Testing Sites on Different Screens
Some time ago I was asked via MSN if I had a TFT screen handy that I could test a site in to see what the colours looked like. I said I did and had a quick look for them.
The screen was more than handy. It's virtually a part of my normal screen. Here's what I mean:
It's a setup I've had for over two years now and would find it hard to adjust to anything else. Having an extra monitor on your PC is very, very useful. It's also very, very easy to do and relatively cheap.
In terms of testing websites, having a separate monitor is useful in a couple of ways. Firstly, if it's a TFT if gives you a feel for what it will look like away from a CRT. The difference can be considerable. Subtle differences between two font colours can be exaggerated to the extreme. That light grey you liked on the CRT can be almost invisible on the TFT. Secondly, it's useful for testing on a real 1024*769 monitor. Sure you can adjust your browser to appear that size, but you really need to see it on a "life-size" monitor to get a real feel for it.
Also, it's handy to work on one monitor and test on the other. I sometimes have Domino Designer running fuill-screen on my 21" CRT (@1600*1200px) and then the website I'm working on running full-screen on the 14" TFT (@1024*768). No need to alt-tab between the two constantly.
It's been of great use recently as I've been working on an application that's aimed at kiosk-mode on 1024px laptop screens. I've been able to run my dev. version as it will be seen in the real world, whilst working on it on the next screen.
In general use I have the secondary monitor running Thunderbird, so my mail is always accessible and on display. I can even watch movies while I work (ahh, the pleasures of working from home).
As I said, it's easy and cheap to do and I highly recommend you add a second monitor if you can. I'll talk about how tomorrow.
Finally, here's how I test sites in Safari (and, if I really have to, IE for Mac):
The CRT monitor (Sony CPD G520) has dual inputs. On the front of the monitor is a switch to toggle between them. In the above shot I'm now working on the Mac Mini. This still involves moving keyboard and mice about though. One day I hope to find a KVM solution to suit all my PCs...
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Would something like this not do the trick {Link}
Try running realvnc server on your mac mini and using a vnc client on your windows desktop. I use this method to do my safari testing - my mac cube lives in another part of the house. No KVM needed...and it'll save wear and tear on the monitor button ;-/
VNC is available for most platforms (even been wrestling with a pocket pc version here) and is the reason I don't have 10 monitors blazing away in my loft ^h^h^h^h server room. So its green too, I suppose. If you've never used it before I guarantee it will bring a smile to your face....
It's the only way to go - althoug I find having two screens the same size and the same resolution can make it easier on the eyes...
KVMs can be a real pain - especially if you use an LCD with it - they can also badly impact the image quality if you're running higher than 1027x768.
With my LCD, I had to continually use the auto adjust feature as I switched between computers. In the end I got so frustrated I just threw a nice sharp 15" CRT on my desk to use as the secondary monitor and stopped using the KVM.
Another good idea, gathering dust!
I have two notebook computers at the client I am working at now, and I use a VNC client called win2vnc ({Link} By running it on one computer, and a VNC server on the other, you can control both computers from the keyboard and mouse of one of them. Moving the mouse off the edge of one screen automatically transfers mouse and keyboard control to the other. Copying and pasting text between computers works as well. Very nifty, and even works if one of the computers is a PC and the other is a Mac!
Try synergy {Link}
to share a single mouse & keyboard between multiple computer with difference OS.