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17" - Has anyone bought the matte display and regretted it?

phased said:
Alright, thought I'd pop back in and offer my two cents.

I couldn't decide between the glossy or matte, so I decided to buy the glossy and give it a whirl, knowing I could return it within 14 days. I strongly believed that by using the glossy it would merely consolidate my decision to go with the matte.

Anyway, after about a week, I can say that I am not entirely dissatisfied with the glossy. I think some accounts of glare have been exaggerated. Now, in my case, it's largely a desktop replacement, so I don't really have to deal with changing lighting conditions.

I will return the laptop tomorrow, and upgrade to the higher processor and faster HD, and probably the matte screen. Not because I dislike the glossy, just that I can get the same quality out of the matte without needing to worry about lighting conditions. The sacrifice I will be making is only aesthetic (glossy looks nicer IMO), but this is a machine for school, so I'm afraid it's function over form for me.

Well, I've tried to be as unbiased as possible. As a portable machine, I can't really see why anybody would select the glossy over the matte (unless they were hung up on the looks).

I will pick matte, but that's not to say the glossy isn't tempting me. After all, I'm a designer. It's all about the look.

Anyway, hope this helps.

Also, so happy I've gone with the 17". The added real estate and resolution is incredible. And they size, very manageable. Almost the same weight as my last 15" laptop!
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I think the Matte version is only available online, at least that was how it was before.
 
I bought the 15" MacBook Pro, which comes standard with a glossy screen and I am extremely happy with the glossy, and if I had a choice between glossy and matte, I would choose glossy. I have an iMac G5, which is a matte, and when I was first using the MacBook Pro, it simply blew me away, it was so much better than the screen on my iMac!

Be warned though, dust and marks show up more on the glossy - I thought it was a dust magnet, but it turns out I have the same amount of dust on my matte and my glossy, it just shows up more on the glossy, so take that into account.

:D:apple:
 
Matte Here

I went with the matte screen because my wife has a HP 15" glossy and just being under the lights in my house made it hard to see the screen at times. I have no glare issues with my 17" MBP matte. I can take it outside or use in inside. I love it and basically it's a personal preference thing.
 
If anybody has seen the 17" with matte screen in an Apple store (as opposed to just online), could you please comment? Thanks...
 
macbook123 said:
Can you comment more on this? Which store and when did you see it?
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They have the 17" Matte on display in the Apple Store in Glasgow. I was under the impression that they sold it in store too - I'm sure some people here have mentioned that.

Maybe someone can clarify if you can actually buy it in store.
 
i'm debating between the 15 and 17 and the matte/glossy debate. I went and saw all three combo at my local apple store (walt witman) and still can't decide what i want/need. I'm going back for my masters in interactive multimedia so i'll be doing final cut, maya, flash photoshop etc. to make matters more interesting i have a 20" imac and use it as my main computer. This new laptop will be more powerful then my current imac and will come in handy when doing projects. I like the 17 but the foot print is so large when compared to the 15. I"m used to the 15 cause my PB is 15 which is nice for the few times I travel on vacation.
Any students use the 17" in class? Does it fit on those tiny desks?
 
i have a 17 inch matte and i bring it to school everyday. I can say that they do fit on the desks at school with no problem. And I dont think that they have that much bigger of a footprint compared to the 15 inch. My friends previous gen 15 inch looks just as big as my 17
 
I got my original 17'' matte replaced with another 17'' matte, and the second one is much worse in quality.

The first was perfect imo, while the second one has uneven backlighting on the screen. There seem to be four vertical columns of alternating dark/light areas when you view a black screen with the backlight turned up.

And there seem to be blotches of bright light throughout the screen.

I didn't notice any of these problems on the first one. I guess it is just quality control.
 
puckhead193 said:
i'm debating between the 15 and 17 and the matte/glossy debate. I went and saw all three combo at my local apple store (walt witman) and still can't decide what i want/need. I'm going back for my masters in interactive multimedia so i'll be doing final cut, maya, flash photoshop etc. to make matters more interesting i have a 20" imac and use it as my main computer. This new laptop will be more powerful then my current imac and will come in handy when doing projects. I like the 17 but the foot print is so large when compared to the 15. I"m used to the 15 cause my PB is 15 which is nice for the few times I travel on vacation.
Any students use the 17" in class? Does it fit on those tiny desks?
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If you print things, the matte screen is going to give you a truer preview than the glossy. The glossy can enhance the color to the point you won't see what you get. That is what I was told, and I don't regret getting a 17" matte. I am a journalism major in school so when I take photos I'd like a true representation. Also, the glare in the store alone was a lot, and since the screen in large it is hard to adjust it so prevent glare unlike a 13".
 
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