[bigmadwolf]

MATE 1.16.1 on Mint 18.1 (and more than likely the many previous versions going back to the GNOME 2 days) remembers the resolution and positioning of any attached monitors. At home I use a Thinkpad and a 30" 2560x1600. At work the same Thinkpad and two 24" 1920x1200 screens. MATE recalls the various layouts without issue. If I have used a projector to present, it will retain that configuration for next time I use that projector as well.

Additionally, if I disconnect a monitor it will re-position any applications that were open on the disconnected monitor to the remaining one. If I reconnect that same monitor the applications from it will migrate back to it again. Very neat, just works, gets out of my way and I can get on with the task I am trying accomplish. This comes in handy when switching back and forth the input on the 30" screen to have it show the display output of my desktop PC switching the input has the effect of disconnecting the monitor as far as the laptop is concerned.