Those people talking about how virtual desktops are better or even that a 14" laptop is optimal must not have done the type of development where multiple monitors are so useful. In my setup I normally have my editor, a browser, a few shells, and a DB gui all up and visible at the same time, with many other apps popping in and out over the day as needed. When doing web development there are so many times when I'm rapidly cycling between the editor and the browser that there's no way that someone with less screen real estate could possibly be more productive than me.