1024x768 really acceptable?

[Sean7512]

Well, after 2 months of figuring out which mac to get, I FINALLY decided on the 14" iBook. I do have ONE concern with it. I remember only about 2 years ago when websites started t recommend at least a 800x600 resolution, and earlier this year, almost ALL sites recommend 1024x768, so how long before they even go beyond 1024x768 (1152x864, possibly)? Once websites change again, in possibly 2 years...I'll have to start side scrolling, and that is no fun!! I know that there is a hack that can power an external monitor at a higher resolution, but is there any way that you can up the iBooks resolution with the hack. (I know you prob can't) I just don't want to have to buy an external screen for something like that.

PS, don't tell me to buy the 12 inch iBook because of the resolution, I personally felt the keyboard was too cramped, and hard to type on. Esp since I'll be writing a lot of papers for college on it.

 

[lfielder06]

No, lcds have a certain number of pixels. They are not like crts where you can up the resolution to what ever you want. I would think that that resolution should be fine for a good while. You never know what the future holds, but since you are planning on an ibook the 15" powerbook would be the next step up in screen resolution. The 15" is way more expensive than what the ibook is so i would recomend that you get the 14" and enjoy it. You will like it for years to come.

 

[Capt Underpants]

PS, don't tell me to buy the 12 inch iBook because of the resolution, I personally felt the keyboard was too cramped, and hard to type on. Esp since I'll be writing a lot of papers for college on it.

Isn't it the same keyboard?

 

[bodeh6]

I believe the 12" and 14" iBooks have the same keyboard and the 12", 15", 17" PBs have the same keyboard.

 

[Sean7512]

I believe the 12" and 14" iBooks have the same keyboard and the 12", 15", 17" PBs have the same keyboard.

Are you sure? I was at the Apple store today, and I was messing around with Word. I had a lot of trouble typing on the 12", whereas I typed perfectly on the 14". hmmmm, maybe it is a mind thing. On that note, I'll have to go look at them again. I think I like everything on the screen being a little bigger anyways, so im not squinting while doing papers. But the keyboard thing is really boggling my mind

 

[Capt Underpants]

I believe the 12" and 14" iBooks have the same keyboard and the 12", 15", 17" PBs have the same keyboard.

My thoughts exactly... but back on topic:

For about six months, I used my 12" PB's 1024x768 screen as my main monitor, and I had absolutely no worries. This will obviously depend on what programs you were using. On average, I was using three programs: Safari, Adium, and iTunes. All 3 seemed to fit well on a 1024x768 screen. I used the iTunes mini player to save space.

 

[homerjward]

I believe the 12" and 14" iBooks have the same keyboard and the 12", 15", 17" PBs have the same keyboard.

yes, but the 14" ibook or the bigger powerbooks have more room around the keyboard. when ive gone to a store or whatever ive also found it much easier to type on a bigger 'book.

 

[Sean7512]

For about six months, I used my 12" PB's 1024x768 screen as my main monitor, and I had absolutely no worries. This will obviously depend on what programs you were using. On average, I was using three programs: Safari, Adium, and iTunes. All 3 seemed to fit well on a 1024x768 screen. I used the iTunes mini player to save space.

Ya, on my family's eMac, I use 1024x768, and LOVE IT! But it does have the ability to go up to 1280x960 which I like, so in the future for websites, you can always change it with one click of a mouse. If 1024x768 will be the standard for some time now, then I would have no problems with it...but Im jsut not sure about that happening...

 

[bodeh6]

1024x768 is a very good resolution for todays laptops. Do you know that there are a lot of PC laptops with 14" and 15" screens that are still XGA? The Dell Inspirion 5150 that my sis has goes up to 1600x1200 but she leaves it set at 1024x768 because at max res, everything is too small. For every day tasks (web browsing, typing, iTunes, etc) it is fine. If you work with photos or video you will enjoy the extra space of a higher res screen.

 

[ksz]

On the other hand, the 1680x1050 resolution on my 15.4" Dell is such a liberating experience. (Can't say that about Windows itself.)

Apple should have increased the screen resolution on the 14" iBook. Is it still 1024x768? Geez, what year is this?

 

[Sean7512]

I will be using Photoshop, but not heavily...I do not need all that screen space. I will use iMovie for making home movies and such, but i've been using 1024x768 on my eMac now, so Im sure that won't be a problem either. Im mainly concerned about websites, cause I don't want to start side scrolling now.

 

[Capt Underpants]

I will be using Photoshop, but not heavily...I do not need all that screen space. I will use iMovie for making home movies and such, but i've been using 1024x768 on my eMac now, so Im sure that won't be a problem either. Im mainly concerned about websites, cause I don't want to start side scrolling now.

So you are asking when we think websites will go above a recommended resolution of 1024x768? Personally, I think it will be a long time. So many computers (especially laptops) are currently shipping with 1024x768 displays. Not to mention the of old 1024x768 monitors, or the old folk who use low resolutions so they can see better! Website makers wouldn't want to inconvenience that many potential viewers. IMO, it'll be a while.

 

[.Andy]

I think they keyboard thing might be psycological Sean7512 . ALthough I admit I haven't had a play with the new books.

As far as your thoughts on resolution I'm not sure websites will get much bigger than they already are (width-wise). The design trend these days is to maintain a websites width with large padding at the margins - take the Apple homepage or macworld for instance. Pages like macrumors and spymac seem to be being phased out in preference for a more streamlined look. This is required to maintain a decent looking layout as well as keeping the view on par with the portrait view we are used to on paper.

There also has to be a maximum amount of data a webpage displays at once before it turns into a trainwreck. Too many pages make this mistake at 1024 by cramming everything onto one page. I'd say it would be quite a challenge to design a page to fill a 20" widescreen monitor's width without overloading it with data that should be further down the structural heirachy.

You also have to take into account that it is physically impossible for laptops resolution to get much higher without the text becoming illegible. I know some PC laptops are higher but i think they are verging on unusable for most people when it comes to text. I wouldn't want my 12" powerbooks text to get much smaller. But this is personal taste to a certain extent. For photoshop and like programs I imagine a higher resolution would be fantastic though.

But then again who knows what web-design fashion will be in the future. Either way a 1024x768 will have to last you at least 5 years at the very least .

 

[Sean7512]

Alright thanks for the replies, everyone! I do not want to start a new thread, so I'm gonna post 2 other concerns I have, and then I'm all set to order on Monday!!

1. Does the iBook come with that computer lock thing so you can lock it down. Im sure that lots of laptops grow legs in college. And, where can I find these locks?

2. Im entering as a Computer and Information Science major, so how badly of a dissadvantage does it put me having a Apple comp over a Windows one? Im sure that they will be focusing on the Windows programming, so I wasn't sure if VPC would be fast enough to use the prgrams I'd be using (Im guessing like Visual Basic and such)? I know that I can always go down to the comp lab at campus, but it'd be nice to know that I can work on projects on my iBook.

Thanks again

 

[.Andy]

1. Yes!

2. Dunno - didn't do CS .

 

[amin]

Alright thanks for the replies, everyone! I do not want to start a new thread, so I'm gonna post 2 other concerns I have, and then I'm all set to order on Monday!!

1. Does the iBook come with that computer lock thing so you can lock it down. Im sure that lots of laptops grow legs in college. And, where can I find these locks?

2. Im entering as a Computer and Information Science major, so how badly of a dissadvantage does it put me having a Apple comp over a Windows one? Im sure that they will be focusing on the Windows programming, so I wasn't sure if VPC would be fast enough to use the prgrams I'd be using (Im guessing like Visual Basic and such)? I know that I can always go down to the comp lab at campus, but it'd be nice to know that I can work on projects on my iBook.

Thanks again

1 - As stated above, yes

2 - If you do a lot of work in Windows, a Mac will frustrate you, at least until the Intel Macs come out. VPC is just plain sluggish, no matter what OS you use and how you tweak it.

As for the original question, 1024x768 is in my opinion a good resolution for a 12" screen, but for more than 13", I prefer to have more pixels, not only for workspace, but for clarity. There's no substitute for personal judgement however. My 12" PB screen did not leave me significantly wanting, but I think the 14" iBook should have more.

 

[madmaxmedia]

The 14" iBook would probably have more pixels if there wasn't such a logjam in the Apple notebook lineup. Once the PowerBooks start getting the high-end Intel CPU's, I think you'll see improvements down the line, such as a higher-res 14" iBook or even finally the widescreen iBook.

One thing about the 14". Although it's the same exact resolution, I think in reality you will end up with a little more usable area. In most apps you set your font size (web browser) or magnification (in Word/Excel). With a 14" screen you're probably going to choose a smaller size, so end up with more information on the screen than a 12" monitor.

Of course, many thing will be identical though (like system fonts, size of window margins, etc.)

 

[Sean7512]

2 - If you do a lot of work in Windows, a Mac will frustrate you, at least until the Intel Macs come out. VPC is just plain sluggish, no matter what OS you use and how you tweak it.

Hmm...Well, I REALLY don't want to go back to Windows after using this eMac for a year, I got spoiled. Are there any CS majors on this board? I need help, I guess that I'll just have to spend time in the Comp Lab...if there are any CS majors here, please help me.

 

[Snarf]

I just graduated from a CS program, but I didn't have a mac in college. That said, it wouldn't have mattered anyway since virtually everything I did was in Unix. Perhaps you should investigate the program you're entering into some more? If it's mostly Unix based you should be fine with a mac, however if you'll be working in Windows often perhaps it would be a better idea to go with a pc. (I don't like that notion anymore than you do.)

Having owned a 12" powerbook for a month, it was a bit of a pain to code on such a small screen. I recently sent it back, decided I didn't NEED the portability and got a 20" iMac.

 

[MacHarne]

I remember only about 2 years ago when websites started t recommend at least a 800x600 resolution, and earlier this year, almost ALL sites recommend 1024x768, so how long before they even go beyond 1024x768 (1152x864, possibly)? Once websites change again, in possibly 2 years...I'll have to start side scrolling, and that is no fun!!

Most websites are hardly 800 pixels wide. Many of them are written to "stretch" to the width of whatever window you have open so if you did a fullscreen Safari window on a 30" display, it would still pull it out to the ends.

I don't think the online display resolution recommendations stem from size of pixels, per se, but rather from image quality. On an 800x600 display you are severely limited in terms of the physical size an image can reach. The restraint is much less of a 1024x768 display and then dwindles further as you increase screen resolution.

The resolution doesn't phase me and I stare into this 12" screen for hours every day. I do have an external monitor, but I'm often mobile and rely solely on this display. From my experiences with various Apple laptops and Windows-running laptops, it just feels and looks like 1024x768 on a Mac is visually better than 1024x768 on a Windows-running machine. Perhaps, that is my unconscious prejudice or perhaps it has something to do with the Core Image factor, but I think 1024x768 is great on Macs.

 

[Sean7512]

I just graduated from a CS program, but I didn't have a mac in college. That said, it wouldn't have mattered anyway since virtually everything I did was in Unix. Perhaps you should investigate the program you're entering into some more? If it's mostly Unix based you should be fine with a mac, however if you'll be working in Windows often perhaps it would be a better idea to go with a pc. (I don't like that notion anymore than you do.)

http://cis.stvincent.edu/courses.html That is a list of the courses and their descriptions that is available to me. I'm not sure if these would be Unix courses or Windows. Do you know?

 

[Mood]

defintiely acceptable for the 12 inch ibook, i don't see why you need to get smlaler than that

 

[Jeromie]

http://cis.stvincent.edu/courses.html That is a list of the courses and their descriptions that is available to me. I'm not sure if these would be Unix courses or Windows. Do you know?

From looking at this page and this one it sounds like at least a chunk of the work is done in windows using Visual Studio. (Primarily sounds like a lot of VC++.)

If you want to be able to run this well, it would probably require a Windows laptop. Note that they recommend doing the work in the lab anyway, though.

 

[Sean7512]

If you want to be able to run this well, it would probably require a Windows laptop. Note that they recommend doing the work in the lab anyway, though.

So, do you think I should be fine with an iBook, or should I start looking at Gateway?

 

[G5Unit]

So, do you think I should be fine with an iBook, or should I start looking at Gateway?

Ahh! Gateway!

(Faints)


Get the ibook for sure.

1 ibook= 3-5 years
1 gateway= 1-1 1/2 years