27" iMac - change screen resolution for Excel in Parallels
Hello
I'm just setting up a 27" iMac having come from a 24" Dell. I'm running Office for Windows using Parallels.
I had the Dell screen resolution set at 1280 x 1024 which I found a good option for my regular use of Excel spreadsheets with lots of numbers, rows and columns. The Dell had about 10 resolution options not all of which were in proportion so you could widen or narrow the viewing area so to speak.
However the iMac only give me 3 choices of resolution all of which are in a 16:9 aspect ratio which makes the columns in my Excel spreadsheets a lot narrower and more difficult to read.
Conversely it makes my Excel rows taller so I fit fewer rows on the screen (about 8 rows lost which means you have to scroll some sheets that I previously fitted on one screen, quite a nuisance).
I did try setting the resolution under Windows in Parallels back to 1280 x 1024 but the iMac did not like it and changes it back straight away.
Is there a way of achieving more choices of screen resolution aspect ratio on the 27" iMac ? Any third party options?
Thank you for any advice.
I'm just setting up a 27" iMac having come from a 24" Dell. I'm running Office for Windows using Parallels.
I had the Dell screen resolution set at 1280 x 1024 which I found a good option for my regular use of Excel spreadsheets with lots of numbers, rows and columns. The Dell had about 10 resolution options not all of which were in proportion so you could widen or narrow the viewing area so to speak.
However the iMac only give me 3 choices of resolution all of which are in a 16:9 aspect ratio which makes the columns in my Excel spreadsheets a lot narrower and more difficult to read.
Conversely it makes my Excel rows taller so I fit fewer rows on the screen (about 8 rows lost which means you have to scroll some sheets that I previously fitted on one screen, quite a nuisance).
I did try setting the resolution under Windows in Parallels back to 1280 x 1024 but the iMac did not like it and changes it back straight away.
Is there a way of achieving more choices of screen resolution aspect ratio on the 27" iMac ? Any third party options?
Thank you for any advice.
Martin Liss
The resolution of your Windows virtual machine is independent of the resolution of the MAC so in the Windows do to Start|Control Panel|Display|Settings and choose the resolution you like.
ASKER
Thankyou for your suggestion.
I had tried that several times before but each time I see the desired resolution in Excel momentarily then almost immediately the iMac changes it back.
When I asked this question on the Parallels forum they replied:
"You should not use a different resolution than the one the TFT has been optimised for. You can use zoom in excel to enlarge the size of the spreadsheet".
(which does not achieve what I wanted).
http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?302465-27-quot-iMac-change-resolution-for-Excel-in-Parallels
Thanks again. It would be great if we could achieve the resolution they way you suggested. :-)
I had tried that several times before but each time I see the desired resolution in Excel momentarily then almost immediately the iMac changes it back.
When I asked this question on the Parallels forum they replied:
"You should not use a different resolution than the one the TFT has been optimised for. You can use zoom in excel to enlarge the size of the spreadsheet".
(which does not achieve what I wanted).
http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?302465-27-quot-iMac-change-resolution-for-Excel-in-Parallels
Thanks again. It would be great if we could achieve the resolution they way you suggested. :-)
I followed your link to the Parallels site and I have to say that while in my opinion Parallels' support is poor, I've never seen them be rude before.
I'm not sure this is what you want, but here's something to try.
Go to Parallels.
Click on the Virtual Machine menu.
Select Configure
In the Dialog Box, Select Hardware
Click on Video in the side bar.
Select Scaled for your Video Resolution
In your parallels Windows VM, Select the resolution you want. You should also be able to drag the VM window and, assuming you installed the parallels tools, your Video should adjust to the resolution you've selected.
Go to Parallels.
Click on the Virtual Machine menu.
Select Configure
In the Dialog Box, Select Hardware
Click on Video in the side bar.
Select Scaled for your Video Resolution
In your parallels Windows VM, Select the resolution you want. You should also be able to drag the VM window and, assuming you installed the parallels tools, your Video should adjust to the resolution you've selected.
ASKER
Hello
Thankyou for these suggestions.
I'm with you up until "Click on Video in the side bar" then what I see is "Video memory", a box showing 256 MB and a slide bar with the pointer sitting at 256.
I also see "3D acceleration" set at DirectX10 and "Enable vertical sychronisation" is ticked.
None of this seems to correspond to your other instructions, unless I am misunderstanding something?
Thanks again
Regards
Glen
Thankyou for these suggestions.
I'm with you up until "Click on Video in the side bar" then what I see is "Video memory", a box showing 256 MB and a slide bar with the pointer sitting at 256.
I also see "3D acceleration" set at DirectX10 and "Enable vertical sychronisation" is ticked.
None of this seems to correspond to your other instructions, unless I am misunderstanding something?
Thanks again
Regards
Glen
I'm with you up until "Click on Video in the side bar" then what I see is "Video memory", a box showing 256 MB and a slide bar with the pointer sitting at 256.Me too except my 3D acceleration just says "On".
I also see "3D acceleration" set at DirectX10 and "Enable vertical sychronisation" is ticked.
Strange. Maybe you have a different version? I have 8. I haven't upgraded to 9 yet.
The option did disappear momentarily after I updated/patched 8, but I restarted parallels and I have the Resolution selection available again.
Screen-Shot-2014-05-06-at-11.01..png
The option did disappear momentarily after I updated/patched 8, but I restarted parallels and I have the Resolution selection available again.
Screen-Shot-2014-05-06-at-11.01..png
ASKER
Thanks, however in your screen shot, I have everything up until "Enable vertical sychronisation" i.e. I don't have your resolutions options. :-(
I'm running Parallels 9 with Windows 8.1
I'm running Parallels 9 with Windows 8.1
Strange. Maybe you have a different version?From your picture and it's reference to "Retina" I think means that you have a MacBook Pro and not the 27" iMACs that the author and I have.
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