when is a high resolution screen too high for web designing

[tronicscribe]

I recently got a 17" laptop with an ultra high resolution of 1920x1200. At that resolution it looks so crisp and sharp and is very nice for large workspaces, however I'm not so sure it is the best for web design. Because it is so high, and because I like to design for a minimum display size of 1024x768, it looks very small on this screen. I'm trying to decide if I should return the laptop and get something with a lower resolution so that I can see the design larger and closer to work on.

The question now is, who else here works on web design at 1920x1200, or any other super high resolution? And do you find that to be too high for being able to comfortably design, or do you used to it? Thanks!

[Greet]

You could try something less drastically, like resizing the browser window? There's a Firefox plugin that displays the window resolution in the status bar, that could be handy.

[tronicscribe]

well it wouldn't just be in the browser. but when I'm in photoshop or actually designing to layout and graphics, when I would normally draw out a 900px box and it would fit almost fully in my 1024x768 screen, now on my laptop in 1920x1200 the 900px is only like 7 inches wide. and that makes it rather tough to design when I have such a high res space to stick to.

I forgot to mention that I of course have the option of lowering my resolution, but because it is not the native res, it makes things slightly fuzzy. lol, maybe I just make too big a deal about these things.

[Greet]

I think you should be okay if you just keep in mind that the 900px box you drew is more than big enough :) I see why you find it a little annoying, but to me it wouldn't be annoying enough to give up the huge screen. The bigger the screen, the easier I find it to use it for designing, since you can easily zoom in and always see the whole of your design. Lowering the resolution is indeed not the best option either cause of the fuzziness, as you said :)

[Arkady]

Although LCD screens do have an optimum working resolution, it is possible to switch resolutions, whilst you are working on a particular element of the design/layout process.

[allstar]

I know how you feel. Having just upgraded my laptop I can now work on the 1280x800 screen which is 17" big. However I used to work on a 33" LCD screen at 1360x768. Everything feels small despite being normal(ish) web design size.

I've tried using my 1900 1440 screen for WD but 32px icons just don't affect the feel of the page the same as a 1024 wide screen.

I'd say a 1280 screen is best as it gives you a little room to one side of the browser window to have the HTML file open for changes.

[flick]

what on earth is the drama here? just change the resolution, you definitely dont need to do anything as drastic as getting rid of your new laptop!

[tronicscribe]

if you change the res to something lower than native res (1920x1200) you get blur. That goes for most LCDs. I'm infact selling, and getting another of the same modle with a lower res. check the advertising forum if you are interested in buying it.