Re: justifying 21-inch monitors

[Kat Nagel/MasterWork <katnagel -at- EZNET -dot- NET>]

Karen Mayer wrote:
>  What size monitors do you use? Are you happy
>  with that?

I use a SuperMac Platinum 21, a high-resolution grayscale monitor:

21-inch --- so I can see a complete double-page spread with minimal distortion

grayscale --- since most color monitors look fuzzy to me and give me
headaches (except for a $38k video graphics workstation I saw at a recent
computer show <envy,lust,envy>)

>  If you're using 21s, how did you
>  manage to convince your manager that it was out of
>  necessity, not decadence, that they were requested?

Since I -am- my manager, this wasn't an issue <grin>.  However, I've used
the following strategy to convince a client to let me work offsite with my
own equipment instead of onsite with their 17-inch color monitors.

The project was to (a) update a series of documents and (b) transfer them
to FrameMaker.  The client had never used off-site contractors before and
was concerned about 'monitoring productivity.'

On Friday, I took home a representative chunk of the project, and spent 7
hours designing the FrameMaker template and entering/editing text.

On Saturday, I arranged to spend 8 hours on site doing the same tasks for
another document (different purpose, therefore different templates needed).
I arranged for the extra hour because of the additional breaks I need to
prevent eyestrain when working with a color monitor.

Because it was on the weekend, there were no interruptions, no phone calls,
very little background noise, and no other workers to slow down the network
--- in short, environmental conditions were as similar to my home office as
possible.  The major difference was the monitor.

I spent approximately the same amount of time on the design phases, since
the documents were of roughly equal complexity.  But I got almost 20% more
text entered/edited using the larger monitor.  Why?
(1) I could see both ends of two adjacent pages at once --- no scrolling.
(2) I could constantly monitor spacing and visual balance.  I didn't need
to stop and print to see -exactly- what I was getting on a double-page
spread.
(3) The higher resolution display made it easier to scan for errors, so I
could do my proofreading onscreen.

Since they had committed to pay me by the hour (I insist on that for onsite
contracts --- there are too many things they can do to waste my time), the
potential 20% savings convinced them.  Maybe you can arrange a similar test
with your typical workload.  Most managers will pay attention to real data.

Hope this helps,


@Kat_____ Kat Nagel
          MasterWork Consulting Services     Rochester, NY
          LIFE1 (techwriting/docdesign) katnagel -at- eznet -dot- net
          LIFE2 (vocal chamber music)    PlaynSong -at- aol -dot- com