As a programmer, I’ve always found that the more monitor space you’ve got, the more productive you can be. And multiple monitors are even better than a single huge monitor, in a lot of ways. When you’re referring to online documentation while you’re programming, for example, it’s a lot easier to just glance from one monitor to another than it is to switch between windows, or try to somehow fit all of both windows on a single screen at once.

I’ve been using a dual-monitor setup for years, but earlier this week I ran into a situation where even two monitors simply weren’t enough: coding in a Windows VM while having a Linux VM running a proxy and web browser, and needing to simultaneously monitor a program under Mac OS X. I managed to get by, but it was extremely irritating. And that was only the first part of that project, I’m going to have to revisit it for at least one more extended period in the near future.

I had an extra monitor lying around unused (an early-tech 4:3 17″ LCD one with an annoying flicker problem), but no way to connect it — this MacBook Pro only has one external monitor port in addition to the built-in monitor panel, and it’s already in use. And being a notebook computer, there was no way to add another video card. I’d seen USB video adapters before, but I’d never been able to use them because none of the manufacturers seemed to support Linux. But I suddenly realized a couple days ago that I was running a far more mainstream system now, and that the USB video adapter manufacturers who ignored Linux would almost certainly support Mac OS X.

Sure enough, that was the case. I found a fairly cheap representative of the species at our local Best Buy (for the curious, a Diamond BVU195 “USB Display Adapter Pro”), which claimed that OS X was supported. It turns out that it was, but I had to track down a hard-to-find page on their website to get the drivers; they weren’t included on the driver disk in the box, and whoever wrote the skimpy little manual had apparently never heard of an Apple computer. But they installed with no further hassle… and I had a three-monitor system.

It’s really a beautiful thing.

The third monitor isn’t quite as snappy as the first two — there’s a small but noticeable delay when you try to scroll a window on it, for example — but I expected that. I had some trouble getting it on my desk as well; even though I’d cleaned the desk off recently, and had kept it meticulously neat since, there simply wasn’t any place where it wouldn’t block something I didn’t want to give up. I finally plunked it down on the left side of the desk, in front of the window… it’ll do for now. It still has that annoying flicker too, but as it’s off to the side and I don’t have to stare at it continuously for long periods, I should be able to ignore that.

All in all, I’m happy with the setup. It should make further development work a lot easier. Now if the 8GB memory expansion that I need for this system would just drop to an affordable level, so my virtual machines could run simultaneously without a lot of really slow disk-swapping, I’d be all set.