14" or 15,6" best for MS?

• Feb 27, 2019 - 11:50

Please move this subject if there is a better sub forum.

I am about to buy a new computer (Lenovo Yoga that can be folded to be used as tablet). This way I will be able to take my work with me for church (church organ) or other pianos, or, just to my own piano. Also I will be able to play from notes via computer and NAS.

My dilemma and question is:

Will MS feel comfortable to work with on 14" screen? I tried on a 13" screen, and then the menues felt too big. It was a bit hard to work with. I have 15,6" now, and it is fine.

And why wouldn't I just buy 15,6" instead of thinking about 14"? Because of the weight. 1,5 kg is fine to carrie, but 2 kg is not as easy. Also 2 kg do not feel very good to put on the piano/organ note stand.

What do you think? Do you feel that 14" is enough to comfortably ork with Musescore?


Comments

The choice of pc depends on many factors that you have to evaluate but consider the presence of an output (HDMI) that allows you to easily connect a TV.
HTH

MuseScore can be customized to your screen, despite its resolution.

Go to "Preferences" menu, "General" tab, and look for the boxes "Type of characters" and "Size of characters". Change those values to the most comfortable (to your eyes).

Also, I assume you're using some Windows version (I don't), but... In the control panel you can find the tools to change the display characters size (which is a helping hand, sometimes).

My personal thoughts: It's a case of user experience. I myself use a 15,6" notebook. I decided for it (nine years ago ;) to have a eye-friendly monitor resolution for my needs and to have a good compromise (word processing, DTP, music notation...) . But this doesn't mean anything. And indeed, a disadvantage could be the weight.
But as mentioned from other it's possible to customize the settings (with -d or -x settings from command line, inside the preferences of MuseScore, your screen resolution of your desktop environment and so on) and it should be always possible to connect an external monitor for special needs.

As mentioned, you can customize fonts sizes, both for your computer as a whole but also within MuseScore. And there is not just the question of screen size but also resolution that matters. Plus MuseScore proides command-line override to scale things up or down. So lots of variables here. But, for the record, I have used 13" screens for years with no problems, not sure what you are seeing as too big. A screenshot might help us understand better.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Hi! I do not have a screenshot from the try on 13" screen inch. But the inspector window (right menu?) went to wide and covered too much of the working space. If I made it smaller or made the text smaller, I couldn't read it.

I prefer to have the sheet rather big when I type in the notes, so there is a conflict between working space and menus when the screen is small.

But I think I will go with the 14" anyway. It will be som much more portable and useful when put on the notestand. It is also 300 € cheaper, with same components (somewhat smaller SSD, but that is of no concern to me since both are enough for me).

In reply to by Emma Claéson C…

FWIW, I generally just close the Inspector when entering notes, it's not needed. Then the page fits at 100% or a little larger even. I also find even on my Surface Pro with 12.3" screen, with the Inspector and palettes both set to a reasonable width, the score fits between them at around 75%. I often use the "Page Width" setting, actually, which automatically adjusts as I open or close the Inspector:

2019-03-01 (1).png

2019-03-01 (3).png

A 14" screen is measured on the diagonal, that's going to be about an inch wider I guess. You'll probably still find the same technique useful, though.

In reply to by jotape1960

How would this be different from just you closing those windows yourself, using either the "x" button on the window, the View menu, or the keyboard shortcut? It's already the case that MuseScore remembers this state too, and you can create different workspaces with different window configurations if you want.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Marc, I'm talking about to have a menu bar line where we have the icons of the minimized panels, somewhere in the screen.
Today, if I press F8, inspector is closed and it is not visible whatever you look for it on the screen.
To "rescue it" you have to press F8, again, and/or to go to the View menu.
If we have some Inspector independent minimize button (somewhere), we can click on it to perform this action.
In other words: It is intended to the "Mouse Generation" people (like me and a lot of men and women all over the world).
That's all!!!

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.