[home]

I'm currently in the quandary of deciding between the 3.06GHz 15" or 17" MBP.

Originally I wasn't interested in a 17" notebook, but the hi-resolution is tempting me (and to a lesser extent, the matte-screen option).

I spend a bit of time on PS, CAD, etc.

So, why not buy the 15" and hook in an external monitor? I wish things were so simple. I have two or three bases (parent's home, apartment, school) in which the computer will be used. I think I'd prefer the ability to utilise the hi-res in all of these circumstances.

My question is, as my eyes aren't the greatest, and I'll probably only want to use the native resolution (1920x1200) when working in the aforementioned programs, is it possible to turn the resolution down to, say, 1680x1050, without losing sharpness? For me, this is about the optimum resolution on a 17" screen for browsing.

(If I do end up deciding on the 17", is the matte-screen option the way to go? I've never owned a glossy screen in the past, but I can't really get comfortable in front of the ones in the store.)

It's a shame they don't offer anything higher than 1440x900 in the 15". If they did, my decision would be simple .

[ClockWork]

It seems to me you've already answered your own questions:

Go the 17" matte screen.

You've already decide.

[MissionMan]

+1 Matt 17"

[dekco]

another vote for the 17" matte camp . i saw my mates one in the flesh, and loved it! Have to admit the older 17" MBP had the nicer bezel

[iCarllovesapple]

Hey guys, I'm in the same position! I have a MBP Unibody 2.4Ghz and an iMac 24" 2.4ghz. The iMac has not been used in a month as the MBP is my primary device (Due to its portability). I love my MBP A lot. I've had no problems with it, and I think it's fantastic BUT.. I think of the future. I think of Snow Leopard, 2 years into the future and I see only 3 GHZ processors! By the time I sell this trusty MBP it'll be worth 800-1200 dollars! I've calculated that if I sell them both, I should get $5200. With that $5200 I can get the 17" 3.06ghz, 500GB 7200RPM and the Matte screen for $4639! With that extra $561 dollars I can buy some new accessories (Unlikely - It'll just go in the bank) etc etc.. So I am kind of stuck! Help

[ClockWork]

Carl - you are not stuck - you have everything you could possibly want.

There is little point in thinking of the future on these matters, as in 3 years time, SS Drives will have vastly dropped in price and then... a whole new generation of machines and operating systems will begin.

There is no way to keep up, unless you're a millionaire.
Corporations like Apple will keep churning out "New" stuff and for some reason I don't understand, people will feel inadequate unless they have the very latest thing.

One only needs these tools on the basis for what one "does", so all you need to think about is this:

What do I want to achieve that I currently cannot achieve with what I already have?

[iCarllovesapple]

Clockwork.. You are a wise man
I'll keep my Macbook Pro, but my iMac.. Hmmmm

[home]

Anybody care to comment on the usability of non-native resolutions (lower resolutions) on the 17"?

I'm really not sure I can deal with the 1920x1200 on a daily basis (outside of graphics programs).

I really need to make a firm decision on the 15" or 17" in the coming days.

Thanks, once more.

[dekco]

i think with the new 15" mbp, going to 17" is no brainer. If i remember correctly, the base model 15" has integrated graphics, and by the time you add the upgrades on the 15" the jump to 17" isnt that far off.

[Dux]

+ 17" matte

I can't stand the ultra glossy screens Apple has on the 13" and 15".

[home]

Yeah, price is pretty much negligible, especially after you tally in developer discount. I'm after the most suitable machine, not necessarily most affordable.

Yeah, I'm not huge on the glossy screen, either. But I'll live with it if it provides a better native resolution.

I'm still interested in hearing about experiences with lowering the resolution on the 17". Or other ways in which 17" owners deal with the high resolution (read: fine text, icons, etc.).

Thanks!

[sennen]

I have the new 17" with a glossy screen and absolutely love it. reflections are a non-issue for me - ie they just aren't that bad and easily overcome if in an environment with bad lighting. If i want to do high-end color correction, i will output to an external broadcast-standard CRT - would never rely on a notebook display, matte or glossy, if the work was that critical.

[home]

Back to the question at hand - who finds the resolution too small on the 17"?

If so, what do you do to deal with it?

[dekco]

nothing much you can do. i find the std and hi res very nice to work with (ive used both!)

the problem with changing resolution is, if you change it to something other than the native resolution, it will not be very nice. the display scaled.

[dotnet]

Originally Posted by home

Back to the question at hand - who finds the resolution too small on the 17"?

I don't find the resolution too small at all. It is the highest resolution you'll find on a 17" laptop display these days. Heck, it's 133dpi, compared to 110dpi on the 15.4" MBPs. Sure, the iPhone's display has a higher res still (165dpi), but it is a much smaller screen, too.

Do you mean "resolution too high" by any chance? As in, text too small? Well, the long-promised Resolution Independence (one of the much touted features of Leopard until it stopped being mentioned) was supposed to take care of that...

My eyes are now armed with multi-focals and can cope with the high-res, small text just fine. Just make sure the display is bright enough.

Cheers
Steffen.

[home]

^ Yes, sorry, I meant 'resolution too high'. I think it will be fine for most graphics applications, but just a bit of a hassle everywhere else.

OS scaling is meant to come out with snow leopard? Or was? Shit, that would solve all my issues. Any more details?

Thanks!

[dotnet]

Resolution Independence was first demoed as part of the early preview builds of Leopard. I've seen it in action at a Leopard TechTalk in February 2007. It was meant to give the user an option to choose a comfortable magnification ratio for the screen and deal with all the issues involved automatically. It was meant to look good (not like the control-mousewheel zoom).

Alas, it didn't make it into Leopard, and hasn't been mentioned in any of the Snow Leopard feature previews. I'm not too hopeful...

Cheers
Steffen.

EDIT Resolution Independence has actually been there in a way all along, among the Developer tools. If you run /Developer/Applications/Performance Tools/Quartz Debug.app you can pop up a GUI resolution slider with cmd-2, and play around with what Resolution Independence would have been. Maybe it works for you.