Size does matter

Yeah, I bought the 20" Dell that I said I wouldn't.

After coupons it was about $500, and for the first time in months (especially since getting my laptop with the widescreen), I'm actually using my desktop again. I just couldn't stand to look at those non-sharp 17" ViewSonics with all of the plastic in the middle. This, my friends, is how to write code.

Again, the LCD in this thing is the same one Apple uses in their 20" CinemaDisplay. It's awesome. Turn on ClearType, make the icons big, and it's glorious. Not a dead pixel on the thing. Yes, if you look at a totally black screen, there's that bit of light leak in the corners, as some people have complained, but what the hell? I don't ever sit there staring at a blank screen!

And it's nice to use the desktop. I've given that machine a lot of love lately. I had to replace the old 20 gig C: drive because it started clicking, a power supply died on me about two months ago, I dressed it up with new cold cathodes, and God knows that 6800GT in there is still among the faster video cards out there. Doom 3 at 1680x1050 is something to really behold.

And the color profile seems to be dead on, which is something I've been struggling with for a long time. If I ever decide to get more serious about using video and get back into more photography, maybe a calibration device is in order, but the out-of-the-box profile looks very good.

I didn't need this, technically, but at least it gives me the motivation to work a little harder.

2 Comments

  • I completely agree - even though it is only sort of 1.5 monitors wide, it is an awful lot easier to use with multiple dev.apps running at the same time that 2 x 17" (or 19") side by side.



    Kevin

  • I use dual 19" ViewSonic Professional Series CRT's @ 1280X1024 and the real estate is crystal clear! If/when they die I plan to move to dual 19" LCDs...or whatever dual non-CRT setup I can afford.

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