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What about the screen size? Is a 13 inch screen suitable for development?
by MisterWebz 16y ago
What about the screen size? Is a 13 inch screen suitable for development?
- dkasper 16y agoFWIW, I write code on my 13" MacBook all the time.
- elbenshira 16y agoI guess it depends. I worked on a 13 inch MB screen for three years before getting a 15 inch MBP. I am much happier with the 15 inch. This is mostly because I use vim with 4 to 6 split screens at the same time.
- mrud 16y agoYes it is. I am using my x301 as primary development machine. The x301 as well as the MB Air have 1440x900 which is enough for me.
- zach 16y agoThe new MBA 13 screen is 1440x900, a nice step up from the 1280x800 that 13-inch MacBook users have been used to. For web programming it is fine. Reddit was programmed on a 13" MacBook, after all. If you're doing Xcode development I might still be hesitant. The rapidly upcoming Xcode 4 environment is one large window and seems to put smaller screens at a significant disadvantage. It's probably okay, but I would really want to see it running.
- dshankar 16y agoIt's not just about resolution as some have pointed out. I like to have Terminal, emacs, XCode, Firefox, Preview for any PDFs all open at once. That's why I prefer 15/17" + external 22/24" - I would never be able to handle the small 13" just by itself.
- forensic 16y agoI generally am using 8 to 10 Spaces desktops at a time, with several of those desktops running multiple windows. With Spaces and Expose I find it good enough on a 13" screen. Bigger is always nicer, but the tradeoff is that it would be a lot harder to carry my laptop with me. I prioritize mobility.
- dshankar 16y agoI only use 2-3 Spaces (to separate work from chats and distractions). I find it hard to split up "work" into multiple Spaces when I need to look at all of my work at once (ex. need reference docs + code up at the same time).