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What made you choose the 27" size screen ?
- Thread starter FrenchPB
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The screen size is a plus, sure. My sister has one she does animation and video editing, so the size is great. One cool thing is that the 27" has TWO thunderbolt ports. (and you can egt a better graphics card in it) If you want a 3 monitor setup, without spending millions of dollars on thunderbolt displays. Just use the regular mini displayport to dvi/vga/hdi/displayport, whatever your flavor and you can haev two additional monitors.
The hardware. If the same parts were available in the 21" for the same price (my 27" was much cheaper than an i7 21"), I probably would've gone smaller.
Ah yes, forgot about this, this was another reason I decided to go for the 27". Admittedly I'm only using one at the moment but I'll definitely be putting the second one to good use later on... once I find myself with some spare cash
The funny thing is that I seem to have gotten used to the big screen. It no longer seems so big or out of place to me anymore. Just...normal?!?
^^this. anyone that says it's too big is a quitter.
Anyone who has ever done serious work on a 14" old CRT type screen and slowly climbed the ranks in screen size over the years knows the difference in productivity is enormous as you go up.
I just upgraded from the 24" 2006 White iMac up to the 27" current model and wow....even putting aside the speed/power difference...the real estate is fantastic. I'm even watching eBay to maybe add a second screen, preferably an Apple Cinema 27" or 30" to the unit.
I do remote IT support for a business in Singapore who have just switched their entire business from Windows to Mac, and the boss there has the 21" iMac with two extra (non Apple) monitors attached.
Plain and simple...you cannot have to much screen real estate. Hence stock brokers often have 6 or more screens in front of them.
I just upgraded from the 24" 2006 White iMac up to the 27" current model and wow....even putting aside the speed/power difference...the real estate is fantastic. I'm even watching eBay to maybe add a second screen, preferably an Apple Cinema 27" or 30" to the unit.
I do remote IT support for a business in Singapore who have just switched their entire business from Windows to Mac, and the boss there has the 21" iMac with two extra (non Apple) monitors attached.
Plain and simple...you cannot have to much screen real estate. Hence stock brokers often have 6 or more screens in front of them.
I Chose The 27"
For work reasons. I do a lot of video / photo and music work, and the more real estate the better.
Shifting windows around is a thing of the past for me now! I went for the 17" MBP as well, but my iMac is the main workhorse.
For work reasons. I do a lot of video / photo and music work, and the more real estate the better.
Shifting windows around is a thing of the past for me now! I went for the 17" MBP as well, but my iMac is the main workhorse.
A few of things went into my decision:
* Somewhere on this board, someone posted a cost/benefit analysis of the various models of the 2011 iMac. I was undecided re: bigger monitor or better processor. The analysis convinced me that the better value was in more screen real estate. This getting more bang for my buck was a major factor.
* I'm in the media business. I expected to do some work-related page design at home, so the bigger screen would be more useful. (Of course, after I bought it, I learned that the company was divvying up duties and that I'd be exlcusively doing content editing and no page design, so ...)
* I have a backlog of personal digital images to edit. Bigger is always better.
* Multitasking is really nice with a big screen. I can have a browser open and display my bank account info at full width while I have a spreadsheet open at full width next to it, and I still have room for a reduced second browser window (for instance, for a credit card website), calculator, iTunes and Stickies note or two. I'm not hardcore enough in my computing needs to warrant multiple monitors, but I have found the extra real estate to be useful.
* This didn't go into my decision, but for the first time, I watched a DVD movie on my iMac over the weekend. It really was a nice experience to be sitting the typical distance away from a computer monitor (about 3' for me) and watch a movie on that large of a screen.
On the downside, it can be a strain on the eyes to browse the web, and I have to set my text documents to a fairly high magnification. I'm a combination of lazy and busy, so I haven't had/made the time to tweak my settings make life much easier by setting eye-friendly preferences. Maybe this weekend, but there just might be some Cheezits that need to be eaten instead.
As for a reference point, I upgraded from a 20" G4 iMac (iLamp), so for years I was used to having a screen size very close to the 21" option.
* Somewhere on this board, someone posted a cost/benefit analysis of the various models of the 2011 iMac. I was undecided re: bigger monitor or better processor. The analysis convinced me that the better value was in more screen real estate. This getting more bang for my buck was a major factor.
* I'm in the media business. I expected to do some work-related page design at home, so the bigger screen would be more useful. (Of course, after I bought it, I learned that the company was divvying up duties and that I'd be exlcusively doing content editing and no page design, so ...)
* I have a backlog of personal digital images to edit. Bigger is always better.
* Multitasking is really nice with a big screen. I can have a browser open and display my bank account info at full width while I have a spreadsheet open at full width next to it, and I still have room for a reduced second browser window (for instance, for a credit card website), calculator, iTunes and Stickies note or two. I'm not hardcore enough in my computing needs to warrant multiple monitors, but I have found the extra real estate to be useful.
* This didn't go into my decision, but for the first time, I watched a DVD movie on my iMac over the weekend. It really was a nice experience to be sitting the typical distance away from a computer monitor (about 3' for me) and watch a movie on that large of a screen.
On the downside, it can be a strain on the eyes to browse the web, and I have to set my text documents to a fairly high magnification. I'm a combination of lazy and busy, so I haven't had/made the time to tweak my settings make life much easier by setting eye-friendly preferences. Maybe this weekend, but there just might be some Cheezits that need to be eaten instead.
As for a reference point, I upgraded from a 20" G4 iMac (iLamp), so for years I was used to having a screen size very close to the 21" option.
Ok, I can safely say that if you're used to using a Mac the 27" shouldn't be any problem for you to read. I've just discovered that it's not the screen size or resolution, it's the (stupid) blurry "fat" font style that seems to be ingrained in the OS. I installed Windows 7 via Bootcamp and was easily able to read everything at much further distances than with the Mac. It was great. Then I switched back to OSX and my eyes started hurting again, I had to move the monitor about a foot closer to my face. It really sucks, I much prefer OSX to Windows but it doesn't do me any good if I struggle to read the screen. Zooming is not a valid option, it bugs me to not view websites the way they were designed to be seen. I wish I could get the nice, clear fonts in OSX.
Anyway, if you're already a Mac user the 27" will be no big deal. My wife can read everything just fine.
Anyway, if you're already a Mac user the 27" will be no big deal. My wife can read everything just fine.
I agree. If you have the space for the 27", I would recommend it. I was worried about it being too big, but the screen size is just right for me.
Thinking....
It was the only way I would get an i7 iMac that was anywhere comparable to my old G5 tower in performance terms and the screen was icing on the cake.
It was the only way I would get an i7 iMac that was anywhere comparable to my old G5 tower in performance terms and the screen was icing on the cake.
If you can afford both and you're asking which one should you buy 21 or 27 then give yourself a slap because that's like asking should I buy the used **** stained nappies or the unopened ones.
If you can afford to choose between both then c'mon of course you'd buy the 27. Is there some bizarro market research going on here at macrumors?
If you can afford to choose between both then c'mon of course you'd buy the 27. Is there some bizarro market research going on here at macrumors?
I mostly got it for Logic Pro, and it's awesome to have for that (given the space that all the plug in windows, mixing window, arrange window etc can take up), but once I got it I realized that 27" is great to have no matter what you're doing. Honestly, I don't know why anyone would get a 21" (other than to save money).
^This
Replaced 24" with this because I wanted MDP input and 21.5 is too small.
Cheers,
Several reasons:
- I already had a 27" on my Windows machine and didn't want to go smaller
- The 27" has the best graphics card option
- 27" is awesome for gaming
- When I watch Netflix late at night, I do so on my Mac with my headphones on so as not to disturb my family. It's great for watching video.
I also had a very hard time getting used to the small text. The first few days I was getting headaches from eye strain. But now I am used to it.
- I already had a 27" on my Windows machine and didn't want to go smaller
- The 27" has the best graphics card option
- 27" is awesome for gaming
- When I watch Netflix late at night, I do so on my Mac with my headphones on so as not to disturb my family. It's great for watching video.
I also had a very hard time getting used to the small text. The first few days I was getting headaches from eye strain. But now I am used to it.
Couldn't disagree with your opinion more. I got the screen for the resolution. For browsing I scroll less than others, MS Office for me means primarily Excel not Word and definitely not Powerpoint.
Having decent screen estate means multitasking is easier without having to faff around with Spaces or Mission Control.
If I could get a 42 inch screen with the corresponding resolution for a non-ridiculous price I would.
Bigger is better as they say.
I bought a 17" MacBook Pro in 2007. The screen was huge. I thought I looked like a dork at seminars.
But it wasn't big enough so I hooked it to a 20" external.
Then that wasn't big enough so I got a PC (ack!) with a 24" monitor. I had it for two months and had to go back to Mac.
I bought a 27" iMac and for the first day (Friday) I thought, "Holy crap! This is big!"
Three days later it seems normal.
So get a 27" over the 20"... you will get used to it soon enough.
I bought a 17" MacBook Pro in 2007. The screen was huge. I thought I looked like a dork at seminars.
But it wasn't big enough so I hooked it to a 20" external.
Then that wasn't big enough so I got a PC (ack!) with a 24" monitor. I had it for two months and had to go back to Mac.
I bought a 27" iMac and for the first day (Friday) I thought, "Holy crap! This is big!"
Three days later it seems normal.
So get a 27" over the 20"... you will get used to it soon enough.