11" MacBook Air - Do you mind the odd screen ratio?

[rekhyt]

MacBook Air 11" users - do you mind the odd screen ratio that you are using now? It's a bit odd for Apple to switch to this all of a sudden from the good old 16:10 ratio. I understand that it was necessary to conserve space, but... :|

Do you mind? Why/why not?

[impulse462]

I actually love it.

I'm in the process of watching The Office, and whenever I watch fullscreen there never are any black bars on the top or bottom. Not that that's a huge *deal breaker* for me, but it does look rather nice.

[hollerz]

I actually prefer it! I wish my iMac was 16:9!

[jdee2wheels]

The aspect ratio is really annoying to me. Its one of the reasons that I've held off on buying the computer. Sure its nice when you're watching movies, but especially for MS Office I think its less than ideal.

[anand.rohira]

Originally Posted by jdee2wheels

The aspect ratio is really annoying to me. Its one of the reasons that I've held off on buying the computer. Sure its nice when you're watching movies, but especially for MS Office I think its less than ideal.

i totally agree, one of the reasons, i am gonna buy the 13 inch mba and not 11 inch mba , is the aspect ratio........

laptops r meant for ms office, and web browing, for which 4:3 aspect ratio is best !!
but now since almost all manufacturers (exept panasonic) have stopped with 4:3 (which sucks), i am forced to go for 16:10..........


a 16: 9 is definately a big NO for me !!!

i hav my TV for watchinf The Office and movies !!

[hollerz]

Originally Posted by jdee2wheels

The aspect ratio is really annoying to me. Its one of the reasons that I've held off on buying the computer. Sure its nice when you're watching movies, but especially for MS Office I think its less than ideal.

Guess it depends how you like to use it. I use my 11" primarily for university, and I either have Pages open "full screen" with 2-up view, or when researching, Safari covering the left half of the screen and Pages in 1-up view covering the right (using Divvy).

Sure, more height wouldn't go amiss, but I love how small it is!

[Over Achiever]

I don't notice it at all really.

[GekkePrutser]

I don't have a MBA yet, waiting for the right version to be in stock in the refurb store But I have a 22" screen on my Mac Mini with the same Aspect ratio. I love it. Lots of room for open windows and on the side I have Skype, MSN etc and they're never in the way like on a 4:3 screen. Also it's brilliant for full-screen TV series like someone mentioned above.

[Mac32]

The 16:9 screen ratio is definately a negative trend at the moment. Rather clumsy and awkward for everything on PC expect watching movies. However, the MBA 11.6' is still a great overall package. It's a lot more portable than the 13' MBA, and because of the high screen resolution it's OK..
I'm very happy with my 11.6', and haven't regretted buying it for a second.

[jamesryanbell]

I'm pretty sure this is going to be my next laptop.

[trip1ex]

The screen ratio is made for poor college and high school students not the rest of us.

[Mr. Savage]

The ratio was borne of necessity but, for me and my uses, it is almost exactly wrong: It gives more of the horizontal screen real estate, which I don't need, while offering less of the vertical, which I do need. The whole reason why I got a 13. Well, that and the 13 has those optimally sized palm rests as another big plus.

[BlackMax]

Originally Posted by impulse462

I actually love it.

+1

I love it too.

[Scott6666]

I don't think of it as short in height. I just think of it as having extra pixels wide.

So what's not to like about the extra pixels?

Actually, it's fine. The DPI can be a little tiny at times but I'm old and I can handle it.

I'd never go back to a heavy book.

[gglockner]

When I upgraded from the 13" Rev C to the 11" Rev D, I was worried about the screen size. Then I discovered that the 11" Rev D had a greater pixel density, so the overall screen height is good enough for my mobile needs.

The screen ratio is a non-issue for me.

[Scottsdale]

I hate it. The resolution seems unnatural on the 11" MBA. The biggest problem is the bezel itself. It just looks weird. The next problem is I feel like it has lost height and I am losing part of the screen.

Now, I love the 27" LED ACD, but it's so big that it doesn't matter that it is 16x9 as I am usually using two pages side by side. On the 11" MBA it doesn't fit two pages across, and it's missing the bottom of web pages and etc.

I love the 13" MBA not just for 16x10 but also for the great resolution. I would recommend anyone thoroughly test the apps they will commonly use before buying an 11" MBA. However, that being said, with my 27" ACD, I feel like the MBA is still plenty capable as a primary Mac. It is ultraportable and yet turns into an instant desktop.

I cannot wait until they all have Thunderbolt and the ACDs have FW, USB 3.0, and etc without any need for the ports on the Macs as Thunderbolt can do it all. The next ACDs will feel even more like docking stations than current and will require one small Thunderbolt connection for all capabilities.

[firewood]

I like the extra display width of the 11" display over the iPad's 10". The short display height makes the MBA 11 more portable than an iPad + BT keyboard.

And if I want to look at a real full page height image, the MBA 11 can drive a 27" monitor.

[UnseenLlama]

Originally Posted by Scottsdale

I hate it. The resolution seems unnatural on the 11" MBA. The biggest problem is the bezel itself. It just looks weird. The next problem is I feel like it has lost height and I am losing part of the screen.

Now, I love the 27" LED ACD, but it's so big that it doesn't matter that it is 16x9 as I am usually using two pages side by side. On the 11" MBA it doesn't fit two pages across, and it's missing the bottom of web pages and etc.

I love the 13" MBA not just for 16x10 but also for the great resolution. I would recommend anyone thoroughly test the apps they will commonly use before buying an 11" MBA. However, that being said, with my 27" ACD, I feel like the MBA is still plenty capable as a primary Mac. It is ultraportable and yet turns into an instant desktop.

Definitely agree with you on the screen resolution. I went to the store to use both the 11" and 13" side by side. I love the size of the 11", but in the end, the screen on the 13" won me over. It's not THAT much bigger than the 11" anyways.

Ended up purchasing a refurbished 13" with the 256gb SSD and will be using it as my primary computer. After using a regular Macbook Pro, the one thing that stands out on both MBAs is the responsiveness of the SSD. Opening, reloading, bootup, etc are all faster than a regular spinning drive. I was actually getting to a point where I was annoyed by the delay the HDD was creating in overall use.

[rekhyt]

Originally Posted by hollerz

Guess it depends how you like to use it. I use my 11" primarily for university, and I either have Pages open "full screen" with 2-up view, or when researching, Safari covering the left half of the screen and Pages in 1-up view covering the right (using Divvy).

Sure, more height wouldn't go amiss, but I love how small it is!

Sorry if this is unrelated, but in your signature it says you have an iMac. Do you have that at home or you have that in your dorm room in uni?

Originally Posted by Scottsdale

I hate it. The resolution seems unnatural on the 11" MBA. The biggest problem is the bezel itself. It just looks weird. The next problem is I feel like it has lost height and I am losing part of the screen.

Now, I love the 27" LED ACD, but it's so big that it doesn't matter that it is 16x9 as I am usually using two pages side by side. On the 11" MBA it doesn't fit two pages across, and it's missing the bottom of web pages and etc.

I love the 13" MBA not just for 16x10 but also for the great resolution. I would recommend anyone thoroughly test the apps they will commonly use before buying an 11" MBA. However, that being said, with my 27" ACD, I feel like the MBA is still plenty capable as a primary Mac. It is ultraportable and yet turns into an instant desktop.

I cannot wait until they all have Thunderbolt and the ACDs have FW, USB 3.0, and etc without any need for the ports on the Macs as Thunderbolt can do it all. The next ACDs will feel even more like docking stations than current and will require one small Thunderbolt connection for all capabilities.

I agree with the screen ratio. The one that is default on the MB and MBPs right now is good. Do you feel any form of lag when you hook it up to the ACD? I'm not exactly sure about the 'turns into an instant desktop' statement. I'm afraid that if I buy a MacBook Air and browse lots of websites on Chrome (Currently have 10 concurrent tabs right now on my MBP.), I will feel extreme lag.