I have been using a single 28" 4K screen for a while and I've never felt like I needed more pixels since. At 100% scaling there's a ton of space. No need to go through the minimize, maximize, switch, switch back usage pattern.

I've never understood why people are willing to put up with garbage gear either. I'm not talking about the computer itself, but the things you touch.

You sit at this machine and use it for 8h+ a day. Why shouldn't you be in contact with things that feel good to you?

Nice screen (or two if that is your preference), decent keyboard, mouse that feels good. I think it is important.

Mechanics don't use dollar store ratchets, do they?

>I will NOT be productive at a desk if you put me in front of a single monitor, period.

Give me a break. Software development has been going on for decades now on all kinds of hardware (how did all those Software developers survive all these years??).

You can be productive and get your work done on a single monitor, you just prefer dual monitors.

To me, the office mouse feels even more crippling than the crappy keyboard. I usually navigate through code by ctrl clicking on a symbol and then using mouse button 5 to jump back to where I was before, but my office mouse does not have side buttons.

On a related note, if you have never had a mouse with buttons on the side, I can greatly recommend trying it. Especially if you navigate through IDEs with your mouse and not the keyboard, i.e. you have one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard and not both hands on the keyboard.