A Better Monitor (Or a Second One)
If you have a tiny monitor, get a bigger one. With a larger monitor, you spend less time scrolling and rearranging windows, and more time getting actual work done — which is a good thing, right?
The best thing about it is that current Macs let you use two monitors as though they were a single display. For example, my main computer setup is a Mac Pro with one 30-inch and one 24-inch flat-panel LCD displays. It’s an awesome setup — one that I highly recommend. With two monitors, I keep the menu bar and most windows I’m working with on the big display. Then, with programs like Adobe Photoshop (which has lots of floating palettes), I put some (or all) of the palettes on smaller monitor so I can see more of the document I’m working on. And so on.
Another thing Macs can do with two monitors is mirror what’s on one display on the second one. So you can work with one display facing you and point the other one (or a projector) at the audience so they can see what you’re doing, too.
Flat-panel LCD displays have come down dramatically in price over the past few years. If you can afford a bigger display, or a second one, I promise you’ll love it.
Get OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
