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Using one of thebest laptopsas your daily driver gives you the freedom and portability to work from anywhere.

Or perhaps, like me, you cant imagine working without amulti-monitor setup.

A dual-monitor setup powered by a mini PC

Fortunately, its easy enough to add another monitor to your desk setup.

Similarly, you could switch from astacked monitor setupto a side-by-side arrangement relatively easily.

Unlike most people, though, I build and review thebest standing desksfor a living.

The Geekom A6 at the back of a desk under two monitors with a mechanical keyboard and trackball mouse in the foreground

Heres what it was like ditching my ultrawide monitor for a dual-monitor setup for the past two weeks.

Rightfully so, as these werent thin, flat-panel displays.

Even among thebest mini PCs, its absolutely tiny and even smaller than theMac mini M4.

A dual-monitor setup seen from behind to show the cable management

So what was it like putting together a dual-monitor setup after building desk setups with an ultrawide monitor?

For this setup, I used the clamp-on version of myfavorite monitor standwith one for each display.

You might notice I dont have a pair of thebest computer speakerson this desk and thats for good reason.

A dual-monitor setup built around the Autonomous SmartDesk 5 and the Geekom A6 mini PC

For instance, with the monitor light bars I mentioned earlier, you typically want to have them centered.

The problem though is that you also want to have one of thebest webcamsin the same place.

Here Im using theObsbot Meet 2and besides its compact size, I really like how it has adetachable cable.

A close up shot showing the Obsbot Meet 2 webcam between two monitors

Finding the right setup for you

So which of these two setups would I recommend?

Well, that depends on a few things.

Now if you plan on gaming, an ultrawide can be hit or miss.

A desk setup built around the Hexcal Studio with a portable monitor in front of it

With games that have ultrawide support, its truly an amazing and immersive experience.

Fingers crossed for the next generation though.

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The Acemagic F2A mini PC plugged into a monitor and set up on a desk

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