Which do you prefer? Which provides better overall visibility?

Real pieces are alwasy best, I believe, but sometimes they can get "lost", even when looking from over head....it would be great sometimes to have the best of both worlds - playing the board, but able to view the more uncluttered view of a computer screen....

I think it's what you are used to.  I t was a tough transition for me.  I would completly overlook mistakes I would see imediatly on a "real" board. At least that's what I would tell myself.

im too used to computer view,god knows what real view would be like although ive found a chess club i might visit... we shall see

I am very used to computer view now. I imagine now it will be hard to identify patterns quickly OTB.

I lose either way.

I believe that one of the treats, blessed or cursed, of beiing human is that we get used to anything over time.

anaxagoras wrote: I lose either way.

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In my opinion, he's just being modest. I think that either way is fine, it matters what you are personally used to

im used to the computer too

I prefer real pieces. Part of the game is not letting the board get cluttered where you "lose" the pieces.

I can go either way but what I really can't abide are computer pieces in a 3-d "realistic" view. I find it much harder to see the board with this kind of set up.

I like real pieces, the computer starts to give me eye strain after awhile.

This "computer view" has been known long before chess computers were invented (diagrams), so I would rather call it simply 2D view ;) personally I prefer 2D.

I agree as for computer 3D views being useless ("fancy" sets even more so)