You’ll find it’s easier to scan websites, view search engine results, and read online content or long blocks of code. If you’re big into cryptocurrency, you might enjoy displaying data in an easy-to-read form, plus, you’ll be able to react more quickly.

You can also have a full view of photographs or a project if you’re trying to design something with a vertical layout.

Vertical screens can also reduce eye strain. With this setup, you reduce the range of movement, which can save your eyes from getting as tired.

Further, you might be able to save space with a vertical monitor if you have less room on your desk.

A vertical monitor can be appealing if you use two monitors at once. Having dual monitors can increase productivity. You enjoy added viewing space to multitask, browse the Web, watch videos, or games. If you’re working from home, you may also find it easier to collaborate with colleagues with a second screen. When you set up one screen to be vertical, you can benefit from the best of both worlds.

Going Vertical is Easy

You don’t have to buy a special monitor to take advantage of a vertical setup. While many screens are only capable of a horizontal display, you may be able to adjust the way it is mounted. You can get a stand or mount that allows you to easily rotate the screen. As long as it is a VESA-compatible monitor, you can easily make the choice of horizontal or vertical. Then, you can change the layout in the operating system’s display settings. Windows, macOS, and Linux all support vertical screen rotation.

Some monitors have mounts that allow physical rotation, which is a good way to test drive the vertical monitor. That way you can see how it compares to a horizontal layout for your needs. Keep in mind, though, that this repositioning of the monitor will affect your stereo speakers. You’ll need to attach an external pair of speakers to have them work with the new orientation.

Vertical monitors aren’t for everybody; if you game a lot or want to watch movies or do 3D modeling, you might prefer the horizontal screen. Many computer games, for example, are programmed for horizontal play, and opening that game up on a vertical rotation can cut off or compress your visuals.

One other common criticism of vertical screens is that they catch glare from nearby light sources more easily. So, if you don’t want to deal with glare, stick with horizontal.

When looking to buy a laptop, one of the main things you have to decide is how much storage you need. That’s a challenging question for many of us to answer. Let’s discuss the factors that matter and how to decide.

The short answer, for many people, is that you don’t need much laptop storage. Having 512 GB available is often enough for a regular user, but it’s going to depend on how you’re using the laptop.

For example, if you use cloud email, your account likely comes with cloud storage. Using cloud-based applications such as Google Docs also saves storage space.

If you’re using the laptop to stream videos on TikTok or YouTube...or watching your series or movies on Netflix or the like, you’re also taking advantage of the cloud. Very little data is actually stored on your computer.

Even so, remember to account also for your operating system. Microsoft and Apple recommend 32 GB of storage space to accommodate their OS. Otherwise, you could encounter performance issues.

Also, if you edit videos or work in graphic design, you’ll likely want a lot more available storage.

How storage space impacts your computer use

Storage space is the capacity your computer uses to store files and data. So, when you have a lot of data, images, or video to hold and work with, more storage helps the PC recall them more quickly.

If you are a digital hoarder, that can also factor into your storage needs.

When thinking about storing photos, you’d have to have many albums to make a dent. If the average image size is about 4 MB, it would take 1000 photos to use up 4 GBs of space. But video eats up a lot more space. An hour-long 1080 p video could occupy 10,000 MB (10 GB).

If you regularly download new apps and games, you can quickly fill up your storage space. Purging unused files and apps consistently frees up space.

Considering the cost of laptop storage

More storage can mean a bigger price tag, so you’ll want to balance your storage needs against your budget constraints.

If you can spend freely, go ahead and get more storage. Otherwise, you’ll want to weigh hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD) upgrades.

HDDs offer more storage for less cost, but slower reading and writing. SSDs can be three to four times as expensive, but you do get greater speed. SSDs are also typically quieter, more durable, and consume less energy.

One option is to buy a laptop with a smaller SSD and get an external HDD to meet both your speed and storage needs. HDDs can be better for data recovery and for storing large amounts of data you’re not accessing often.

Need help making decisions about your laptop purchase or storage needs. Our IT experts have the answers you need.

Contact our experts today at 940-282-0290.