I haven't owned a 27" iMac and would like to get some input from those who have. At the native resolution, is the text so small that it strains the eyes? I'm thinking of ordering a 27" model, but this is an issue that concerns me. As monitors and resolutions get larger/higher, the text seems to get smaller and more difficult to read.
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27" iMac: Is the text too small?
- Thread starter Sam Spade
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I don't have an iMac but I use a TBD daily with my MBA - same display panel I believe.
At 27" it is perfect. Text looks larger on the TBD than on my 13" MBA so it isn't an issue at all.
EDIT: This is sitting a full arms' length from the display (I'm 6', avg size/build) - though I know that is subjective as each has a different length arm
but I don't have a tape measure to check the actual distance.I am only looking to get my first iMac, but I imagine you can change the text size to whatever you are comfortable with. Even Windows can do that
Command +/- works well in Safari if you find you have issues. Personally I don't have any problems reading standard texts in OSX or any apps I've used.
I have a 27" BTO 2011 iMac and at times I think that the text is small but it mostly depends on the app. In Safari, it isn't for the most part, in TextEdit, it can seem small.
I'll be honest, at first the screen size does feel a bit large but give it a couple of weeks and you'll get used to it and it will seem like 27" is too small.
I'll be honest, at first the screen size does feel a bit large but give it a couple of weeks and you'll get used to it and it will seem like 27" is too small.
how are your eyes. I am 55 and my eyes are okay for close great for medium and great for far. this is due to double cataract surgery. with two lens implants.
I used proven tech for the implants which if done correctly will give you great far + medium vision or great medium + close vision.
My point is if you have good close vision and good medium vision the 27 inch screen is fine. If you do not have good close /medium vision you will need to set the resolution at 1920/1080 or maybe even 720 p . I owned a 27 inch iMac and found the 720p and 1080p were good for me but native resolution was a fail.
New macbook pros with retina have 5 settings
1) biggest print
2)big print
3)normal print or as mac says best
4) small print
5)smallest print
I used setting 2 .
you really need to go to a store and test because no one knows how good your eyes are for small print but you.
It may appear small at first if you are not used to hi-res displays but after an initial accommodation period its very comfortable. The text is also not smaller than on a MBP or Air.
Nope, this is a large screen you're looking at. It's really like a 1680x1050 panel with more space around.
And yeah you can easily change the scaling in browsers, in Windows (in case you Bootcamp) it's usually Ctrl + Numpad Plus/Minus. And Ctrl + Numpad 0 to reset to 100% (like Photoshop)
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Yes it looks really crappy for anything but games, and even for games, you don't want to scale unless it's racing games and stuff with little text.
Honestly there's no need to scale unless you like the monitor one meter away or more? Mine is just at arms length.
And yeah you can easily change the scaling in browsers, in Windows (in case you Bootcamp) it's usually Ctrl + Numpad Plus/Minus. And Ctrl + Numpad 0 to reset to 100% (like Photoshop
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Yes it looks really crappy for anything but games, and even for games, you don't want to scale unless it's racing games and stuff with little text.
Honestly there's no need to scale unless you like the monitor one meter away or more? Mine is just at arms length.
I have the 27" iMac and I was worried about this too. My vision is 20/30 with glasses on and the text is too small when sitting a normal distance. I used Chrome as my default browser until I got my iMac, then I switched to Safari so I could use my trackpad to zoom in and out (like on the iPad).
So for me, the text is too small but it isn't holding me back from enjoying the computer
But on my current iMac, Safari has all sorts of problems with streaming video, so I switched to Chrome. Can you do this in Chrome?
Not natively, but you can download a Chrome Extension called iReader that is the same thing.
I know there was a font size issue with the 17" Macbook Pro's .... I know because I owned one.
Sold it and bought the 27" iMac and no problems with it for me.
Like others have said different programs allow you to enlarge the text like in web browsers, Word you can make documents bigger and don't forget Universal Access in the System Prefs can help.
When I first got my 21.5 LG LCD I thought it was huge and the text small as I went from a lower res screen at the same size. But now I think it's too small but I can have more than one window open at once to do different things. That said I look forward to my 27" iMac in the near future
When I first got my 21.5 LG LCD I thought it was huge and the text small as I went from a lower res screen at the same size. But now I think it's too small but I can have more than one window open at once to do different things. That said I look forward to my 27" iMac in the near future
This is very nice, but is there a way to save it as default? Every time I quit safari, it will be too small again.. In Chrome I have set 125% size and it will stay as it is. That is quite sad I can't use Safari because I really like some features of Safari that Chrome lacks.
We recently got a 27" iMac at work.
As someone who has nystagmus and fairly poor vision, I find Command +/- in Safari to be a godsend.
You can also adjust the cursor size, as well as enable things like Command+Two finger up/down to zoom in, regardless of application.
But yes, at it's native res, I find the 27" iMac text to be too small to read from a normal distance.
Thats just me though.
As someone who has nystagmus and fairly poor vision, I find Command +/- in Safari to be a godsend.
You can also adjust the cursor size, as well as enable things like Command+Two finger up/down to zoom in, regardless of application.
But yes, at it's native res, I find the 27" iMac text to be too small to read from a normal distance.
Thats just me though.
It's something that you will slowly get used to over the course of 2-3 weeks. I did experience a fairly severe eye strain initially (would get headaches after looking at the screen for just over an hour), but that soon eased as my eyes quickly got used to the new resolution. Now, I can stare at the screen all day with no issues.
For me, the text in ms office is too small, I typically work at 200% magnification if I want to see anything properly. The upside is that the screen is big enough to allow me to work with 2 documents open side by side. The downside is that when I open those documents on my laptop, I then need to reduce their size because they open at 200% size! (And this means when I re-open the same document, I need to increase the size again, and pinch-to-zoom doesn't work.
For webpages, you can zoom to a comfortable size, so that is generally not an issue. I sometimes find tab sizes and addresses too small to see at a glance, but that doesn't really bother me enough.
Default folder size may also be too small, this can be readily adjusted, but again, can be irritating.
Overall, no long-lasting problems.
For me, the text in ms office is too small, I typically work at 200% magnification if I want to see anything properly. The upside is that the screen is big enough to allow me to work with 2 documents open side by side. The downside is that when I open those documents on my laptop, I then need to reduce their size because they open at 200% size! (And this means when I re-open the same document, I need to increase the size again, and pinch-to-zoom doesn't work.
For webpages, you can zoom to a comfortable size, so that is generally not an issue. I sometimes find tab sizes and addresses too small to see at a glance, but that doesn't really bother me enough.
Default folder size may also be too small, this can be readily adjusted, but again, can be irritating.
Overall, no long-lasting problems.
8K Retina BABY !!!
Wait for the crazy ass 8K retina display with that Hi DPI function.
The Japanese managed to manufacture it :
http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/Sharp-8K-LCD-HDTV-First-Impression-Review.htm
Apple partner SHARP announced Hi DPI IGZO Display
Yes, that is the new Super-SIZED iMAC, the Big Mac.
----------
Foxconn's investment in Sharp could eventually mean a Retina Display Apple HDTV
This is my favorite news of course:
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2009/12/will-apple-tempt-us-with-an-imac-air-in-2010.html
Wait for the crazy ass 8K retina display with that Hi DPI function.
The Japanese managed to manufacture it :
http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/Sharp-8K-LCD-HDTV-First-Impression-Review.htm
Apple partner SHARP announced Hi DPI IGZO Display
Yes, that is the new Super-SIZED iMAC, the Big Mac.
----------
Foxconn's investment in Sharp could eventually mean a Retina Display Apple HDTV
This is my favorite news of course:
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2009/12/will-apple-tempt-us-with-an-imac-air-in-2010.html