So I'm wondering what you guys think about the different screen sizes. Originally I figured the 24" is far superior as it is far larger. But I kind of decided for normal everyday usage (internet, email, iTunes, etc.) that's just way more screen space than you need. I feel like it could even be annoying at times. Obviously the 24" would be great for image editing, or anything like that, but I'm not convinced it's the best option for me. The majority of my use is just internet type stuff, but I do some Photoshop, iPhoto, and I suppose video watching. Is it at all worth it to get the 24"? I understand there is also a difference in quality of the LCD between the two, but that's not really what I'm considering now. Let me know your thoughts.
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20" vs. 24" (ignoring quality issues)
- Thread starter Astral Cars
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I have a 20". Mostly I bought it because it was several hundred $ cheaper and my desk cant accommodate the 24". I use it for common, every day things: internet, email, music, movies, digital pics, light gaming, basically everything you'd expect to do on a home pc. No professional work at all, so the 20" is perfectly fine.
Im not bothered in the slightest by the screen "issue." Frankly, its not an issue, it works how it was designed to. And without all the attention brought about at this forum Id never have known there was any difference other than size. If you sit in front of the thing, its looks wonderful.
The 20" is perfectly fine for 95% of us. I seriously cant comprehend how in a professional setting the screen would be an issue, but again, Im not in that line of work. When I look at the 20 and 24 side by side, I see the same screen, only one is bigger. I cant differentiate "millions of colors" vs "200,000+ colors" with "dithering to make it look like millions."
Im not bothered in the slightest by the screen "issue." Frankly, its not an issue, it works how it was designed to. And without all the attention brought about at this forum Id never have known there was any difference other than size. If you sit in front of the thing, its looks wonderful.
The 20" is perfectly fine for 95% of us. I seriously cant comprehend how in a professional setting the screen would be an issue, but again, Im not in that line of work. When I look at the 20 and 24 side by side, I see the same screen, only one is bigger. I cant differentiate "millions of colors" vs "200,000+ colors" with "dithering to make it look like millions."
I just bought a 24" monitor to replace my 20" (used for 3 years or so), so my experience is very close to your question.
I like the added real estate the 24" gives me. If you want to have a couple web browsers open and also organize files in Finder or anything like that, you'll appreciate the added space of the 24". Of course, that may not happen until you work with a 20" for a while and then experience the 24" as I did, but if I had $2K to blow today, I'd go for the 24" iMac (with 8800 vidcard) over the 20" no questions asked.
Mike
I like the added real estate the 24" gives me. If you want to have a couple web browsers open and also organize files in Finder or anything like that, you'll appreciate the added space of the 24". Of course, that may not happen until you work with a 20" for a while and then experience the 24" as I did, but if I had $2K to blow today, I'd go for the 24" iMac (with 8800 vidcard) over the 20" no questions asked.
Mike
I went from a 19" square Samsung with a mini to this 20" iMac and the screen seems HUGE by comparison. I have so much free screen space compared to that old monitor. I guess its all relative based on what you are use to using though.
Yeah, I'm currently on a 15" PB and honestly I'll probably just get the base model iMac (with a bigger HD and more RAM later) as price is a definite issue. I do think the 24" would be cool to have, but I don't need it, and certainly don't need it for a few hundred extra dollars.
24" comes in handy a lot. I'm planning on upgrading from my 22" lcd with mini to a 24" iMac with the 22" as a secondary display(if I dont sell it to get a 24"). The bigger screen has huge advantages; having an internet window open and a word doc if you're working on a paper, an espn gameday tracker while browsing the internet, slingbox and word at the same time. Even just having a chat window open at the same time you're browsing macrumors is super helpful! If you can get the 24" you will find a TON of uses for it!
I will definitely agree about the 24". It's a huge difference, and like stated, that extra space always comes in handy.
The 24" iMacs are beautiful displays, and just think of how lovely watching movies would be!
The 24" iMacs are beautiful displays, and just think of how lovely watching movies would be!
I have both the 24" and 20" Al iMacs. One thing about the 24" is that the LCD brightness is not as adjustable as the 20" At it's lowest setting, it's still very bright. On the 20" I have a much greater range in brightness settings. You can try this in the Apple store and see that the 24" doesn't change very much from it's dimmest to brightest settings whereas the 20" can go from almost being off to way too bright. This was the same situation with the white iMacs as well.
i like that the 24" gives me more vertical height for viewing web pages...the trend towards widescreen monitors resulted in tight vertical heights and lots of scrolling. Basically with the 24" i can see the same amount of top to bottom information as my old 20" 4:3 Dell LCD.
i like that the 24" gives me more vertical height for viewing web pages...the trend towards widescreen monitors resulted in tight vertical heights and lots of scrolling. Basically with the 24" i can see the same amount of top to bottom information as my old 20" 4:3 Dell LCD.
I really use the space on my 24", especially in Finder when doing some organizing on different volumes, omg, you will really appreciate having 4-5 finder windows open, and whenever working on a document, have two side by side, plus a window from OmniOutliner. Size doesn't matter when it comes to consumer. For a pro, i can see a need for a big screen, but for a consumer, it doesnt matter, you will use the bigger screen...trust me.
24" is immense. I'm going to be plugging my 24" imac into a 24" Samsung too though!
.. 48" wide desktop is going to be nice!
.. You can never have too much screen space. ...
TBH though I'd have been 100% fine with the 20" (as the Samsung 245t is a much better artist's display than the iMac screen, so I'll be using the Samsung for work stuff) - BUT.. The 24" is the only way to get the decent 8800GS, so that's forcing my hand.
I think the OP answered his own question, 24" is probably excessive unless you're doing a lot of things simultaniously, or need the resolution for photoshop etc.
.. 48" wide desktop is going to be nice!
.. You can never have too much screen space. ...
TBH though I'd have been 100% fine with the 20" (as the Samsung 245t is a much better artist's display than the iMac screen, so I'll be using the Samsung for work stuff) - BUT.. The 24" is the only way to get the decent 8800GS, so that's forcing my hand.I think the OP answered his own question, 24" is probably excessive unless you're doing a lot of things simultaniously, or need the resolution for photoshop etc.
24" is immense. I'm going to be plugging my 24" imac into a 24" Samsung too though!
.. 48" wide desktop is going to be nice!
.. You can never have too much screen space. ...
I think the OP answered his own question, 24" is probably excessive unless you're doing a lot of things simultaniously, or need the resolution for photoshop etc.
Is the iMac capable of using a 30inch 2nd monitor?
I don't believe so, but that's just an honest guess. I thought only dual-link dvi's could hook up to the 30".
Never know though, I'm curious as well!
Never know though, I'm curious as well!
Ha, I have a Macbook Pro 15", and it's got the Dual-Link DVI, I'm looking for an iMac if you're interested. PM?
True true true! The 24" screens are amazing. How can you not crave it?
...oh yeah. it's always that ****ing backlight bleed.
...oh yeah. it's always that ****ing backlight bleed.
This is an interesting and helpful discussion for me. I'm one of the ever-growing wave of users who finally kicked Windows to the curb and plunged into the wonderful Mac world. Well at least for my own personal use, I have to use Win systems in my work.
Anyhoo, I brought home the 24" iMac a few days ago and am still getting used to all the acreage in front of me here. I agree it's going to be great to have really usable-sized workspaces open for different applications that can be displayed side by side. Quite a step up from the 19" LCD monitor I used with my PC.
The negatives I've discovered about this huge puppy relate to ergonomics.
First - moving the cursor clear over to the upper left corner of the screen with the wireless Mighty Mouse requires serious wrist movement that I'm not used to. Solution: on a whim I plugged in my trusty old Microsoft Trackball Explorer and voila! it works. So I can move the cursor around with a finger-flick and I'm saving myself future pain. (Had carpal tunnel problems 2 years ago that finally resolved without surgery but I have to be careful not to aggravate it again.) Avoiding another case of carpal tunnel pain beats wireless elegance, er, hands down.
Also, I'm still working on the ergonomics of monitor placement in relation to me - distance, height, angle, etc. - because it's definitely an issue for my eyes to focus on different portions of the screen. Those of you with hawkeyes should count your blessings. I had a kind of sore neck after a few hours on this machine this weekend.
Anyhoo, I brought home the 24" iMac a few days ago and am still getting used to all the acreage in front of me here. I agree it's going to be great to have really usable-sized workspaces open for different applications that can be displayed side by side. Quite a step up from the 19" LCD monitor I used with my PC.
The negatives I've discovered about this huge puppy relate to ergonomics.
First - moving the cursor clear over to the upper left corner of the screen with the wireless Mighty Mouse requires serious wrist movement that I'm not used to. Solution: on a whim I plugged in my trusty old Microsoft Trackball Explorer and voila! it works. So I can move the cursor around with a finger-flick and I'm saving myself future pain. (Had carpal tunnel problems 2 years ago that finally resolved without surgery but I have to be careful not to aggravate it again.) Avoiding another case of carpal tunnel pain beats wireless elegance, er, hands down.
Also, I'm still working on the ergonomics of monitor placement in relation to me - distance, height, angle, etc. - because it's definitely an issue for my eyes to focus on different portions of the screen. Those of you with hawkeyes should count your blessings. I had a kind of sore neck after a few hours on this machine this weekend.
Thanks for the replies, I'm still not sure what I'll do. When it comes down to it I'll probably just stick with the 20" for price reasons. This will be a big improvement over the 15" PB I'm on now.
Since I'm an excessive user of Spaces, I usually keep everything I'm doing pretty organized and I think because of that the 24" difference wouldn't be as noticeable unless I happen to be watching a movie or maybe editing some photos, which I don't do all that often. Also, since I currently use all four corners as hot corners I feel like the bigger screen may lead to that being less useful and quick.
Since I'm an excessive user of Spaces, I usually keep everything I'm doing pretty organized and I think because of that the 24" difference wouldn't be as noticeable unless I happen to be watching a movie or maybe editing some photos, which I don't do all that often. Also, since I currently use all four corners as hot corners I feel like the bigger screen may lead to that being less useful and quick.