Ask YC: What size display do you use? | Hacker News Reader

Ask YC: What size display do you use?

2 pointsjohnrob7 comments

Currently, I am trying to switch from a 19 inch to a widscreen 24 inch. What I like about the 19 is that you simply maximize all windows and use alt-tab, and then you never have to move or resize. Also, on the 24 inch my eyes are distracted by the non active window (editing in emacs, but can still see a terminal window).

I'm sure I'll eventually adjust to the larger screen, but nonetheless I'm curious what people use.

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Not to highjack the question, but have you (or anybody on Unix) tried using any tiling window managers? They seem to be particularly good when one maximized window becomes too much.

  * dwm - http://www.suckless.org/wiki/dwm
  * XMonad - http://xmonad.org/
  * wmii - http://www.suckless.org/wiki/wmii

I prefer dwm, but they each have advantages -- dwm is very minimal and written in clean C, XMonad is written in Haskell, and wmii is turned inside-out, so to speak: it has an internal filesystem and hook-based architecture (like plan9), so you can script it in any language. For example, here's _why talking about extending it in Ruby: http://redhanded.hobix.com/inspect/aFewWmii3Hacks.html

I use a tiling WM and a 24" monitor and I love the "minimalism" of it. It took quite a bit of getting used to, but not constantly seeing IM notifications and new email alerts has measurably improved my productivity.

I used to use a 20-inch Dell that rotated vertically -- it was great because I could see a lot of code at once, but I noted that I didn't usually view more than one window at a time because I'd just keep one maximized.

Then I switched to a Mac, and found that no matter what size screen I use, I've grown comfortable with multiple windows on the screen.

I saved my money for a LONG time to buy an HP 30" monitor, and I love it. I can keep several open side-by-side at the same time, which I've found extremely useful. It seems to have helped my productivity a lot.

That said, you don't need a 30" screen to see the benefits of a (relatively) larger monitor. A 24" monitor would be great as well IMHO -- that is, if you can get used to the side-by-side window effect.

If you prefer only seeing one window at once, perhaps consider two smaller monitors instead, and then you can have one window maximized on each.

YMMV, of course. It really depends on your workflow and how you like to focus on things.

I've got a Dell 24", and opted for the more expensive version aimed at graphics designers, because the optical properties of the LCD are quite a bit better than the 'consumer' line. That, and it replaced a ten-year-old 19" ViewSonic PF790, so this goes to show you how often I buy monitors.

My advice is to go for quality over size. There are cheap 30" monitors that cost as much as my 24", but I can work on this thing all day and not feel fatigued.

I use dual 19" lcds. Even with the lcd farther back i still have to turn my head to see everything so I usually sit staring at one of them and keep what ever I'm not working on the other other one. Itunes, a web page, stats or something with a status bar.

I use dual 24" monitors

Dual 22s

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