A single Dell 24" wide LCD or 2 x 20.1 wide LCDs?

[Anonymous]

I need to upgrade a workstation and was wondering what would work best. I 've always used a dual screen set up but I see those Dell 24" wides are pretty nice. I can also get 2 x 20.1 wide LCDs for about the same price as a single 24" wide LCD.
Not sure how Archicad works on a single wide screen.

Any takers?

[Anonymous]

aahatimo wrote:

Michael wrote:

Once more?

actually it just happened again:
Ran into problems sending Mail. Response: 550 5.1.1 User unknown
DEBUG MODE
Line : 152
File : smtp.php

not sure what is up there. i am logged in.

It looks like GS has a glitch in the system. I've seen the debug mode page quite a bit as well. It happens after the message is posted so there is no functional problem, but it is annoying. (And there are lots of double, and even triple , posts around now)

[Anonymous]

On the main topic...

I'm a single screen guy. I prefer one large display to focus my attention on rather than looking back and forth. When I use a second screen it is an auxiliary display for less used views and palettes. I really don't like having two equal size displays.

Of course this is one of those things that is purely a matter of personal preference. What ever you like is best for you.

[aahatimo]

thanks for the replys matthew & dwight,
i am planning on using the 24" lcd as my main workspace and my powerbook 17" display as a secondary as you describe matthew. i am just concerned about if my mac will have enough horsepower to run both at full resolution. the specs say it will work and from brad's post on my more on topic post it sounds like it will. http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=15976
when i get a macpro workstation i will probably have to rethink things & see which approach works for me.
i will have to find a 24" dell somewhere around our small town and check it out my self.
regarding the error message and lack of notifiation i did send peter @ gs an email earlier today.
thanks again!

[Anonymous]

aahatimo wrote:
I am just concerned about if my mac will have enough horsepower to run both at full resolution. the specs say it will work and from brad's post on my more on topic post it sounds like it will.

My 1GHz 17' PB with 32MB of VRAM did just fine with the Apple 23" which I believe is the same resolution (including having the PB open as a secondary). OpenGL performance wasn't the best though. That was in AC 8.1 & AC 9 so I don't know about how it will perform in 10 & 11. Your's being newer may have more VRAM.

You should consider upgrading to the MacBook Pro. It is MUCH faster all around. I bought one of the first ones off the line and have been thrilled with it. Of course they are even better now. Unless you work only on very small projects (and probably even then) it will pay for itself very quickly.

[aahatimo]

thanks matthew,
i have been holding out on the mbp hoping a newer model will roll out in the next few months, but will leopards later release who know if aple will update them between now & oct. sounds like my 128 vram would get by for now.

[Anonymous]

I've got a 17" PowerBook G4 1.5GHz with 1.5 Gb of RAM. I'm running an Apple 23" display for almost all palettes, and use the PB display for the navigator. I also have iCal and Address Book showing on the PB, which is convenient to have "at the front" since I'm on and off the phone all day.

This is a great setup, and with a laptop as part of your screen setup, I think the ideal is ONE additional monitor, not two.

I'm awaiting a MacBook Pro announcement at the WWDC June 11, which will hopefully be using the new Santa Rosa graphics chipset.

Along with the new MBP, I'll also get a 30" LCD. Probably the Dell, although I'll have to obscure the logo and have a little therapy to cope with the brand infiltration in my all-Mac office. But it has too many benefits over the Apple 30", and is $500 less.

As for the general discussion about not being able to manage a 30" monitor, it's hard for me to imagine. I'm a serious user of Work Environments to manage palettes on various different screen setups in our office, and I would prefer a single 30" to two smaller displays. It all comes down to the opportunity to have a huge amount of the floor plan showing at once without zooming and panning. With two displays you'll simply never see the same amount of the plan. Ever.

[Dwight]

Erick wrote:

Along with the new MBP, I'll also get a 30" LCD. Probably the Dell, although I'll have to obscure the logo and have a little therapy to cope with the brand infiltration in my all-Mac office. But it has too many benefits over the Apple 30", and is $500 less.

As for the general discussion about not being able to manage a 30" monitor, it's hard for me to imagine. I'm a serious user of Work Environments to manage palettes on various different screen setups in our office, and I would prefer a single 30" to two smaller displays. It all comes down to the opportunity to have a huge amount of the floor plan showing at once without zooming and panning. With two displays you'll simply never see the same amount of the plan. Ever.

With the experience of more than two years with a Ciinema 30" display, i offer some observations:

1: The Dell IS better. Today.

2: A 30" machine is NOT nirvana. I am running mine with a tick bird 20" display on the side. The problem with 52 year old eyes is that you can't view the entire display at a distance where you can comfortaably read the dialogs. Lot of head tilting and bobbing around with the continuous bi-focals. Geezerhood - look forward to it.

If i was to do it again, I'd get 2, 24" displays.

[Jefferson]

Can one of you sporting the Dell 24", [2407 UltraSharp], tell me if the monitor is the "new" style glass looking surface or the older style matte type surface? [Living on an Island trips to the big city are few and far between so no opportunity to see on in person.]

My newish lappy has the "glass" type surface and I really prefer it to the matte. Seems much sharper than the matte. I am nearing purchase time, they are currently right around $600 US, which is pretty decent it seems, or about as good as they're going to get for a while.

This will be an external monitor to that same laptop, which without additional hardware only supports a single external monitor, so it'll be single for me. While the real estate of two monitors is great, I found I liked the compact focus, as in a single screen, better. No bobbing and weaving. Perhaps that was a derivative of running wide format lappy with a standard format external. Maybe it was the w i d e bezel on the old monitor I'll be able to re-assess when the new one gets here. Either way it'll be a big raise from 1680 x 1050 @ 17"!

[Anonymous]

Jeff

I bit the bullet and went with the single Dell 30" LCD for the home office.
Has the matte "finish " as well.
It does afford plenty of screen goodness although I wish I would have done the 2 x 24" wide screens now.
Not sure I'm all too hip with the switching back and forth.....finding my lost windows....bringing them upfront...etc...when using a single screen monster.
Oh well.

It does play Half Life 2 pretty knarly though.

[Jefferson]

Hey Antonin -

Thanks for the reply...........sounds like I need to go and see them in person to make a final decision. The Dell's are a decent buy and the design is OK too, but that "glass" style screen seems so much more crisp to me...............decisions, decisoins