what size external?

[carrieann]

On one of these threads I read that someone thinks a 23" monitor is the "sweet spot" for macbook external monitors... anything lower and it's just not that great of an option. Anyone like to chime in on their thoughts? My initial budget was $150, but if the best option would be to get a quality 23" (or thereabouts) monitor I can wait and save to bump that up to the $200-250ish range :)

[rkdiddy]

I think it all depends on how close you plan on being to the monitor (ie how deep is your desk).

22" - 24" is a great size for majority of users. If I were you I would look around for a Dell coupon and pick up one of these on sale: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-7825&cs=04&c=us&l=en

For the money, it is one of the best displays (e-ips panel) on the market.

Cheers.

[cluthz]

What are you planning to do with the external monitor?
Do you plan on gaming?
If so i would get a 22 inch.
My MBP with nvidia 8600M GT which is faster than the 9400M in the 13 inch MBP kinda have problems with resolutions over 1680x1050 and thus a 22 inch (which mostly are 1680x1050) is a better choice then higher res monitors.
For anything else a 23 or 24 would be better.

[carrieann]

No gaming, but will be doing photo and video (family/hobby) editing...