21.5" vs 27" iMac
Discussion
Contemplating buying one of these within the next couple of weeks.
I cant make my mind up about whether to go for the smaller or larger screen. The large looks fantastic in store, and would be great for pixel peeping on photos however, I'm concerned that i'll struggle to view it sat within 2 feet of the monitor. I'm currently using a 15" Laptop screen. Main use will be net browsing and photo editing in the likes of Lightroom.
Anyone bought the 21" and wish they'd bought the larger or vice versa?
I cant make my mind up about whether to go for the smaller or larger screen. The large looks fantastic in store, and would be great for pixel peeping on photos however, I'm concerned that i'll struggle to view it sat within 2 feet of the monitor. I'm currently using a 15" Laptop screen. Main use will be net browsing and photo editing in the likes of Lightroom.
Anyone bought the 21" and wish they'd bought the larger or vice versa?
My Dad has just bought the 21" iMac...I thought at the time he should just go the whole hog and go for 27", but have to say, it is very nice...just *right*
Are you an OSX user already? Do you know about "Spaces" to have >1 workspaces and to be able to assign applications to specific window areas? (I didn't before buying a 15" MBP, thinking real estate bigger=better, then realised I could've got away with a 13" model!)
...but if it were me, I'd have a hard job not going for 27"!
Are you an OSX user already? Do you know about "Spaces" to have >1 workspaces and to be able to assign applications to specific window areas? (I didn't before buying a 15" MBP, thinking real estate bigger=better, then realised I could've got away with a 13" model!)
...but if it were me, I'd have a hard job not going for 27"!
Rob13 said:
I havent used the OSX before, so its all very new for me.
It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
If you're doing loads of photo or video editing, then for sure, having a jumbo screen is going to be lovely...but if like me most of your use is multiple Firefox windows, a couple of email client windows, Powerpoint, Adobe Reader, iTunes...the more mundane type stuff, then per previous post, Spaces may be all you need for keeping the workspace tidy and uncluttered.It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
Go along to a PC World/Apple Store/Comet and have a play with the feature (or get one of the shop guys to demo it for you)...you may just find it's what you're after.
Rob13 said:
I havent used the OSX before, so its all very new for me.
It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
£800 buys a bloody massive TV that can be connected to your PC easily.It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
I have the 27", initially I thought it was too big, now I'm used top it I love it! I do not always use the full screen, for instance when web browsing or emailing, I reduce the size of the window down to probably 21", any more and I cannot fit the pages in my field of vision.
Where it does come into its own is with photo/video editing and also having 2 'A4' documents open at once next to each other.
For the extra few hundred it is worth getting the 27"
Where it does come into its own is with photo/video editing and also having 2 'A4' documents open at once next to each other.
For the extra few hundred it is worth getting the 27"
carter711 said:
Rob13 said:
I havent used the OSX before, so its all very new for me.
It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
£800 buys a bloody massive TV that can be connected to your PC easily.It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
carter711 said:
Rob13 said:
I havent used the OSX before, so its all very new for me.
It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
£800 buys a bloody massive TV that can be connected to your PC easily.It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
Anyway, to answer your question - I went for the 21.5" model as I'd upgraded a 4 year old 17" white Intel iMac for work and the 21.5" was the smallest available.
I cart mine around with me (but use a huge MacPro at home) in an iLugger bag as I flit from project site to project site and client to client, and can never be sure of the equipment (spec & software install) I'm going to be handed and cannot work on a laptop due to the key layout and inability to separate monitor from keyboard.
The only problem I had was the fact that the new one has a higher widescreen ratio (16:9 compared to the old 16:10) and was a tighter squeeze than expected in my iLugger, but the 27" would have required a completely different bag and in the limited space I'm usually given on client sites the 27" would have been enormous.
Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 8th September 09:21
mmm-five said:
carter711 said:
Rob13 said:
I havent used the OSX before, so its all very new for me.
It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
£800 buys a bloody massive TV that can be connected to your PC easily.It is hard not going for the 27" as it helps me to justify the price a bit more. A 21" IPS panel can be had for a few hundred quid but a 27" is at least £800 making the £1200 price tag all that more palatable.
Anyway, to answer your question - I went for the 21.5" model as I'd upgraded a 4 year old 17" white Intel iMac for work and the 21.5" was the smallest available.
I cart mine around with me (but use a huge MacPro at home) in an iLugger bag as I flit from project site to project site and client to client, and can never be sure of the equipment (spec & software install) I'm going to be handed and cannot work on a laptop due to the key layout and inability to separate monitor from keyboard.
The only problem I had was the fact that the new one has a higher widescreen ratio (16:9 compared to the old 16:10) and was a tighter squeeze than expected in my iLugger, but the 27" would have required a completely different bag and in the limited space I'm usually given on client sites the 27" would have been enormous.
Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 8th September 09:21
carter711 said:
Excuse my ignorance but why is a 2560x1440 resolution important?
Not that specific resolution per se, but the fact that a monitor will have a noticeably higher resolution than a TV, and thus a sharper, crisper, clearer display.Which won't then kill your eyes if you spend all day looking at it.
mmm-five said:
carter711 said:
Excuse my ignorance but why is a 2560x1440 resolution important?
In this instance it's purely to see how many TVs you can find that will match the resolution of the 27" iMac that you said can be replaced with a TV and PC.You can probably gather from this that I'm looking for an answer, which I've gratefully been given (thanks jimmyjimjim).
carter711 said:
mmm-five said:
carter711 said:
Excuse my ignorance but why is a 2560x1440 resolution important?
In this instance it's purely to see how many TVs you can find that will match the resolution of the 27" iMac that you said can be replaced with a TV and PC.You can probably gather from this that I'm looking for an answer, which I've gratefully been given (thanks jimmyjimjim).
Your resolution is your "work space". You can buy a 720p TV and then your Excel (or whatever) sheet goes to "J", buy a 27" 2560x... display, and it will stretch beyond Z.
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