- I like having a lot of real estate. I now use 1600x1200, a too-high dpi setting (giving tiny fonts), and suffer barely readable menus just so I can occasionally tile multiple apps on the screen. Wide format (or dual head?) seems appropriate for me. But maybe my aging eyes would do better at a lower dpi than the present 110 or so.
I've never been a fan of dual-head for regular, day-to-day use. I feel like it's buying two smaller TV's instead of of one big one. Gimme the big one. I switch between virtual desktops incessantly.
- I'd like to be able to color-calibrate, not for professional needs, but just because I like to play with photos and gimp. And good dynamic range (contrast) would seem very desirable. - I don't play games. - I am presently comfortable with a viewing distance of about 24".
I mostly use the laptop now, but before that I bought a nice 18 inch ViewSonic LCD monitor from Price Club, er, Costco, and I was very happy with it. It was easy on the eyes and with the Nvidia drivers you could adjust a zillion things that I didn't even know had names. It was well under $300 about a year ago. For my needs, which seem about the same as yours, I give ViewSonic a big thumbs up.
- I have occasionally (once every few months) noticed fatigue (retinal persistance?) that seems to require getting away from the CRT for a period. This on a CRT at 75Hz refresh. I don't know how to factor that in, but maybe somebody else does. I do spend a lot of time in front of the screen.
Do you wear glasses? I got to a point in my life where even a half hour in front of the computer started making me dizzy and I'd lose focus. I then noticed the same thing when I read a book or a magazine. It seemed really sudden (over the course of about a year.) My optometrist told me that people 'of a certain age' commonly experience the onset of far-sightedness, sometimes very suddenly. Low powered reading glasses have made it easy for me to sit in front of the computer all day without having to take 'eye breaks'. Now I can just take the regular bio breaks. :)
- Standard CB bias applies, meaning I very definitely don't want the "at-any-cost best". But I might be able to argue myself into "beyond-bare-minimum functionality" if I can personally recognize the benefits.
- I've never spent any time in front of such a large screen though. Maybe 24" might actually be too large? Perhaps dual head is significantly better than one wide? I would like to hear of others' impressions on this issue. Recommendations?
It's hard for me to recommend a size of monitor, even to myself. I have a big monitor (24 inch) at work and for that environment it suits my work habits, but for my home purposes that is just way too big. If you're used to having the monitor 24 inches away (which seems close to me) then you might go blind using sich a big monitor at home. Or you'll really have to re-arrange your desk.
Go to Costco or Office Depot and spend five minutes in front of each monitor to see how your eyes like it. Vision is so subjective someone here might think my ViewSonic looks like garbage. Heck, put some photos on a CD and bring it with you. Use whatever it is Windows uses instead of The GIMP and have a look at the pictures, adjust color, etc., see how it looks to you.
-Matt -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
