A question about text size for 21.5" owners (DPI)

Hi,

I've just bought a Mac mini and now I'm looking for a display to use with it (no, I'm not in the wrong forum ;P). After a bit of reading I've decided to go for a Dell Ultrasharp, either the U2212HM or the U2312HM (only difference being 1.5" between them). Since the 21.5" has the same size and DPI as the smaller iMac, I came here to know what you think about yours.

My question is: considering sitting at arms-lenght distance from it, do you find it confortable for long-time reading? Do you think it's too choppy or crispy enough? Would you wish everything (mainly text) was just a tiny bigger? Do find yourself using zoom constantly?

I know the 21.5" will be crispier. I'm just worried that everything will be too small to read confortably. My current 15" notebook has a DPI of ~98, which I find just right considering text size, but wish it was a bit crispier. (although I sit a bit closer, maybe 1.5' from it)

Thnaks!

PS: no, I don't want a Thunderbolt Display! ;P

CrickettGrrrl said:

I have the 2011 21.5"iMac and I sit/stand about 1.5 to 2 feet away from it. No problems reading on it at all. It was a wonderfully big screen to me when I first got it, coming from 17" iMac, but I wish now I could have gotten the 27" screen just to have more room on screen for other windows.

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Thanks, anyone else?

trustever said:

Mate not sure if it does help, I have at work a 21.5 inches dell P2211H display (1920*1080) and I don't fell the need to zoom or anything.

The distance is at arm lenght and I wear glasses as I am shortsighed...

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It sure does help, thanks! I guess I'll probably go with the 21.5" one, since it's also cheaper...

ToomeyND said:

I'm curious about this as well. I'm on my 20" 2007 iMac and my eyes get tired trying to focus on the blurred pixels (99 ppi, i just looked it up). I'm curious as to what kind of monitor to get for my soon-to-be upgrade. Thanks all for the replies.

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Since you find 99 to be blurry your best bet would be an 27" at 2560x1440 (~108 dpi), since I'm not aware of anything smaller with higher resolution than 1080p. Or wait for Retina in a couple years.

So guys, don't be shy, I'm going to buy it this week and the more opinions the better! Keep coming!

Edit: wait, if blurry means too small text, then also get an 27", but a 1080p one. Or any smaller one with 1366x768 or something...