best monitor size

[mjalar]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and am building a small CNC from Patrick Hood-Daniel's book.
The basic mechanical parts are put together and waiting for the electronics and software.
I have got a hold of a computer that I can dedicate to run Mach 3 but here is the question:

I am wondering what would be the best size monitor to run the software.
I would like to keep it as small as practical to save space. I have a source of a used 17 inch one at a good price.
Is 15 inch OK or maybe too small?

Thanks
Mark

[Tweakie.CNC]

Mark,

I use a 17" but I could manage OK with 15" if I had to. In use I am quite close to the monitor so size is not really that important.

Don't know if this is any help.

Tweakie.

[Hood]

I use 17's and wouldnt go smaller, that however is because I have touch screens and any smaller would be a problem for my fat fingers. I often view Mach on my netbook which has a 10 inch widescreen and its no problem but for a real machine I would not like to go below 15.
Hood

[RICH]

Totally off thread here, but couldn't resist......
The size of the monitor seems to increase with the age of the user, when planning for future viewing  a 52 to 60 " may be just the ticket.
Sort of like belt size.........an inch a year increase seems to be the general rule of thumb.    

RICH

[ger21]

15" LCD should be fine. At least it is for me. Now if it's a 15" CRT, those are pretty small.

[GeorgeRace]

I guess I would fit into the older age group!  I have used several sizes from 12 inch on up. 

I ended up with a 21 inch flat screen.  I can see it from across the room!  and it takes up a lot less bench space than the 17 inch CRT type that I had, and weighs a whole bunch less.  Found it on sale at a BestBuys store for $99

George

[DaveCVI]

My 2 cents worth:
Think about physical resolution first, and monitor size second.

Most existing screens sets are set up for 1024x768 physical resolution.
At a given resolution, the larger the physical size, the larger the images you look at (this is where the age of eyes consideration comes into play).

There are also screen sets designed for 1280x1024. The installed base of mach users tend to have 1024x768 displays.
However, new 1024x768 monitors are becoming rare - 1280x1024 or wide TV (16:9 instead of 4:3 aspect ratios) are now as cheap as 1024x768. 

The new screen sets for Mach3 V4 support both 1024x768 and 1280x1024.
The 1280x1024 screens have additional controls on some pages and are visually "less crowded".

I happen to prefer that the monitor physical aspect ratio match the screen image aspect ratio (I like my circles to be round and not appear as ellipses), so my personal preference is for 1280x1024 on a 17" monitor - just happens to be the best combination for me of the available choices.

Dave

[mjalar]

Wow,

Thanks for all the replies.
I didn't want to have to use my magnifying glass to distinguish buttons and controls.

Mark

[mr.c]

I went from a 15" lcd screen to a 19" lcd touch screen. The touch screen is great! I am reaaly spoiled now. I find myself touching the screens on my other computers that are not touch screen. A big time saver when i am running the machines. I found the 19" TS on ebay really cheap. Regular LCD flat screens can have the touch screens added. Not too expensive.

[angel tech]

23" touch screen here, can't fault it. Sooooooo easy to use with large bits to touch.