Well, I'm sitting here typing away looking at my new 24" widescreen monitor. Pidgin running on one side talking to my kind boss who ordered it for me, Internet Exploder on the other with me typing right here, and a monster Eclipse looking at IResource implementations sitting behind them. It's great.
Way back I blogged about my new widescreen laptop and commented on how liberating it was running Eclipse where had no problem seeing the Package/Project Explorer, editors, and Outline View in their full glory. Now at 24" at 1920x1200, it goes to a new level. The only problem is that I have to turn my head now to go between the Outline View and the left edge of the editor. Oh well. I'm sure if I had anything bigger, it might be too big (did I say that?).
And this size of monitor is getting pretty cheep. This is a good one at only $700. The 20" 4:3 monitors we used to druel about were more than that not so long ago. So if you're in the market for a new monitor for working in Eclipse, 24" is highly recommended.
Cool! I'm a little envious. I guess you've seen this monster? http://www.cnettv.com/9742-1_53-31908.html
ReplyDeleteDoug, it's not the size of the monitor that counts, but how well you use it.
ReplyDeleteI'm running at 1600x1200 and its also pretty sweet. Its wide enough to have two editors open at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, 24 inchers are great. I've been working with two of them for the past couple of years. I have one horizontal and one vertical. I typically use Eclipse maximized on the vertical one. Makes it very difficult when I come home and try to work on my laptop with 1440x900 resolution.
ReplyDeleteI loved my 24" monitor until a co-worker set up dual 21" 1600x1200 in portrait mode. Now everyone has them, except for the poor newbie that got my 24".
ReplyDeleteThis is just amazing. I'm not that old and I remember when my TV was only 20" 4:3.
ReplyDeleteSince CDT 4 I'm able to convince
ReplyDeletecolleagues to use Eclipse and every
time I have success the guy has a old
17" or 19" screen beside his 20" :)
When I worked at State Farm I talked my management into dual monitors. Dual 20" 1600x1200 monitors, both in PORTRAIT mode (taller than they are wide) were WAY better than any single monitor of any size.
ReplyDeleteDocumentation is taller than it is wide, when viewed on a monitor; so is code; so are web pages; so is email... why are monitors wider than they are tall? Movies? I have a TV for that.
Dual monitors, side by side, rotated so they're taller than they are wide, gives you all the info you need, doesn't make you turn your head, and lets you have a hell of a lot of stuff on screen at once.
The biggest "speed bump" of low screen real estate is that you must manually bring app X into focus to put it on top of the window pile. If all of the windows you're using sit behind nothing else, all you need to see what you need to see are your eyes.
I don't care what shortcut you're using to switch windows, your eyes are at least 50x as fast. That time adds up and pays for dual monitors in just a few months.
Try it, I guarantee you'll like it. After leaving State Farm and going back to a single 1024x768 laptop screen, I feel like I'm in handcuffs.