The ConsoleWidget now only pages text if it exceeds the height of the visible window.

IPython/frontend/qt/console/console_widget.py

@@ -1,4 +1,5 b''
 # Standard library imports
+import re
 import sys
 from textwrap import dedent
 
@@ -994,12 +995,17 b' class ConsoleWidget(QtGui.QWidget):'
             return True
         
     def _page(self, text):
-        """ Displays text using the pager.
+        """ Displays text using the pager if it exceeds the height of the
+            visible area.
         """
+        if self._page_style == 'none':
+            self._append_plain_text(text)
+        else:
+            line_height = QtGui.QFontMetrics(self.font).height()
+            minlines = self._control.viewport().height() / line_height
+            if re.match("(?:[^\n]*\n){%i}" % minlines, text):
         if self._page_style == 'custom':
             self.custom_page_requested.emit(text)
-        elif self._page_style == 'none':
-            self._append_plain_text(text)
         else:
             self._page_control.clear()
             cursor = self._page_control.textCursor()
@@ -1012,6 +1018,8 b' class ConsoleWidget(QtGui.QWidget):'
                 self._page_control.setFocus()
             else:
                 self.layout().setCurrentWidget(self._page_control)
+            else:
+                self._append_plain_text(text)
 
     def _prompt_started(self):
         """ Called immediately after a new prompt is displayed.