Matthew Hindson wrote:
> Has anyone had any experience using this software with Finale?


Funny you should ask. I am getting set up (I hope) to use it. First of 
all, with Windows it works great. Portrait Displays has continued to 
upgrade the Win version and it is quite slick. I tested the trial 
version and it worked fine with WinFin. Setting a CRT on its side is 
problematic, however, because the guns are designed to fire while 
horizontal, so the color goes askew. With an LCD it works great.

Having said this, I recall that you are Mac person, and here the news is 
  grim. The software has essentially not been upgraded since P.D. 
purchased it from Radius. It seems that P.D. immediately ported the code 
to Win and has focused there ever since. As a result the Mac version is 
feature-poor compared to the Win version. Nevertheless, it would be 
adequate to the task, except that as yet I haven't been able to get it 
to work with any resolution larger than 1280x1024. (My whole reason for 
buying it is to use it with a 1920x1200 LCD.) I am in the middle of an 
email thread with their tech support as I write this. If I get a 
resolution, I will post it.

(For all I know, the Win version doesn't go larger than 1280x1024 
either, but I haven't tried it, and I would be surprised if that were 
the case.)

The *really* bad news for Mac users is that P.D. has categorically and 
repeatedly stated that there is not nor will there ever be an OS X 
version. So if you are prepared to get hooked on this software (as I 
am), you must also be prepared to stay on OS9 for a long time. 
Personally, I believe that with the advent of cheaper and increasingly 
ubiquitous LCD displays, either Portrait must relent on OSX, or else 
someone else will step into the breach. Perhaps this is just wishful 
thinking, but I really believe the technology is just now reaching the 
price/performance point where demand for portrait orientation can take 
off. My Samsung 240T was $2820, which is still expensive, but nothing 
like the $8K it would have been 18 months ago. By one year from now, 
this monitor could conceivably be $1200. Meanwhile, 18" LCDS, which 
comfortably display 1280x1024, are already well under $1000.

If you think you might ever want to use an LCD display in Portrait mode, 
avoid Apple monitors like the plague. Look for monitors that support 
VESA standard mounting brackets. Most manufacturers other than Apple do. 
(Samsung, Sony, etc.) A vast array of mounting options exists for VESA 
standard LCD monitors: wall mounts, desk mounts, cart mounts, stands, 
etc., and most of them include Portrait/Landscape pivots.

One final comment re Finale: Mac Fin has an artificial limit on the 
vertical size of a document window. Since I haven't yet gotten my big 
monitor to work in portrait orientation, I can't say for certain that a 
Finale window will cover the whole thing. However, based on some tests I 
did with a doc window vertically spanning two monitors, I concluded the 
limit was probably well above 2000 pixels.

-- 
Robert Patterson

http://RobertGPatterson.com

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