I'm considering investing in an extra monitor that rotates from landscape to portrait view. I figure it would be helpful for when I'm trying to get work done...and besides, right about now is the perfect time to buy shtuff.

Does anyone have one?
Do you like it?
Is it worth the investment?

Merci!

My video card allows me to set any monitor to portrait. So then it's just a matter of MacGuyvering the thing to stand portrait.

The parentals have this in the kitchen:

http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/hp-w2207-lcd-monitor/4505-3174_7-32391039.html

but I didn't even realize it could be used in portrait mode until 2 days ago because they never use it. I've heard its useful...but would it actually be used or would it become somewhat of a(n expensive) novelty item?

About 10 years ago I had a monitor that swiveled and as a great deal of my work is design and a large proportion involved vertical format it was more than handy. it saved a lot of time scrolling and resizing the view. If you work a lot in letter format it would be good to own.

http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php

That's been on my wishlist for years. I don't think it'll be removed for years either

I've always enjoyed dreaming...

My husband has had a second protrait monitor for about a year and loves it. He says it's worth the investment.

Whoa! ReyRey! Do you actually have one of those at work? I know they owe it to you, but did you get it?

i once went into someones video settings and flipped their screen upsidedown just to mess with them.

There's some people at work that I've GOTTA do that to.

There's actually an easy set of shortcuts if it's a Dell computer.

Ctrl-Alt-Up arrow - right side up
Ctrl-Alt-Down arrow - upside down

I use my NVIDIA control panel to rotate my 2 Viewsonic VP950b monitors.

I like them, but I did learn something about purchasing monitors for this purpose.
Monitors are intended to be looked at from straight on, above and side to side in landscape mode but not from the bottom, so as soon as you flip them on their side, the viewing angle on the side which was the botton is ka ka (i.e. a few degrees off center and you start losing the picture). Since I already purchased my monitors I did not further investigate to see if there are monitors with a good viewing angle from the bottom, but if that is an issue for you, I'd look into it. At very least, if the monitor is on display in the store, crouch down and see how quickly you lose the picture when looking up at the monitor. (I'd suggest people refrain from dumb jokes about the procedure, but I doubt it would help)

If I had to do it again, I'd look for a monitor with a wider viewing angle from the bottom, cause it is a bit of a pain when you have it on its side.

Sye

P.S. If you get the second monitor, I love the Ultramon program for getting the most out of them. It does not support Mac, but there are programs out there that do.
http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

P.P.S.S. Absolutely LOVE having the portrait monitor! Soooooo handy for sooooo many things.

I'm glad to hear that you love the portrait monitor. Makes me even more encouraged to buy one!

What exactly does the Ultramon program do? I've never heard of it before.

I think there are a lot of functions but what I use it for is the bar at the top which allows you to move pictures from screen to screen or to both screens with one click instead of having to drag them. I have used a free version, but at the time it had too many bugs for my liking.




The arrow buttons put the page on both screens, and the box with the arrow moves the window from screen to screen. I could not imagine having 2 monitors without it.

Sye

I also have 2 of these monitor arms - love 'em.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWfxNNczlnI

Sye