I forgot how to use a laptop

[DrGonzo]

After been sitting for years with a massive widescreen monitor, I seem to have forgotten how to use a damn laptop! I recently had to buy a new Macbook and working with Live and synths feels like painting a room through a letterbox.

Excluding getting a secondary monitor, which probably will happen sooner or later, what are your tricks to deal with the limited screen space? Previously I used laptops and I don't recall feeling this squeezed in.

/Spoiled Space-Brat

[Sonic Illusions]

Contemplation

[Bunny_boy]

Sit really close to it, like really really close

[DrGonzo]

Sit really close to it, like really really close

[Bunny_boy]

Sit really close to it, like really really close

I use a laptop and external monitor for work, and, while it's possible for me to just use the laptop screen, it's far more productive with the two. I usually have the monitor as the "work" screen - stuff I am dealing with, while the laptop screen is the data source / document / output / etc.

So, maybe daw for the monitor and vst/I for the laptop screen?

(For music stuff, I'm actually okay with just the laptop screen, but that's academic here)

[DrGonzo]

Sit really close to it, like really really close

I use a laptop and external monitor for work, and, while it's possible for me to just use the laptop screen, it's far more productive with the two. I usually have the monitor as the "work" screen - stuff I am dealing with, while the laptop screen is the data source / document / output / etc.

So, maybe daw for the monitor and vst/I for the laptop screen?

Of course, that's the most sensible solution. I'm just curious on if the workflow with laptops have changed lately with virtual spaces etc and so on.

[Michael L]

Think front to back (tabs, layers) and sequentially (show, hide) rather than side to side & simultaneously. It’s a different workflow.

[jancivil]

Previously I used laptops and I don't recall feeling this squeezed in.

This year I acquired two 27" displays. I'd been working on a MacBook Air less than half this size for over two years. Sometimes what's on the 27" slips and is displayed on the 'secondary' display, the 13.3". It's unbelievable I ever found that tolerable.

Personally I found that doing any of it on the 13.3" is far more trouble than it's worth. One of the 27" displays is for VE Pro on a second computer.

[uOpt]

Laptops suck.

What screen size of MacBook did you get?

[DrGonzo]

Laptops suck.

What screen size of MacBook did you get?

14 inch. Pretty comfortable actually for basically anything else than making music.

[stoopicus]

Laptops suck.

What screen size of MacBook did you get?

14 inch. Pretty comfortable actually for basically anything else than making music.

I actually like the 14" the best. The 16" doesn't make a huge difference (i.e. will still suck compared to a monitor) but it is a lot more to lug around.

[DrGonzo]

Laptops suck.

What screen size of MacBook did you get?

14 inch. Pretty comfortable actually for basically anything else than making music.

I actually like the 14" the best. The 16" doesn't make a huge difference (i.e. will still suck compared to a monitor) but it is a lot more to lug around.

14 inches is really a perfect size. I agree.