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15" standard vs. 15" hi-res

entatlrg said:
I had some luck, (I think :confused:) ... found a late '09 15" MacBook Pro, new in box, C2D, 2.8ghz I'll add ram to 8gb and put in my 256ssd when it arrives.

I hope it lasts until Apple brings out an anti glare display in normal resolution or offers resolution independence in future OS upgrades.

Until then I have the resolution I want, anti glare, no reflections no eye strain.

It just sucks to go backwards one model year to get the spec's I want in a notebook....
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I did find a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo antiglare model on the refurb store, but thing is, I can't get student discount on it. Not a big deal seeing as the refurb price is actually quite nice. But student discount also made AppleCare cost only £60.

I should maybe try and find out if I can get AppleCare for £60 on the refurb model.

I'm just scared I'll get a crap screen. Dead pixels etc, and then have to send it back, wait for a refund etc.
 
Kilamite said:
I did find a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo antiglare model on the refurb store, but thing is, I can't get student discount on it. Not a big deal seeing as the refurb price is actually quite nice. But student discount also made AppleCare cost only £60.

I should maybe try and find out if I can get AppleCare for £60 on the refurb model.

I'm just scared I'll get a crap screen. Dead pixels etc, and then have to send it back, wait for a refund etc.
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I think it's a great idea, you get the screen and resolution you want.

Even search Distributor sites/eBay? Try and find an '09 2.8 C2D that's new in unopened box, they're suddenly hard to find and seem to go fast.

Maybe others who and AG in the standard display are doing the same thing, lol. I did finally find one, should have it by the end of the week.
 
Here's my 2 cents.

Bought the hi-res AG 10 days ago, fonts (actually everything was too small), sent it back, got a refund.

Two days ago found an offer for the standard res, £100 Comet store discount (UK) and free Office 2008. Went to check it out and the standard glossy screen was actually very good! Bought one straight away! I'll be using it indoor only, 99% of time for surfing, in an environment with good lights, so the glare is not a problem for me. I found it very easy on the eyes, much easier than my previous MacBook Rev E.
 
Want to ask,

the anti-glare screen aka "matte"

does it look the same as the Anti-Glare screen protector we put onto iPhone ?
 
KWarp said:
With the high res option, images look beautiful. :D
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No.. they just look smaller.

At a normal viewing distance, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an image at 1440x900 on the standard res and an image at 1680x1050 on the high res. They'd look the same.
 
Kilamite said:
No.. they just look smaller.

At a normal viewing distance, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an image at 1440x900 on the standard res and an image at 1680x1050 on the high res. They'd look the same.
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On the contrary. Given two photos, you will obviously see more detail on the high res screen. I went to the Apple Store, opened up iPhoto, and compared both screens side-by-side. The sample photos were about 3600x2400 in raw pixels, so when you full-screen the same image on both Macs, the photo on the high-res screen looks a bit sharper.

Of course, appreciating such granular details depends on the individual. :rolleyes:
 
KWarp said:
On the contrary. Given two photos, you will obviously see more detail on the high res screen. I went to the Apple Store, opened up iPhoto, and compared both screens side-by-side. The sample photos were about 3600x2400 in raw pixels, so when you full-screen the same image on both Macs, the photo on the high-res screen looks a bit sharper.

Of course, appreciating such granular details depends on the individual. :rolleyes:
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If you are sitting back as opposed to having you face an inch away from the screen, then you won't notice much difference at all. I'm not saying there isn't a difference, I'm talking about sitting at a proper distance from the laptop screen.

Same argument for 1080p v 720p and distance back from your TV..
 
M-1 said:
If only snow leopard supported resolution independence! Do any of you believe Apple will actually implement resolution independence in the near future? That would almost make the hi-res a no brainer and a good decision in future proofing the thing. But if it that takes 2-4 more years to implement I'd rather not wait and take that chance.
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Nah, the :apple: has been promising that for half a decade now. But who knows, maybe an update to OSX will recognize the ppi on the macbooks and automatically increase text and icons if needed.
 
So I think I've finally made my choice - it's taken me long enough. I'm going to go for the standard resolution. As much as I really want the high res, I can't deny that for my eyes the text is damn small on everything I looked at on the HR. For the amount of time I spend on my computer each day and night, it's just not worth it for me. And it's not like it's a life long decision I have to live with. When my AppleCare expires in 3 years I'll be back here again agonising over some other decision to be made over which new model to choose. And in the meantime, my eyes will thank me, I'll still have higher resolution than I have right now, and maybe this whole resolution independence thing will finally be sorted. Ya never know!
 
meldl said:
So I think I've finally made my choice - it's taken me long enough. I'm going to go for the standard resolution. As much as I really want the high res, I can't deny that for my eyes the text is damn small on everything I looked at on the HR. For the amount of time I spend on my computer each day and night, it's just not worth it for me. And it's not like it's a life long decision I have to live with. When my AppleCare expires in 3 years I'll be back here again agonising over some other decision to be made over which new model to choose. And in the meantime, my eyes will thank me, I'll still have higher resolution than I have right now, and maybe this whole resolution independence thing will finally be sorted. Ya never know!
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Just don't go and damage your ears meantime as no doubt they'll have hi-res sound on the next version :)
 
I am going to get my first ever Mac! :D soon hopefully.. And have gone insane choosing between 13" and 15" and finally have decided I reaallyy want the 15"! But now, I have another mind tearing choice! Standard res or high res? I am 23 years old and have good eye sight.. my 15" dell I have now is 1280x800 which is quite useless to be honest.. really cramped.. So either way I will end up with way more pixels! But going from 1440x900 to 1680x1050 is even bigger than the first step up to 1440x900.. And I'm quite sceptic from reading all these threads about people thinking the text is too small.. Is it really that small? Of course now, on my laptop it's pretty big I guess.. But high-res is unreadable? really?
the DPI on the High-res is the same as on the 17" right? So the text would be similar? I went to an apple store but they didn't have any high-res 15" and almost forgot about the 17".. just had a quick look but it never appeared to me that this could be straining on my eyes after a couple of hours.. It's hard to do a "real" test at an apple store.. I mean, can't sit there and surf the web for 3 hours, right? :p
 
Non-Native Resolution

To be honest, I don't have really that great of eye sights.

To reduce eye strain, I need both low res + matte, so I went to the Apple store, and did a quick check on the high res matte running at non-native resolution (for me, 15" matte @ 1280x800 is a good choice. Not for most of you, but for me, it is).

Anyway, I actually don't find it that blurry when running at non-native resolution. So I would be happy to get the matte version, change the resolution to 1280x800.

I am sure most of you will not agree with me, but it is my choice. Just want to throw it out there and see if anyone interested to try out that option as well.

Obviously, if Mac OSX supports resolution independence, we wouldn't be having this conversation here...
 
I exchanged my high res for standard. I didn't like the small font everywhere and I like to game and the standard res will help in that department a bit.
 
Ordered my 15" MBP with standard resolution screen last Friday and it arrived today - still considered a custom order because of the HD - so I'm impressed with how quickly it arrived. AND I couldn't be happier with it The screen is gorgeous and such an improvement on my older MacBook but still easy on the eyes. Standard Res was definitely the right choice for me.
 
After almost two full weeks with my machine, I have to say that the HiRes does get too small in some apps. Sequel Pro and similar apps are hardly readable while other apps like Safari and firefox can scale the content of the webpage as well as terminal and other apps.

I really don't need the menus to be, just the content in every program. Alas, I don't want to take my machine back. I am just going to wait and hope for resolution independence which is hopefully sooner than later.

I love my machine, but the resolution is one of the biggest issues at the moment... If I had to do it over again, I just might get a non HiRes panel based on font sizes but it's not enough of an issue for me to take it back. (I have 20/20 vision)
 
I had a play about with a HR 15" in the shop this morning, and although the OS fonts were smaller, it didn't bother me much. I've yet to see what the HR is like in programs like Photoshop etc.
 
SonicBoom1981 said:
I had a play about with a HR 15" in the shop this morning, and although the OS fonts were smaller, it didn't bother me much. I've yet to see what the HR is like in programs like Photoshop etc.
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Did the same thing yesterday.

I guess if my eyes were pretty bad I would be concerned. But, isn't there a zoom feature on the majority of programs? Maybe I'm oversimplifying the issue.
 
meldl said:
Ordered my 15" MBP with standard resolution screen last Friday and it arrived today - still considered a custom order because of the HD - so I'm impressed with how quickly it arrived. AND I couldn't be happier with it The screen is gorgeous and such an improvement on my older MacBook but still easy on the eyes. Standard Res was definitely the right choice for me.
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Same for me, I'm happy with the quality and resolution of the screen, it was the right choice, but it's really a matter of personal taste, if you have a doubt just go to an apple store and play with both.
 
I dont have perfect eyesight, but I love my 15" HR matte display, its soooooo crisp. And when the text gets too small to read, I just do the opposite of pinching on the trackpad and voila! Pure bliss!
 
prism said:
I dont have perfect eyesight, but I love my 15" HR matte display, its soooooo crisp. And when the text gets too small to read, I just do the opposite of pinching on the trackpad and voila! Pure bliss!
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Above all I wanted the matte aspect of the screen, the resolution didn't even come into it.
 
Hi guys,

I just got my MBP Std Res 15" last night. Did not really have a chance to play around with it yet.

Its teaming up with a Dell 24" HR matte monitor so i dont really care about screen real estate or HR.

Hope to put up some pics over the weekend for those still sitting on the fence. :D
 
M-1 said:
Thanks for all your replies! It has been very helpful, although I get the feeling that there may be a bit of bias in that a majority of those on this forum have opted for the higher resolution... nothing wrong with that... just my observation. I suppose it speaks a lot for the higher res.

After reading your replies, it definitely appears that the higher res is the popular decision but I'm still on the fence. I keep thinking I want the higher resolution, but am still bothered by the difference in scaling.
snip..................
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It's only more popular in this biased group of internet forum dwellers. I'd be willing to bet the vast majority of MBP's (with both resolution options) are sold with the standard resolution. I would also be willing to bet the vast majority of those standard resolution buyers are perfectly happy with the display resolution.

This subject has been beat to death ~~~~~ :rolleyes:

cheers
JohnG
 
johnnymg said:
It's only more popular in this biased group of internet forum dwellers. I'd be willing to bet the vast majority of MBP's (with both resolution options) are sold with the standard resolution.
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Unfair comparison (if you can call it that - If both resolutions were offered at the same cost, the case would be much different).
Quite frankly, 1440x900 is just to low for a 15" display these days. 1680x1050 should be the standard. Having used my HR AG MBP for a few days, I couldn't begin to imagine dealing with the 1440 display (dealing with 1280x800 on a 13" display was torture enough)- 1680x1050 is simply the perfect resolution for a 15" display. It feels cheap and patronizing of Apple to offer a low resolution 1440x900 display for a supposed "professional" computer.
 
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