diff --git a/src/Colors.cpp b/src/Colors.cpp
index 27390302d..930d60185 100644
--- a/src/Colors.cpp
+++ b/src/Colors.cpp
@@ -108,6 +108,38 @@ void GCColor::setupColors()
     copyArray(init, ColorList);
 }
 
+// default settings for fonts etc
+struct Appearance defaultAppearance[] ={
+
+    // small screens include netbooks and old vga 800x600, 1024x768
+    { 1024, 768,  8,8,8,8,8,8,    800, 600 },
+
+    // medium screen size includes typical 16:9 pc formats and TV screens
+    { 1280, 800,  8,8,8,8,8,8,    800, 600},
+
+    // high resolution screens 
+    { 1650, 1080,  11,11,11,11,11,11,   1024,650 },
+
+    // very big panels, incl. e.g.  mac 27"
+    { 9999, 9999,  11,11,11,11,11,11,   1280,700 },
+
+    { 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 },
+};
+
+struct Appearance
+GCColor::defaultSizes(int width, int height)
+{
+    for (int i=0; defaultAppearance[i].maxheight; i++) {
+
+        if (height > defaultAppearance[i].maxheight && width > defaultAppearance[i].maxwidth)
+            continue;
+
+        else return defaultAppearance[i];
+
+    }
+    return defaultAppearance[0]; // shouldn't get here
+}
+
 GCColor::GCColor(MainWindow *main) : QObject(main)
 {
     setupColors();
diff --git a/src/Colors.h b/src/Colors.h
index d3211d969..550183594 100644
--- a/src/Colors.h
+++ b/src/Colors.h
@@ -26,6 +26,27 @@
 
 class MainWindow;
 
+// set appearace defaults based upon screen size
+struct Appearance {
+
+    // this applies up to the following geometry
+    int maxheight,
+        maxwidth;
+
+    // font size
+    int defaultFont,
+        titleFont,
+        markerFont,
+        labelFont,
+        calendarFont,
+        popupFont;
+
+    // screen dimension
+    int width,
+        height;
+};
+
+extern Appearance defaultAppearance[];
 struct Colors
 {
         QString name,
@@ -46,6 +67,7 @@ class GCColor : public QObject
         static const Colors *defaultColorSet();
         static void resetColors();
         static QColor invert(QColor);
+        static struct Appearance defaultSizes(int width, int height);
 
     public slots:
         void readConfig();
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.cpp b/src/MainWindow.cpp
index 942ec973d..1b2373632 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@
 #include "TrainDB.h"
 
 QList<MainWindow *> mainwindows; // keep track of all the MainWindows we have open
+QDesktopWidget *desktop = NULL;
 
 MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
     home(home), session(0), isclean(false), ismultisave(false),
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
     ride(NULL), workout(NULL)
 {
 
+    if (desktop == NULL) desktop = QApplication::desktop();
     static const QIcon hideIcon(":images/toolbar/main/hideside.png");
     static const QIcon rhideIcon(":images/toolbar/main/hiderside.png");
     static const QIcon showIcon(":images/toolbar/main/showside.png");
@@ -159,11 +161,38 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
 
     setAttribute(Qt::WA_DeleteOnClose);
 
+
     // need to restore geometry before setUnifiedToolBar.. on Mac
     appsettings->setValue(GC_SETTINGS_LAST, home.dirName());
     QVariant geom = appsettings->value(this, GC_SETTINGS_MAIN_GEOM);
-    if (geom == QVariant()) resize(640, 480);
-    else setGeometry(geom.toRect());
+    if (geom == QVariant()) {
+
+        // first run -- lets set some sensible defaults...
+        // lets put it in the middle of screen 1
+        QRect size = desktop->availableGeometry();
+        struct Appearance app = GCColor::defaultSizes(size.height(), size.width());
+
+        // center on the available screen (minus toolbar/sidebar)
+        move((size.width()-size.x())/2 - app.width/2,
+             (size.height()-size.y())/2 - app.height/2);
+
+        // set to the right default
+        resize(app.width, app.height);
+
+        // set all the default font sizes
+        appsettings->setValue(GC_FONT_DEFAULT_SIZE, app.defaultFont);
+        appsettings->setValue(GC_FONT_TITLES_SIZE, app.titleFont);
+        appsettings->setValue(GC_FONT_CHARTMARKERS_SIZE, app.markerFont);
+        appsettings->setValue(GC_FONT_CHARTLABELS_SIZE, app.labelFont);
+        appsettings->setValue(GC_FONT_CALENDAR_SIZE, app.calendarFont);
+        appsettings->setValue(GC_FONT_POPUP_SIZE, app.popupFont);
+
+        // set the default fontsize
+        QFont font;
+        font.setPointSize(app.defaultFont);
+        QApplication::setFont(font);
+
+    } else setGeometry(geom.toRect());
 
 
 #ifdef Q_OS_MAC // MAC NATIVE TOOLBAR
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.h b/src/MainWindow.h
index 5453d600f..d7edf9273 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.h
+++ b/src/MainWindow.h
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ class BlankStateDiaryPage;
 class BlankStateTrainPage;
 
 extern QList<MainWindow *> mainwindows; // keep track of all the MainWindows we have open
+extern QDesktopWidget *desktop;         // how many screens / res etc
 
 class MainWindow : public QMainWindow
 {