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Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 5:18 pm
by alex.barylski
I'm writing this from my latest machine:

1. Intel i7 Quad Core (6GB DDR3 RAM)
2. ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 mother board

And most importantly a Samsung 24" LCD...

I think I have made a mistake in buying a monitor so large as a developer. My nose is always very close to the screen and anything bigger than 19" and I find my eyes strain from having to re-focus each time I jump from one side of the monitor to the other.

One solution, might be to sit further back but it's just in me to sit very close.

I'm also writing this from Ubuntu 9.04...even with Windows core fonts...and a very snappy system...the whole things feels "off". I adjusted my mouse sensitivity and still the thing seems to responsive. My fonts cause my eyes to squint when starring at a white screen for long. Adjusting the refresh rate from 6- to 75 under Windows 7 seemed to fix this issue a "little" but under Ubuntu...no matter what I do to the text it still has that nasty smoothing effect.

Under Windows 7 you cannot disable clear type out right you have to configure it to best suit your desires -- which isn't quite what I expect.

Oddly the massive 24" monitor seems to render the text (source code) very sharp with no smoothing on small fonts -- which is exactly what I wanted.

Anyways...just wondering what you experiences have been when testing the latest in hardware and software...

Windows 7 is free beta for another year...already there is a massive exploit...Ubuntu 9.04 is aesthetically cool looking but that is about it...practically (something I can stare at for extended periods) it fails miserably. I have always complained about this sensation when working under Ubuntu.

Ugh...why did I just spend 2K+ on a new computer and parts when Windows XP served me fine, almost everytime??? :P

Because after I upgraded to SP3...everything started f*cking up...Internet connections took ages...and Google toolbar would constantly cause issues...so I figured screw Vista I'm jumping ship to Windows 7.

WHat says you, I'd like to hear your horror or success stories...

Cheers,
Alex

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 11:49 pm
by jaoudestudios
I work on a 28inch monitor and it only took a few mins to get use to. It sits right at the back of my desk, so about half a meter away from me. I love it, it is amazing for coding because I can fit so much code on the screen! I also have a 19inch connected so I can view the websites I am building to see it from the perspective of the user (or to watch a movie while work :wink: ).

Dont get rid of the 24inch, you will really appreciate it soon. When I go to the office and work on a 19inch I feel I get less work done as I have to keep scrolling and switching windows.

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 3:16 am
by Paul Arnold
Regular breaks. That's all you need.

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:01 am
by Jenk
Only 2 days ago I took delivery of my lovely NEC 24WMGX3 and I am actually in love with a piece of technology. My girlfriend is amazingly jealous of this monitor, and with good reason. :P

It is simply fantastic having so much workspace. I also have a Samsung 930BF but I keep forgetting I have it because of all the space on my main screen.

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 6:43 pm
by alex.barylski
Dont get rid of the 24inch, you will really appreciate it soon. When I go to the office and work on a 19inch I feel I get less work done as I have to keep scrolling and switching windows.
I actually repositioned the monitors so my smaller one is directly in front of me, while the larger monitor is to my left, further away. I don't want to get rid of it, I really don't but if my eyes continue to hurt I'll have no choice. :(

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:09 pm
by newbe
nice set-up.
later you will find like adding 1 or 2 more monitors in your current setup.
cheers.. :drunk:

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 10:32 pm
by alex.barylski
I already have 3 monitors...honestly I don't think I'd need any more...nor would my desk fit any more... :P

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 1:29 am
by jaoudestudios
Yeah 3 is a good number.

One infront and 2 on each side.

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 7:46 pm
by JAB Creations
I think 24 inch screens are awesome! Why bother getting a second one? Just use the web developer toolbar's resize option. :wink:

Also stop buying Asus! :roll:

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 9:09 pm
by josh
jaoudestudios wrote:Yeah 3 is a good number.
I prefer 4, one for the IDE, one for the browser, and 2 file explorers ( so I can be in different directories side by side, dragging and dropping files, etc.. )

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 11:20 pm
by jaoudestudios
I suppose 4 is good too. I only have 3 :(

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 11:35 pm
by John Cartwright
Usually I just stick to using my plain old 15" widescreen laptop monitor with multiple desktop software for development. I'm always on the go and like to be able to work from anywhere. It is a shame laptops do not have secondary fold out monitors that come out the side. However, for multimedia I switch it to my 60" Bravia :)

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:59 am
by Jenk
Won't be long before we have fold-away second screens on laptops... or goggles. Both have been in development for a while.

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 9:44 am
by alex.barylski
After a few days of use I am slowly getting used to the large monitor...

I am/was so accustomed to sitting inches away from a 17 or 19" at most that when a large monitor came into play sitting that close was not working.

Now I have moved it back a few feet and use it primarily as my code window (IDE) and the smaller monitors as the browsers, etc. It works quite nicely with Virtual PC running XP, Debian and Ubuntu and Windows 7 ultimate. No longer will I need a KVM switch and I can probably reduce the monitors from 3 to two as the large display is still quite large when split in two.

Multiple desktops would be nice too :)

In short I think I'm keeping my large screen...and would recommend to anyone an upgrade to a large monitor, just keep in mind you can't keep your eyes glued to the screen hunched over your desk like you may be used to doing. :P

Cheers,
Alex

Re: Large monitors and new displays...

Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 1:03 pm
by josh
They do have those foldout laptops, saw it on engagdet or one of those things. It got a bad review though ( flimsy and gimmicky I hear )