help me, how many inch monitor ??
 

Now that I have my own workplace in the house (yas!) and I am no longer stuck to the diningtable...we're thinking of buying a new desktop and monitor for me since I am due for an update. My husband says a 24" monitor is going to be big enough to use. Do you all agree with him or do you maybe have a 27" monitor that you think works much better. I really have no idea. Right now I have a 17" laptop so anything bigger will be an upgrade but I want to make sure I buy the right size monitor and not regret buying something that needs to be replaced in a few months time, kwim ?? btw, my husband thinks I do now trust his judgement, LOL. I told him that is not the case but since he doesn't scrap...I wanted to get the opinions of my fellow scrappers :)

I had a 21 inch iMac and upgraded to the 27 inch. At first it felt ridiculously HUGE but I love it now! I will never willingly go back to smaller! We also recently purchased 24 inch monitors to hook up to our girls' teeny tiny school laptops. It even feels like a big difference between the 24 and the 27 inches. Both my girls have a degenerative eye condition so bigger is better for them and I can imagine as we get older our aging, ailing eyes want as big as possible too! :p

I feel I should go for the 27" also...I mean, not getting any younger and already wear glasses so better think ahead :) I also think I'd get used to it soon enough and the price difference isn't that bad. Only $75, something like that so it's not like wer're breaking the bank or anything.

Good that you are thinking of the future with your girls and their condition. For me, it's an age thing for sure. I find that with my 17" monitor...I am sometimes squinting my eyes to focus.

I have 3 24" monitors. LOL! If I could upgrade, I'd go with 3 27". 2 27" would probably work well, too.

Biancka, my iMac has a 27" monitor and I can't imagine being able to work on anything smaller. I used to have a PC with dual monitors before this Mac, and it was nice to have the space to spread out my Photoshop window and have folders with kits open AND a window with Facebook or a movie playing. This size monitor on my Mac is very similar to having dual monitors, I can minimize windows and have 3 things open at one time. Which to me, is essential when crafting & creating digital scrapbook pages.

I have a 27" and love it--actually, I have two but my DH is using one of them because he is working from home a lot and didn't want to "just" use his laptop screen. 27" makes it easy to have two 12x12 canvases open in PS and work on layouts or have lots of elements open as I'm dragging and dropping onto my canvas. I can also snap Photoshop to one side of my monitor and my kit folder to the other side and easily drag and drop or have a web browser open and another program open as well so I can compare products or I can double check my Excel spreadsheet to make sure I didn't already buy something LOL. 24" isn't exactly small, so you should be fine with that size too, but something about the extra size just really works for me.

I have 2 that are 27inch. Go for it!!

Thank you so much all for your advice...there is a clear winner so 27" it is !! I am now looking at which one to order and if I want to go for a curved one :) Love how a curved monitor looks but not sure if it's practical. Also...DH bought me a new desktop and it will probably arrive tomorrow. YAY! Will spend all day today backing up my files (many) and burning dvds and this laptop will be erased, reinstalled and go to my son :) He is working on a 2012 laptop right now so this will be an upgrade for him for sure.

I love having a 27"! i have a 27" imac and then another monitor connected because I always have a lottttt of stuff open at the same time.. kind of like my brain hahaha.

I'm on the dual monitor train myself. Mine are 22". When scrapping I have PSP open on one and Picasa to select kits on the other. Excel spreadsheets are also on the other screen when needed.

When not scrapping I use my browser on one, sometimes a second browser window on the other. When I'm updating my financial spreadsheets I have them on both screens. And, since I tend to use all programs in full screen mode because of vision issues, having 2 monitors works best for me. It would be nice to have larger monitors but since they are different "ages" I doubt I will ever have larger than 22". I worked with 2 different sizes before I retired and it was not fun. Having 2 monitors the same size is my preference. My previous setup wouldn't allow anything larger than 22" when I first went to a larger monitor so I've stuck with that size.

I would not want 2 different sizes monitors either...that would not work for me at all. I will just to work with the one 27" but that's fine. I've scrapped on laptops for the last 10 years at least and now I am going back to a desktop since I have my own room (which is bliss). My 17" laptop is getting slower and reinstalling it doesn't help a lot anymore so now I am getting a small powerhouse desktop with the 27" monitor. Thanks to all the recommendations here I was able to convince DH that that is the way to go :)

y'all are making me jelly with my 15in screen on my laptop. haha

I have two 27" monitors and love the space. I can spread photoshop out onto 2 screens.Scrapping on a smaller monitor is doable but if you have the space, why not go bigger? Good luck with whatever you decide on.

That is what my friend Alice said too :) She still has a 15" laptop...I do not know if I could go back to that which was the plan at first. I wanted better specs for my scrapping machine and wanted a laptop again but DH told me I had to go back to a 15" with the specs that I wanted otherwise it would not be affordable but now that I have my own scrap-room I can buy a tower/desktop and that's a total gamechanger :)

Two !! That is even more amazing. I don't think that would fit on my desk though. LOL We made the decision and already ordered a new 27" monitor (and also a new desktop :)) which will be delivered tomorrow. So excited.

Yay!! I think you're going to love having the bigger monitor!

I think so too :)

My husband hooks up his laptop to a 42" TV! LOL He has a smaller monitor too but mostly uses the 42 TV! LOL I think mine is 24 but not sure.

You will love scrapping on the larger monitor after using a laptop. I still have a laptop and when my computer died 18 months ago I had to use it until the new desktop arrived. It was so small (and slow). I tried scrapping and decided then that I'm not doing that anymore! I had mainly used it when I went to retreats... and my eyes were much better. Now I do all my scrapping at home.

Here's a screenshot of my 27" monitor that I took this afternoon when I was scrapping...

https://i.imgur.com/P8b4iXe.jpg?1

No more going back & forth to the folder window to find that one element/paper I want to use. This makes scrapping so much easier :) Love it!

Now that is the way to go!! LOL Isn't he sitting way to close to a 42" monitor though. This 27" already feels huge..let alone a 42".

Now that I have this setup...I don't think I'll be going back to a laptop anymore. My last one was about 4 years old and already so slow. Very frustrating when you're scrapping. A desktop is so much easier to upgrade with extra memory (when needed).

Glad you are enjoying your new setup. The ease of using a laptop when moving around is convenient but for actual ease of using scrap software, nothing beats a large or dual monitor setup with a fast PC IMO.

Enjoy!

I totally agree...a fast PC en large monitor beat the convenient of moving around anytime :) I just love having my own little area in the house to scrap. No interruptions at all. Bliss

I don't like scrapping on my laptop at all! I love having more than one monitor.

That's awesome, Biancka!!

Yay for the 27" monitor you went with Bianka!! (That's what I use) ... BTW - I LOVE the template you're working with!

Thank you !! ♥

Very yay indeed :) Still very happy and very busy scrapping away. Oh, did you see my finished layout (with love) with that Ponytails Designs template ??

I think he is sitting too close but he is so used to it that it doesn't seem to bother him. He is an engineer so he has schematics up as well as emails and notes then his other 2 monitors have chat windows or his zoom calls. It is crazy in there during the work day. :) 3 monitors...2 small ones then the 42" one

I just searched through old threads about monitors because I'm trying to decide whether to order one and if so a 24 or 27. I think this screenshot swayed me, but I'm also afraid of making the wrong call. I have a 17" laptop now and want to hook a bigger monitor up to it, but my desk isn't huge and is already cluttered (my own fault--I end up with piles of papers on it all the time).

I want to go to two 27 inch monitors myself, but that means upgrading my computer, which I am willing to do, but have been told by my sister, who is my accountant, to hold off because of the pricing right now. I am listening to her for the time being, but sooner or later, I am going to get tired of waiting and just go for it.

I have 2 20" monitors for work. Having 2 27" sounds like heaven!!!!

Me too.

So you would be working on two different-sized monitors then? I think the best way to think about it would be what will you put on each monitor while you're working?

Me - I have 2 24" monitors that are identical. So they butt up right next to each other and it's almost seamless as the frame on the monitors is thin. So if I drag a window to be between the two I only have a small gap - and I do that a lot when I have Bridge open at the same time. So personally I think you'd have to figure out exactly what you want to do on the 2nd monitor. Is that where you'll scrap? Use the other to keep files open to drag over? Watch something while you work? I can easily keep Bridge (where I drag my files from) and a movie open on the one monitor and then scrap on the other. Here is a screenshot of my usual setup while I'm scrapping.

https://i.imgur.com/Pad1mic.jpg

You can't see it in the photo but my screens split right at the menu on the left side of Bridge. So when I'm clicking on Bridge it shows, but if I'm working on the other monitor (PS) it's hidden. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do have plenty of room for two windows to be open on the 24" monitor BUT since I do overlap the one window if I could squeeze that 27" one on the desk instead of a 24" I'd go for that. I have a roll top desk and we couldn't get the 27" monitors on the desk and still have room for my speakers and things like that. Or I'd have totally gone with dual 27" monitors.

I do everything on my 17" laptop. I keep thinking I should get a bigger setup, but right now I work from a small built-in desk in my kitchen. A bigger setup would mean moving to a bigger desk in the family room. I have the space for it, but then I'd need to buy a desk, a new computer, shelves for organizing my office space, etc. etc. etc. So then I basically shut down and continue to work on my laptop. LOL

With just one monitor?! How do you do that???

I used to have two monitors (loved that!) but one of my cats jumped off the wall and broke one of them. So I invested in a 32" in monitor and LOVE it!! It's big enough to watch tv on, when I'm in the other room and big enough for me to scrap! Since getting that large monitor, I haven't had a need for a second monitor, which is nice too! So my vote for you is the bigger one! Your eyes and your workspace will thank you when you have the large screen to look at! :wub:

Hmmm... something to consider! Do you have to sit further back from it?

My computer has to be a laptop because I need the portability, but my eyes are tired of the small screen. I'm starting grad school in the fall, so between that, work, and scrapping it's time to invest in a bigger display. The main reason I haven't done it before now is that I don't know if I'd like working on multiple screens. But I saw a picture of someone else's setup recently that I think would work for me. They had their monitor and a wireless keyboard right in front of them and their laptop off to the side, used for its computing power but not its screen. I think that's what I'd like to do, use only the big monitor when I'm at my desk and only the laptop screen when I'm not. I'll try using the 2 simultaneously when I get the monitor, but I suspect I'll be using the 27" screen by itself.

Many years ago, I used my 22" monitor with my laptop. The laptop was off to the side and I used a wireless regular sized keyboard. The 22" monitor was in front of me and was my main work area. Paint Shop Pro filled this screen. I use Picasa to search for kits so it was on the laptop screen. I think you might find that you will use the smaller screen at times along with the large screen. For spreadsheet work, I would have the main one open on the large screen and another one one the laptop monitor that I would have to refer to. Saved always having to switch open windows. Granted having 2 different size monitors isn't always the best, but once I got used to it, I was OK with it and I used both monitors all the time.

And, here's a story for you... I used to go to a friend's house an hour away from me to scrap with some of my friends. Imagine my surprise when one such occasion another friend of ours walked in with the laptop case and a large monitor. She got it setup and proceeded to scrap her heart out. And, I know of others that do that as well. They like having the portability of the laptop but when they will be scrapping all weekend, they want their big screen :)

As I was researching to decide what size monitor I have room for, I came across a chart showing how far you should sit from each monitor size. I can't find it again right now, but IIRC for a 24" monitor it recommended 50-60 cm and for each successive size you added an additional 10 cm. I did manage to find a more detailed chart here.

Lol about the traveling monitor. Fingers crossed that I don't get *that* used to having it! I could see using the laptop screen to open kit folders when I'm working on a 2-page spread on the big monitor. Probably also for school, if I have an online textbook or other resources open on one and a paper I'm writing on the other. I'm leaving my options open, but knowing I can use only the bigger monitor if I prefer is what finally convinced me to take the plunge.

If I'm home and have to use my laptop, I connect one of my desktop monitors to it. I have such a hard time scrapping on the laptop alone.

Thanks for sharing this, Rachel!!

Congrats Biancka!!

I have two 24" monitors that are identical and love them. I can't tell you the last time I turned my laptop on. I am lucky in that I have my 'nest' (spare bedroom) and have outfitted it with a 32" tv as well so I can scrap and watch tv. It is my little sanctuary.

I have 2 monitors. They are both 27" and I LOVE THEM. I wouldn't trade them for anything. I had 2 24" before this and knew I wanted bigger.:thumbup:

I say go big or go home! Lol bigger the better! I just recently added a 3rd monitor (got a free one from hubby's work) and while they are different sizes- I LOVE using 3! Sometimes I just watch Netflix on one while using the other 2 for scrapping... or one for all the previews of the supplies I'm using etc. I'm on my phone so I can't seem to link my desk pic- but here's my setup!
https://www.flickr.com/gp/139774214@N02/014W0M

Yup, just the one little monitor. I guess because I'm used to it... I've always been on a laptop since I started designing. At work I have three massive screens, so maybe it would feel too much like being at work (911 fire dispatch) to have that at home too. Or else I'm just getting old and I now need glasses for reading but my distance vision is way better than perfect! As in, I can read the teeny tiny "made by" print under the tiny print on the eye chart at the eye doctor's office. Last time I went I asked if I could just skip to that part and he was amazed that I could see it! :D

3 monitors is heavy duty scrapping, LOL! Thanks for sharing your setup.