laptop resolution

[Neil.Pate]

Good day all,

I am about to purchase a laptop/notebook to act as a replacement for my desktop PC at home. I will use it for all my normal stuff (browsing, email, etc) and also development of LabVIEW apps.

I am quite undecided to go for a 15.4" or a 17" screen. Cost is not really the deciding factor, more its how bearable the display is on the eyes. I currently have a 19" CRT (about 17" viewable) and although I used to run at 1600x1200 I recently downgraded my resolution to 1280x1024 which seems to be great.

As far as I am aware, you cant really change the resolution of a laptop, its fixed. I dont really want to buy the wrong laptop!!!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what resolutions / screen sizes LabVIEW is usable with on a laptop? There seem to be dozens of resolution / screen size combinations, so I would really appreciate to hear from someone who actually runs LabVIEW on a laptop.

Many thanks!

[Joost Schouten]

Hi nrp,

I would advice you to buy the biggest screen (17" widescreen). This screen probably runs a larger resolution compared to the 15.4". Higher resolution means more schematics on one screen and thus less scrolling. It might also mean the icons and symbols are getting smaller, but with average eyes this shouldn't be a problem I think...

Maybe a better solution is an external LCD-screen of lets say 19" or 20". My current 20" LCD has a resolution of1600x1200 pixels and this is absolutly great for LabVIEW programming. 

[tst]

If you're saying cost is not an issue, I would definitely say go with the large external screen.

I have a 15.1" Dell and it's already quite large. A 17" one would probably not be very good if you need mobility. That's where the external screen comes in - you can have a relatively small laptop and still have a large screen.

As for laptops having a single resolution, that's not true. They can have multiple resolutions, but the problem is that Windows doesn't really have any useful 16:9 resolutions which are low. This forces you to use higher resolutions, so that everything is smaller and then the manufacturers change the DPI font setting, so that you can actually see the text. You then get a situation where somethings are too big (ActiveX controls, for instance) and some are too small (like icons).

[Neil.Pate]

Thanks for the advice.

I had thought about an external screen, hopefully on most modern laptops you can drive both the laptop display and an external display at the same time (with different outputs of course!). That way I can have the front panel moved onto one of the display and the block diagram on another display  

The reason I was tempted by a 17" laptop is the build quality (of the mid-price range units) seems much better. When I said cost was not an issue I of course have to be reasonable!).

I am used to putting my own PCs together, so I feel a bit caged in at having to buy a laptop that I cannot tailor to my exact specifications.

[mikeporter]

Get the widest screen that will fit in your computer bag - unless of course you're buying a new bag, in which case just GO FOR IT!!  Obviously this is personal preference, but for some reason I find wide screen more useful than tall screens.

Mike...

[tst]

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@mikeporter wrote:
...for some reason I find wide screen more useful than tall screens.

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That's because LV code works better left to right than up to down so you can make your VIs stretched..

Also, it's usually more intuitive to associate windows with each other when they are side to side than when they are one above the other.

[MRedRaider]

I tend to agree with the large external monitor idea.

My laptop is VERY mobile so I can develop wherever, but when I am at my desk I drop it in my docking station with my 19" LCD connected. I have my small laptop screen for email and tasks, and on the 19" I do my devlopement.... works like a charm. I only use my desktop anymore when I need more power.

[Neil.Pate]

When you are connected to your docking station, do you still use the laptop display? I thought it would be handy to have the extra screen real estate?

So maybe a tradeoff would be something like a 15" laptop (reasonably portable) with a nice 21" (or two 19") LCD displays for when at home base?

[Robert_Lee_NIUK]

NRP,

Like Matt says, you can use both screens at the same time. he chooses to use his Laptop screen to do email and browsing when he is developing on his large screen. But you could have any programs on either screen when in this mode. It's entirely up to you! Your suggestion sounds pretty good for the kind of thing you want to do. At the end of the day, it's all down to personal preference.

Best wishes

[LV_Pro]

I don't know what resolutions other 17" laptops are capable of but I have been using a Toshiba Satellite 25 with a 17" screen set to 1440X900, its highest for, about 2 years now. I love it and it works fine with my 21" monitor. One thing to be aware of when using high res monitors for developing is that while it allows you to make really big diagrams and still stay within the  1 1/2 screen horizontal scroll style suggestions    you have to be careful to identify your target machine's resolution for developing your front panels. I have pieces of tape on the left and top of my screen to mark a couple of common lower resolutions. Also, if you are travelling a lot, carrying a laptop bag with one of these bigger machines does become tiring. Of course if someone snatches it at the airport you have a better chance of running them down!! And when you catch them, well your arms are going to be pretty strong from lugging one of these bags!!  Another thing is that the wide screen format looks pretty good while watching DVD's!

The machine works pretty well with my 21" CRT monitor, but of course it doesn't have the same aspect ratio.