Bought a 15 inch, glossy. Mistake?

[amarcus]

Well this is my trying to be objective:

Glossy
-Reflections
+Easier to clean
+More durable
+Less expensive

Anti-glare
+No reflections
-Harder to clean
-Less durable
-More expensive

Myths:
-Color accuracy of anti-glare is better than glossy.

Adam

 

[mschaef]

My MBP 13 is glossy, but I come from a long line of matte displays. Glossy was one of my bigger 'cons' in my 'do I really want this Mac?' pro/con list.

Having lived with glossy for a month, here are some current thoughts on the whole glossy/matte display thing:

• In the right lighting, glossy looks better... blacks are blacker, so the display looks more contrasty, which I like.
  
• In the normal (indoor) scenarios under which I use the computer, glare is noticeable if you look for it. That said, it typically 'recedes into the background'. By this I mean that I can see reflections, but unless I'm looking for them, I don't usually notice them.
  
• While they're rare, there are a few cases where glare is an issue. I've managed them in a couple ways: Tilting the display, moving myself, or switching to a lighter window background. I have not found a case where my glossy display was not usable. (And I have found a few cases where my previous matte display laptop couldn't be used: strong oblique light hitting the display would make it impossible to read due to glare from the display.)
  
• I've never been able to use any computer, matte or glossy, in outdoor scenarios, unless there's a lot of shade. There's too much glare either way, and the choice between matte and glossy is the choice between blurry glare and focused glare. If I seriously wanted to use a computer regularly outdoors, I'd look for a machine specifically designed to do it. (eg: Lenovo sells a high-nit display on the T400 that's three times brighter than the normal display.)
  
• Shade works wonders for outdoor use... I used my glossy MBP outdoors yesterday, while sitting in the shade.
  

Bottom line for me is this: I like them both, but wouldn't go out of my way to buy or avoid either. (What I would go out of my way to buy are features like Dell's RGBLED, or an IPS display, or Lenovo's high-nit display, if I needed it.)

One other comment is about resolution. I would not let the 1680x1050 on the high res screens scare me away... it's nice to have if you can get it. My Dell had a 15.4" 1920x1200 display, which was a wonderful amount of screen real-estate to have. (I miss it on this 1280x800 MBP, but thanks to spaces, not nearly as much as you might think. Once I start doing more with Interface Builder, that might change.)

 

[stillboarding]

definitely anti-glare hi-rez

glossy is the way to go. antiglare is ugly.

I would NEVER consider the glass glossy version, regardless of how much extra Apple charges for anti-glare. I can't work with all that reflection.
Although I'll have to admit Apple is picking our pockets by not making the choice a default option!

 

[rawd]

FWIW, I had a glossy ordered until I saw the pics on these forums. I initially wanted the standard res in matte (which doesnt exist) but settled for the standard res glossy. After seeing the user photos, I had to cancel and re-order.

 

[DesmoPilot]

If you ask me, paying the premium price that you pay for these notebooks and getting the low resolution screen (1440x900) is a crime. It's a little laughable that Apple even offers such a low resolution on a professional grade product such as the MacBook Pro.

 

[Passenger88]

It's really personal peference as said a couple times above. Reading what you said, I would go for the antiglare. But I was in doubt also and finally it comes down to comparing in stores or by people with Macbooks.

The looks are better with the glossy with the black keyboard now days. But looks aren't more important over functionality in my opinion. You don't buy an Apple to show it around do you? Well some people do

 

[wolf99]

Regarding the High-Resolution. The sales assistant in the apple store told me, that I can compare it with the resolution on the (old) 17- inch. This was to small for me so I decided to go with the normal resolution.

In the store the glossy was of course shiny but I thought it wouldn't be this way at home.

However, i thought there might have been a change in the screens. Otherwise sorry for this thread, I know there are a lot of...

For those who liked to see a picture:

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

4: Worth it just to piss off all the nuggets that say glossy is pants!

I have absolutely no idea what this means, but I'm in favor of pants, so....yeah.

One thing I've noticed as a glasses wearer is that I don't notice the reflections half as much as my wife does when she uses my laptop. Maybe my coatings are cutting down the glare already...I don't know for sure. Again, yet one more reason you should really try and see both side by side before spending your money. This is difficult if you aren't near a store selling both but you should try before you buy.

And as for the durability issues....what makes the AG screens more fragile? Other than cosmetic issues (smudges)?

And finally, if all else fails, you can always add an AG film to a glossy screen. You can't add a glossy film to an AG screen. I was at the Apple store this evening getting my THIRD replacement battery for my 2007 MBP (still covered under Applecare). While there I looked at the new MBP's...they had a glossy and an AG side-by-side (albeit not same configs). The boy-in-blue asked me which I liked the looks of better. It was night and the display table was up front so I had the normal Apple store lighting plus some of the front window display lighting. In that light, I still preferred the glossy. He said most people did, especially in less-than-sunlight conditions. He even pulled up a website to show me where I could get the film if I later decided I wanted AG. I'm very excited to get my 2010 glossy MBP tomorrow and put this one into the reserve status.