you are far away and as such are not a reliable indicator) then you might lose one and not even know it.

Obviously, this is bad :)

Uggg, I have a $1000 Sony 24" widescreen right now....and it doesn't look like it will help me with my 5 box one bit. :( What the fuck am I suppose to do with that now? Nevermind, sell it to fund the 5 box hardware.

I do like the option for the 6th monitor being TV web etc. While 1boxing wow I was always alt+tab to Johnah's guide and wowhead.

3 of these should do the trick, allows you to tilt and rotate all 6 monitors so that all edges are touching. Which will work nice on my existing rounded corner desk.
http://www.ergotron.com/Products/Des...S/default.aspx

Just to toss this out there. Make sure to watch ebay. Monitor brackets cost a LOT for desk mounts, like pictured. You can buy a wall mount model for $30 , that is you font mind bolting it to your wall or desk. But that's cheaper then $250 for the desktop version (just the duel monitor brackets) I got 2 Duel monitor brackets from ebay, shipped and everything for $60. Retail I’d of spent over $500.

Ebay thers a bunch on there I found. $60 vs $500 It's worth a look 8)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bradster

Just to toss this out there. Make sure to watch ebay. Monitor brackets cost a LOT for desk mounts, like pictured. You can buy a wall mount model for $30 , that is you font mind bolting it to your wall or desk. But that's cheaper then $250 for the desktop version (just the duel monitor brackets) I got 2 Duel monitor brackets from ebay, shipped and everything for $60. Retail I’d of spent over $500.

Ebay thers a bunch on there I found. $60 vs $500 It's worth a look 8)

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True, froogle has the one I mentioned above for $130.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bradster

Just to toss this out there. Make sure to watch ebay. Monitor brackets cost a LOT for desk mounts, like pictured. You can buy a wall mount model for $30 , that is you font mind bolting it to your wall or desk. But that's cheaper then $250 for the desktop version (just the duel monitor brackets) I got 2 Duel monitor brackets from ebay, shipped and everything for $60. Retail I’d of spent over $500.

Ebay thers a bunch on there I found. $60 vs $500 It's worth a look 8)

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I've got a window behind my desk.
That window is about 5 feet behind my screen.
And I'm nearsighted.

Oh and if anyone is in doubt I just said that to hear my own voice, I've got a CRT and a laptop atm.

Does that pertain to the brightness? Cover the window? Increase font size / glasses / contacts / lasik?

I think he means he can't wall-mount them because it'll break the window plus it's too far away anyways.

I'm going to build my own wooden scaffolding for this monitor mount thing... Time to kill some trees.

I built a powder coated aluminum pipe framework for mine - but its about 7' x 7' and weighs ~ 200 lbs.

Oh wow that's a big structure. Does it stand from the ground up?

Yes, lol. It's quite large.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jabowah

Large monitors are annoying, even if you're just two boxing. I've got two 24" widescreen dells and you really can't watch the second character that well, even with them side by side. I haven't tried stacking them (even with boxes) to see how that would work but I would imagine it would be better than looking a foot to your right just to see the character model.

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Would this be a possible option for you? Im not really sure if this would be a viable option or not. but it seems that it would be easier to look after your characters on widescreen monitors.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...on/Dualbox.png

EDIT: Sorry didn't look at the date >.< until after i posted this...

With a 24" or larger it wouldn't be so bad. But rotating 17" monitors squishes stuff in quite a bit. It's really a test it and see if that works for you or not. Seeing more of the sky and the ground would be less helpful than seeing side to side - even though with larger resolution you don't actually get more of a viewport.

Where would be the best place to get cheap monitors?

Oh and I have a 20 Inch widescreen monitor with fairly thick edges, Would it fit if I wanted to mount it along with 17 inch monitors on a single 4-6 screen mount?

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en...-79806393.html

Edit: got rid of useless tags

Don't know.. measure it?

I like newegg, zipzoomfly and other online retailers. Newegg is not the cheapest but their stuff comes quickly and all from one source, which to me is valuable rather than needing to track it down.

Reconsidering my budget (6 screen mount + 5 screens is over the top if I'm going to get reliable hardware to go with it) I've decided to go with the ergotron LX Triple Display Lift Stand:

http://www.ergotron.com/Products/Mul...S/default.aspx

And buy two 17 or 19 Inch screens to with it, thanks for those websites, I'll check em out, compare them to local dealers and wee where I go from there.

Consider building your own mounts and using standard 17" ones? Check my FAQ for examples.... the Ergotrons are solid but they are a bit pricey.

Your right about that, If I could build one myself the money I save could go towards some better hardware, I'll check out the post but at this point in time (Haven't read it all yet) I'm wondering how the screens would be adjustable etc etc, Do you have plans on how one would go about putting this together, or where I could get plans? I'm not a great handi-man :?

I'm off to go read that section of your guide in detail, If I can put this thing together right it will be a great foundation towards a nice and simple 3box setup.

Thanks for the info, all comments are appreciated on this as I'm trying to get a fairly respectable set up together without harming my wallet too much and this seems like it will really help.

Thanks

~Brick

EDIT: Looking at your post I noticed you said you bought Ergotron's plans for a monitor stand, could you give me a link to where I could purchase that? I'm gonna go with that because my desk is fairly small and I need something that has a small footprint, Looking at the wooden mounts at www.plastk.net I think even a 3 monitor setup would be very large.

Ordered this:


http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2131/1995hz4.jpg


from an ebay dealer for $89. It's a desk mount as well if you are like me and don't want to do wall mounts. Hopefully get it soon. Considered making my own since I have access to a metal shop, but for $89 I'd rather just pay the money and save my time.

worth rejuvenating... I missed this the first time around and it is very useful... plus it is reinforcing how I imagine Xzin's setup looks ;)

haha, Xzin BUSTED!

Yeah, you got me.

:shock:

Except I am in my 20s.

50 boxing? :D

Dual boxing 25 man raids.