I plan to use Adobe Captivate to create tutorials and for user testing of our
website. I'm looking at purchasing either a 14" or 12" laptop for this use.
I'd prefer the 12" because I'm going to carry it to conferences, etc, to ask
people to test the site. If the 12" screen will interfere with the screen
recording for tutorials, etc., then I'll go with the 14".

Thank you.

Welcome to our community, WI EPHT

From what I'm seeing you are trying to make a decision. Personally I feel it
simply depends on what you are comfortable with. I also think perhaps you are
confusing actual screen size with recording size.

I once attended a class where the instructor admonished everyone strongly that
"most users are using 14 inch monitors. So you should always design your web
pages so they fit on a 14 inch monitor". and I was quite puzzled at that
comment, as it implied the instructor didn't have the faintest clue of what the
difference was between monitor size and screen resolution.

The thing is, you record in sizes measured by pixels. Both the 12 and 14 inch
screens can be configured identically. It's just that things appear to be
larger on a 14 inch screen.

Hopefully something there was helpful. I also hope others pop in to offer
their own insights.

Cheers... Rick :smile;

Hi, Maybe this will allso help. I always use this with all my projects. Your
captivate movie size will automatically adjust to the screen size of the end
user.
Once you have published your project, open the html file with Notepad.
You will then see the source code. Find the line below.

<script src="standard.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
Position the cursor before </script>, then pres Enter twice. E.g.
<script src="standard.js" type="text/javascript">

</script>

See the blank line you have created above (just above </script>?
Now copy and paste the script below into that space. Not the ____ line.
____________________________
function maxSrc()
{
var myHeight = window.screen.height;
var myWidth = window.screen.width;
window.moveTo(0,0);
window.resizeTo(myWidth,myHeight)
}
//-->
_______________

Let's say (for example) you have captured your movie to be 1024 x 768. You
will see these setting at various palces with the source code. Now everywhere
it says 1024 and 768, change those to 98%. Change all of them.
Now just save the html file again and run your project again and see the
difference.
Tip: If it's working, open your updated html file again with Notepad, then
copy and paste the entire source code to a Word document. Then format the font
colour for the changes to another colour and save it to your pc for easy
reference next time.

The answer to your question has a bit to do with screen size and a bit to do
with screen resolution.

There is a movement toward 16:9 (widescreen) screens to match HD TV, but there
are tons of 4:3 screens out there. This 4:3 ratio is commonly found in 1025 X
768 or 800 X 600 or my current 14" laptop resolution of 1400 X 1050.

Personally, I am not a fan of the 16:9 format for business use. The resoluton
causes fonts to get squashed and it can be hard to read at small font sizes.
For business users that often look at spreadsheets or tables, the 4:3 format is
superior for what gets displayed and of course for not having squashed fonts
like you see at 16:9.

Higher resolutions like 1400 X 1050 would cause a lot of bandwith strain and
possibly slow loading over the web. So the key is to record at an acceptable
resolution like 800 X 600 or 1024 X 768 if you must.

Stretching the screen to width and height will cause distortions. If your
screen is 16:9, then it will distort on 4:3. If your screen is 4:3, then it
will distory at 16:9. This is just another emerging problem for software
people to deal with and sometimes recording at 4:3 or 16:9 and then presenting
it in a window of that size will produce cleaner and more professional looking
results.

About your laptop. I have been using these things since the Toshiba T1000
(circa 1988) and larger screens are the way to go for development. You can see
much more at 1400 X 1050 or 1600 X 1050 than you can at 1024 X 768. I use two
monitors and bigger is better.

For presentations only, you can use something as tiny as a fujitsu. In many
cases you can run a presentation off of a USB-Key and use installed computers.
My son has an IBM X40 (used on e-Bay for about $400.00) and it works great with
a 12" screen for Word, Excel and PowerPoint so it would be fine with Captivate
or Adobe Presenter. But I would never develop on that machine at 1024 X 768
(even though I record at that resolution). It is too cumbersome for everyday
use after having 1600 X 1050 screens to play on. It is also far too slow for
my pace of working (quad core desktop, double hard drives, 4 Gigs or Ram, Etc.)

So you can present with a small machine for sure. Even a Thumb Drive. But
but watch out for 16:9 (not supported by cheap projectors) and consider the
development environment (your working space) to get the presentation developed.
I think that my 14" Laptop at 1400 X 1050 is good (I wish I had the 15"
screen) and I develop at 1024 X 768 or 800 X 600 on that laptop or my desktop
by simply sizing the application to that size (look for a free application
named SIZER to help you get your screens pre-set or use the Acrobat red sizing
ring and move your application into that red frame before recording).

Hope this helps you to make a better informed decision.

Joe C.