I’m finally back after a two week hiatus. I was snowmobiling in Park City with friends and family and managed to catch a bad cold. Even after recovering, I spent most of last week trying to get into the right frame of mind to blog.

Nothing was working until I saw the Zenview Powerscape Ultra HD monitor array:

It looks incredible and I can’t remember the last time I saw a piece of computer equipment I wanted more. I’ve talked before about the productivity boost you get when you add a second computer monitor. Researchers have done studies proving up to 50% productivity gains when a second monitor is added.

When you use a two-monitor system, you end up with one “working” monitor, where you spend most of your time, then a “display” monitor where you have your e-mail and any secondary items that you want to keep an eye on. With the five monitors in Zenview’s setup, you would have enough virtual real estate that you could have multiple documents open at once, videoconferencing, e-mail, real-time market info, maybe a TV window with CNBC… I’m not sure there’s a computer yet that can take advantage of this.

Zenview’s center screen is one of those ultra high-res 30″ monsters that I’ve been drooling over for months. If you haven’t seen one yet, go to your local Apple store and look around the room for the biggest monitor. Play with it. When you settle yourself in front of it, the screen fills your entire field of vision. It actually changes the way you use the computer. Instead of maximizing all your documents, you end up actually working with multiple individual windows always open on the screen.

At $5000, the Zenview system is definitely a luxury. Plus I’d have to buy a new desk just to hold the thing. But I am planning on replacing my 4-year old computer soon so I’m tempted.