LCD or CRT, and what's your resolution?

[Munkay]

I don't see how anybody can get anything done one just one monitor.

I used to run a 21' CRT monitor and a 19' CRT monitor on my desktop, and another 19' monitor next to it running on a second desktop (I ran a switch for keyboard/mouse).

But about a year and a half ago I invested in a IBM thinkpad, which ment switching to a 14.1' screen at a resolution of 1024x768 (the highest resolution supported). Constrained by the small workspace I became best friends with keyboard shortcuts, Alt+Tab, Ctrl+#, etc. I even stopped hooking up a USB mouse, and work solely with the red dot pointer.

The strangest part about the switch is I don't feel my productivity has taken a hit at all. For most tasks on the computer, switching back and forth in windows has become second nature, and in fact having only one window to deal with at at time helps keep my focus on task. My eyes do not feel as strained as they did with bigger monitors, since I do not need to "look around" to see everything on screen. I've been able to put in some monster marathon sessions on my laptop without as much fatigue.

Most of my work goes nicely on the laptop, html work in notepad, MSWord, MS Excel, Email and Firefox. But there are tasks for which I wish I did have more screen space - photo/image editing, flash animating, and video gaming. The first two are a no brainer, the more workspace the better able you are to spread things out and work comfortably. The last is purely aesthetic, video games just look really great on a big screen.

I'm certainly not swearing off larger monitors or desktop rigs, and I'm sure I'll end up back there eventually. But to my surprise when I found my productivity to stay the same, and enjoy the bonus of sitting outside while doing work - yes, I am on the few people that takes full advantage of the laptop portability - I was overjoyed.

I never thought I'd say this, but I :wub: my small computer monitor.

Cheers,

Munk