Reunion 10+ and 13" MacBook Pro

[martha]

I am anxious to purchase Reunion 10 now that most of the bugs seem to be out. But I worry about one thing: my only computer is a 13" MacBook Pro laptop and from some of the things I have read on this discussion group, screen real estate might be a problem with Reunion 10. Could I get some guidance on this question from those of you in the know?

Many thanks in advance!
Martha

[Ken Piper]

I am anxious to purchase Reunion 10 now that most of the bugs seem to be out. But I worry about one thing: my only computer is a 13" MacBook Pro laptop and from some of the things I have read on this discussion group, screen real estate might be a problem with Reunion 10. Could I get some guidance on this question from those of you in the know?

Martha -

I use a 13 inch Mac Pro with Reunion 10. It does take up considerably more real estate than version 9. At its minimum it takes about 60% of the screen horizontally and about 85% vertically. There is the right sidebar for other features that extends the horizontal to about 80% of the screen but that can be hidden as necessary.

I was a bit upset about this initially, but over time I got used to it and with work I am used to having to maneuver multiple windows all the time. So I just deal with it in exchange for the features of version 10. That may be me rationalizing though.

If real estate is your concern then stick with 9 as there is no real compelling need to have 10 in my eyes now. My wish list on an update is an alternate view mode where the left sidebar is allowed to go to a top menu like in 9. Then the real estate would be much more manageable.

Ken

[s1xc00k]

I am anxious to purchase Reunion 10 now that most of the bugs seem to be out. But I worry about one thing: my only computer is a 13" MacBook Pro laptop and from some of the things I have read on this discussion group, screen real estate might be a problem with Reunion 10. Could I get some guidance on this question from those of you in the know?

Many thanks in advance!
Martha

I have a 11" MacBook Air with Reunion 10.0.3 and it works fine. I have the screen resolution on 1210 x 680 and although the sidebar is at its minimum width, it takes up about 90% real estate width wise. I find the use of the list (command + L) invaluable to counter the reduced sidebar width.

[Donald W. Moore]

I also have a 13" MacBook Pro. Reunion 10 is such an improvement that I would never go back to Reunion 9 because of screen real estate issues. I never liked managing all the floating windows in R9 anyway. They were always in the way. Leisterpro is probably trying to harmonize the interfaces of the Mac version with the iPad version. But then, I have the iPad version and am accumstomed to using it. So, the changes in R10 are not a big deal for me.

[Bob White]

Actually, I think most posters here are missing a very important point. e.g. It depends on the combination of how good Martha's eyesight is in combination with the screen resolution that she uses. All of the other points are good. I just think that the sight/resolution issue needs primary consideration.

[ttl]

At least two people on the test team had 13" laptops, so there was consideration given to the real estate issue.

Donald has a good point in that since you are a Reunion for iPad user, you should see some familiar things (although Reunion 10 is MUCH better )

Also, I'd recommend you download it and use it in trial mode for free. There's no downside to doing this, and you'll get a firsthand chance to evaluate how Reunion 10 works for you. I'd recommend you pay particular attention to how clicking and Opt-clicking the sidebar hide button works. And also how the list window from the sidebar works, as s1xc00k mentions.

[Frank]

One thing I have noticed (both in terms of ReunionTalk posts and in technical support emails) is that, in the few cases where people have expressed concern about the size issue in comparison to Reunion 9, the user was unaware that all the buttons for people (all 3 generations in the family view) can be customized in Reunion 10.

A Reunion 10 family view can be tweaked to nearly match a Reunion 9 family card in vertical appearance, by setting prefs for including/excluding fields and pictures inside the buttons.

The biggest change (in size) is that the width of the Reunion window includes new elements in Reunion 10: the navbar on the left and the sidebar on the right. As Tim mentioned, the sidebar can be hidden/shown to make the entire window smaller when necessary. Or, as s1xc00k mentioned, the judicious use of the List window via keyboard shortcut helps too.

[John M. Leggett]

I am anxious to purchase Reunion 10 now that most of the bugs seem to be out. But I worry about one thing: my only computer is a 13" MacBook Pro laptop and from some of the things I have read on this discussion group, screen real estate might be a problem with Reunion 10. Could I get some guidance on this question from those of you in the know?

Many thanks in advance!
Martha

Martha, I got a 13" MacBook Pro in March, 2011, the kind with a Thunderbolt port. Everything is so much faster than previous MacBook Pros. I'd recommend that you get one and upgrade to Reunion 10.

I dealt with the screen real estate by getting an external display, a 15" Dell for $100. The MacBook/Dell combo cost a lot less than a 15" MacBook would and provides even more screen space. At first I used the Dell as my primary screen and ran Reunion on it while keeping Mail open on the MacBook screen.

It makes a world of difference to have BOTH screens available for Reunion. You can either have two independent screens or one huge desktop spanning both. There all sorts of other benefits in using a MacBook Pro with an external display. I'd never go back to a single display, especially since they have become so much cheaper.

In fact, I recently upgraded my external display to a 26" Samsung which gives me as much or more screen space than the largest iMac and a lot more flexibility (I don't have to carry my big screen around when I'm away from home).

[Thomas Bryant]

I was a lot upset about this and still am. Why should one have to work around an issue in an upgraded version. I have been a loyal user of Reunion from day one and this is the first time I have not been pleased with an upgrade.

I also wish that a future update will offer an alternate view mode where the left navbar is allowed to go to a top menu like in 9 or at least a toggle button to hide it like the right sidebar.

[s1xc00k]

I was a lot upset about this and still am. Why should one have to work around an issue in an upgraded version. I have been a loyal user of Reunion from day one and this is the first time I have not been pleased with an upgrade.

I also wish that a future update will offer an alternate view mode where the left navbar is allowed to go to a top menu like in 9 or at least a toggle button to hide it like the right sidebar.

Hi Thomas,
In the wish list section of this forum, there is a post on the "navbar and sidebar", namely, "...suggest a toggle to hide/show navbar similar to the hide/show sidebar toggle to be considered for a future version" and "For consideration, in addition to the hide/show toggle for the navbar, an option to allow the navbar to be customisable similar to other toolbars. I would suggest a preference option, under General options, for navbar to be icon and text, text only, icon only and use small size {e.g. same as apple finder toolbar options}".

[martha]

I am anxious to purchase Reunion 10 now that most of the bugs seem to be out. But I worry about one thing: my only computer is a 13" MacBook Pro laptop and from some of the things I have read on this discussion group, screen real estate might be a problem with Reunion 10. Could I get some guidance on this question from those of you in the know?

Many thanks in advance!
Martha

I want to thank all of you for your helpful comments! I am very happy that Tim and Frank reminded me that I can download a sample Reunion 10. I had forgotten that such a thing was possible!

Everyone's comment was helpful and added to my knowledge about what to look out for and how to manage!

Thank you all!!!

Martha