screen size - 15

[frankgw@adelphia.net]

Our site has always ordered monitors with a screen size of 15 inches. My thought would be to start ordering 17 inch screens in the future. Of course, they are more expensive. Have any of you justified 17 inch or larger screens sizes? How? I need some help. Thanks.

[J.Pluta]

With a 17-inch monitor, you can have two (barely, IMO) legible 5250 sessions, one atop the other. I always log onto my computer with at least two sessions; it makes life much easier, either when developing (to, say, run a test program or lookup some other source) or when debugging (I might have a file open on one screen while I run a test program in another). This is so much more productive than SysReq-1 or interrupting my job to get to a command line. At home, I have 1 19" display, and it's hard to tone down to the 17 here. The only 15" screen I use is for the dedicated system operator's console of my model 150. src="//www.zappie.net/java/_derived/index.htm_cmp_zero110_vbtn_p.gif" width="140" height="60" border="0" alt="Java400.net - Java/400 Freeware" align="middle"> Java400.Net - where the AS/400 speaks Java with an RPG accent Home of PBD1.2, the FREE Java/400 Client/Server Toolkit

[Guest.Visitor]

IMO - bigger is better, unless you have a very cramped cubicle. Dave

[Guest.Visitor]

Frank, I would shoot for 21, worst case is that it may shift the argument to something much more useful. For me the monitor is the most important component of a PC and the least likely to become obsolete. I use Code/400 for editing and you can really see the big picture of a program a lot better when you can view 80 or so lines more easily than you can on a 24 line terminal. For the extra $750 or so it is well worth it. David Morris

[Guest.Visitor]

I moved from a 17" - 19" about 3 weeks ago and could never go back it makes a hell of a difference to productivity being able to see multiple AS/400 screens as the same time. Some of my developers are pushing for 21" as it makes a real differnce

[D.Handy]

John, I moved from a 17" - 19" about 3 weeks ago and could never go back it makes a hell of a difference to productivity being able to see multiple AS/400 screens as the same time. Some of my developers are pushing for 21" as it makes a real differnce It does make a big difference. But what I do is use the multi-monitor support in Win98 (and yeah, I know, Macs do it too). I use two 17" monitors and one 15" monitor, each running in 1024x768. The 19" monitors are getting reasonably priced now, but it used to be that multiple 17" monitors were cheaper than a bigger monitor, and gave you a lot more screen space besides. (Of course, it is at the expense of physical desktop space, but I think it is well worth it.) Doug

[Guest.Visitor]

I currently use a 15" for my assignment. At home I use a 17" and BOY ! The difference is ofcourse a larger AS/400-session but what I find extremely useful is the fact that there is space left on your desktop for other aplications that require 'immediate' response like my email-program, Lotus Notes, etcetera. I don't want to start a 'Dilbert-culture' here but I do use internet for lots of business-purposes(honestly!) and it is also very handy to see how far the requested pages have downloaded at the bottom of the display. You can keep on working on the AS/400 in the meantime. I know I have uttered some of the worst cliches in the business but it's absolutely true : I crave for my client to get me a BiGgEr screen ! Once you have it you will not want to do without one. I will very shortly buy me a new monitor, at least 21". Bigger is definitely better ! As for cubicles ; DUH... ;-) HTH, Rob.

[Guest.Visitor]

I currently use a 15" for my assignment. At home I use a 17" and BOY ! The difference is ofcourse a larger AS/400-session but what I find extremely useful is the fact that there is space left on your desktop for other aplications that require 'immediate' response like my email-program, Lotus Notes, etcetera. I don't want to start a 'Dilbert-culture' here but I do use internet for lots of business-purposes(honestly!) and it is also very handy to see how far the requested pages have downloaded at the bottom of the display. You can keep on working on the AS/400 in the meantime. I know I have uttered some of the worst cliches in the business but it's absolutely true : I crave for my client to get me a BiGgEr screen ! Once you have it you will not want to do without one. I will very shortly buy me a new monitor, at least 21". Bigger is definitely better ! As for cubicles ; DUH... ;-) HTH, Rob.

[Guest.Visitor]

I know how you feel! I felt daring, in the past, when I convinced my superiors to spend the extra bucks to go from 14" to 15"! Then we got purchased by a much larger corporation, and they said the corporate standard for all new display purchases must be 17". And, they must be IBM G7x! They said they had some development plans, and in the future everyone would need the 17". For me, one good reason: if you like your SEU sessions to be 132 columns, you can actually read what's on the screen! And, as others have said, my productivity in general has definitely improved. I can have my various little MS Access databases open, keeping an eye for a MW at the bottom of my 5250 session, and still see the bottom status bar of my Lotus workspace (so I don't need the annoying dialog box to tell me I have new mail, I can just look for the status bar message), I can work back and forth between two different AS/400 sessions both in 132-column mode and actually read what's on both sessions! Plus, even the IBM G7x's are coming down. Here's something you've probably already noticed, but as one model is replaced with another, suddenly, the leftovers from the other models start appearing at downright affordable prices in the catologs. Maybe you could plan your purchase to coincide with the end of one model of 17" and the start of another. Also, I've noticed some non-IBM 17" monitors that were downright affordable, lately. And ultimately, you might make the point to your executives: it's really a lot better for people who have to spend all those hours squinting at a monitor if they have bigger screens to work with. It's bound to improve productivity and be kinder to peoples' eyesight!

[Guest.Visitor]

For me the 17" is about right. The 21" is to big for me to use, the keyboard will not pull far enough away from the screen for me to see it. Besides on my paycheck I do not want the monitor at work to be bigger than the TV in the apartment.