what monitor to use w/ AutoCAD?

[Kate_pw]

It was not clear to me where to post this question, so I hope that this Forum is OK.

I am using AutoCAD 2007 on a laptop and need to buy a separate, larger monitor to use at home. I have two in mind, and wondered which would be better for AutoCAD. I hate to admit it, but my near vision is not what it used to be and am leaning towards the largest monitor I can afford.

Here are two options I found on the Dell web site:

1) Ultrasharp flat panel 20" standard aspect $469
1600x1200 resolution
2) 24" wide screen 1920x1200 5 ms. response time also $469

Does anyone have opinions about the best monitor size and wide screen vs. standard? Any other models/brands that are particularly good? I have quite a good graphics card, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks.

[Alan Cullen]

Kate, stick with the 24" wide screen 1920x1200. I use 22" widescreen LCDs, and I love them.

[DODGE]

Hi Kate
The bigger the better.
Dodge

[zars]

I agree with Alan, I too use a 24'' widescreen and I love it!!!

[StykFacE]

Dodge is right - the bigger the better no matter what. a 24" widescreen is nothing more than a 22" that is stretched. but you have more screen real estate on the widescreen monitor. Do the math of the resolutions.... the 20" has 1.92 Million pixels and the 24" Widescreen has 2.3 Million pixels. so you can fit more and view more on the bigger screen, at native resolutions that is.

Now if you need to get a bigger monitor and run a lower resolution just so you can see things easier, then I would check the resolution settings the videocard can handle. Sometimes those videocards can't handle non-native widescreen resolutions, so your screen will look either stretched or squeezed, not at the proper aspect ratio. Might need to stick with the 20" if you're gonna do this.

Here's a quick note: at native resolutions, large monitors don't make anything physically "bigger" on the screen, i.e. Icons, Toolbar buttons, the Taskbar, Text, etc. there's just more room to fit everything. but at lower resolutions, everything then gets physically "bigger" on the screen, but you lose physical screen real-estate in the process. But you would do this only if you don't want to strain your eyes to see everything, which also in turn will make everything slightly fuzzy because the videocard has to then "calculate" the pixels because it's not a native res. Hope this helps some, and sorry it was so long, I just wanted to explain everything first... :lol:

[Kate_pw]

Thanks! I'll go with my choice of the 24". My husband is not a fan of widescreen format for some reason, but I think with a big enough monitor height isn't a problem, the extra width will be nice to have.

I think I will run it in the regular high res just to see as much as I can see, even though toolbars and text are getting as bit small as I approach middle age :cry: I wish there were an easy way to make menus and command line a bit easier to see w/out changing monitor resolution.

Katie

[StykFacE]

AutoCAD has an option to use 'Large Icons'. I'm not at my computer at work so I can't look it up for you, but maybe you can hit the F1 key and do a quick search in help. that will help ya out for sure.

In fact, I think it's in the Options dialog box, under the Display Tab. Don't hold me against it tho. :wink:

[lpseifert]

I wish there were an easy way to make menus and command line a bit easier to see w/out changing monitor resolution.

Katie
For the menus if you rt-clk on your Desktop > Properties > Appearance > Advanced you can change the menu's font and size. In Autocad you can change the size and font of the Command line in Options > Display > Fonts. Also under Options > Display there is a check box for Use Large Buttons for Toolbars, but if you check it you'll lose a lot of real estate.

[SLW210]

I went to Walgreens drug store and bought a pair of reading glasses. Helps a whole lot with these middle-aged eyeballs. :D

[Tempest]

Remember, size isn't everything, it's what you draw with it.

(Or something like that!) :)

[riga]

Oh, now I see that the slogan "Size DOES matter" is not a prerogative of the spam I find sometimes in my mailbox :twisted:

I was used to the CRT standard size, and to be honest the last 24" CRT I used was hawsome.
CRT image quality was better (for me) but LCD display quality keeps improuving and soon we will get even more quality from them than we had from CRT display.
So at home I switched to a LCD 22" widescreen, and one good point I saw at first is that width is really usefull in autocad because you don't have to close all your palettes or the dashbord and you will still have enough place for the viewports, so I vote for widescreen too :thumbsup: (but I regret I had never tried a double screen set :huh: )

[Kate_pw]

OK guys, the monitor just arrived and it is awesome! A little trouble finding the right driver, but now it is working and it is great. I feel like I am at an IMAX theater :roll: No excuse for typos now.

The text actually is larger and I am having no problem seeing, so no need to search for the granny glasses. I'm far too young for those anyway.

[SLW210]

Try using Multiple monitors. I really enjoy using 2 monitors. AutoCAD on 1 and the Forum, Email, Explorer on the other. http://img126.exs.cx/img126/997/36_1_11.gif