Open Dental Forum

I am beginning to get new hardware for our conversion to Open Dental. I see in the User Manual that 19" LCD monitors are most recommended. We saw the advantage of dual monitors at the front desk at Tony's office (thanks for making us feel more comfortable with our move to Open Dental!), but I think that two 19" monitors side by side might overwhelm our smaller front desk space. What do we give up seeing in Open Dental if I go to smaller monitors in some parts of the office? (besides, of course, the clarity of larger "print" images). Thanks for any advice. I see that Dell is having a "black friday" sale already on some monitors, a basic Vostro unit as well as their laptops.

Main consideration is that you can get at least 1024x768 resolution (desktop area) without eyestrain on the part of your user. A 17" monitor might be fine. That high a resolution is needed for seeing all the Open Dental controls (buttons, etc.) on the screen and for printing the schedule. The higher the resolution, the smaller the print will be on a small monitor.

Thanks for the information, it makes more sense to me now.
Karen

Good Evening. I use dual 19" monitors, and I love it! If space is an issue, then consider getting monitors that can rotate 90 degrees. I know that some of the Dell monitors can rotate 90 degrees on the Dell stands. This might eliminate your space problem but still allow you to use the resolution of 1024x1280. I use the dual horizontal view at work, but I use the dual vertical view at home (both are great).

Thank you. I'm now in the process of getting estimates for my hardware. Got the local one today, but it isn't making sense to me yet. I'll talk to the dealer tomorrow. I also see that Dell is having some specials that I'll check. Like everyone else, I want to find as much machine as I need to optimize our use, but to do it at as reasonable a cost as possible. The monitor info helps!

I always find my Dell deals at Dealcatcher.com.... For the last 3 years, I have bought about 20 Dells
http://www.dealcatcher.com/dell-sb-coupons

Thanks, I'll check out DealCatcher, too, for Dell.

Karen, this is Tony. Give me a call before you purchase any hardware. I could lead you is a different direction to save you some money.