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I think this is a huge plus for a laptop. I wouldnt and dont want people behind me looking and reading what I'm doing. I will be a 3L this fall and as I chat/surf the web during class I dont want my classmate behind me knowing what I'm doing. Furthermore, when I have an outline open or taking notes, the person won't be able to copy either ( i dont really care about this that much, though).

That's why I like my 1920x1200 display. Makes it REALLY hard for someone behind ya to read what's on your screen. :D
 
I chose matte. I go to Arizona State where the sun is almost always shining so anytime I wanna use it outside it works just fine.
 
Hmm, I'm in the same predicament. I'm starting to lean towards matte (I was originally planning to go glossy), but I've been hearing very mixed opinions as to matte's performance outdoors in the sun. I'm going to a college in Southern California this fall, and I saw a lot of people lying outside in the sun surfing the web/using their laptops. I recently came back from a trip, and my matte 17" PB was absolutely useless outside in the sun. "Angling" the screen did not help at all.

I've also been hearing that, over time, glossy can strain the eyes after long periods of usage, compared to matte. And in my dorm room, there's a giant flourescent light on the ceiling right over my shoulder, so I'm beginning to feel glossy won't be an option, as much as I like the vivid colors. :(

If anyone here can correct me, please do. And yes, I've been to the Apple Store numerous times to compare matte vs. glossy, and I keep changing my mind. It's very frustrating.
 
I recently came back from a trip, and my matte 17" PB was absolutely useless outside in the sun. "Angling" the screen did not help at all.

That's how my 12 iBook was, it just absolutely sucked outdoors, with the older displays it's more of a problem of the display itself rather than the fact it was matte.
 
I'm glad you started this thread because I'm in the same boat..well kind of.

I'm not getting a new computer for school but I will eventually be upgrading to a macbook pro and I can't decide what to get. Some swear by glossy some swear by matte.

I think you'll do just fine adjusting to whatever you choose.


I leave for college tomorrow :)
 
has nothing to do with the quality but... i found that my profs liked touching my screen to point at stuff rather than just pointing without touching and if i had a glossy it would drive me bananas. my friend has glossy and she cleans it after ever day because of other ppl touching it
 
has nothing to do with the quality but... i found that my profs liked touching my screen to point at stuff rather than just pointing without touching and if i had a glossy it would drive me bananas. my friend has glossy and she cleans it after ever day because of other ppl touching it

I had an older coworker who had this habit with our work LCDs as well. I notice that us younger folk would not touch it with our fingers, but she didn't hesitate to point and poke the screen. Just another argument for matte.
 
I have both.. a glossy dell and a matte ibook. From my experience last year, matte is better. Most classrooms have windows in them and you can't really control where they are in relation to the desks, so this can give you some weird glare. In addition, this may also happen in your dorm (your roommate might want the room a different way and you might get stuck with glare).

Matte is just the safer way to go.
 
UC Davis student here-got the 17'' Macbook Pro matte screen with a Vyper sleeve. LOVE IT. I don't do any graphic editing, though. The glossy looks beautiful, but it is prone to some glare issues. I tend to pull my MBP at random times when out and about, and feel the matte screen holds up better
 
i really gotta beg to differ with ya there...like you said matte has the same problem > IF < you angle screen directly at the light? yo man what kinda statement is that lol

Get the matte, you'll be happy especially when you don't have to waste time re-aligning the screen around in classrooms and lecture halls with the lighting rather than actual taking notes

If you bothered to think about it first, it should be apparent that it means don't tilt your screen back so its pointing right at the light source or you'll have glare problems with either screen, matte or glossy.

I've used both, which I can't say the same for you, and both matte and glossy screens have nearly the same problems with glare. If you're sitting with your back to a bright light source and can't avoid angling the screen directly at it, you are going to get glare. Glossy or matte has no effect.
 
If you bothered to think about it first, it should be apparent that it means don't tilt your screen back so its pointing right at the light source or you'll have glare problems with either screen, matte or glossy.

I've used both, which I can't say the same for you, and both matte and glossy screens have nearly the same problems with glare. If you're sitting with your back to a bright light source and can't avoid angling the screen directly at it, you are going to get glare. Glossy or matte has no effect.

I've had both, and in the same positon, the matte has far less glare. On the mbp, the glare is spread out, so what you see is more of an aura around the light source. With the glossy, the screen acts like a perfect mirror. When I went to my local Frys, I saw that the matte screens looked pretty good, but when I got to the glossy, all I could see was the overhead lighting...for rows and rows. Glossy is very much more reflective. Even good tilting can't always solve your problems. Either way, the OP needs to get to a store so he can check this out for himself. Nothing we can write here will change his personal perceptions.
 
I got matte, although I didn't really give it any thought at the time. "My MBP is a tool not a toy" is something along the lines of what I thought at the time, regardless of how untrue it might be... (I have 70gb music/movies on it).

At any rate I have no complaints whatsoever (or at least not about the matte screen).
 
I just got a matte MBP for school about two months ago... My sister just got a new HP notebook last week and it has a glossy display.

I have to say, I'm pretty happy that I went with matte. Even though my sister's glossy screen looks great in rooms with not too much light (I would even go as far as to say it looks better than my matte), the reflections really got unbearable after a while. Just sitting in her room setting up the notebook, I had to readjust the screen/notebook like 10 times to try to reduce the glare.

So in my opinion, the glossy really does look good... but it just isn't practical because of the glare issue. Go with matte.
 
I have been reading about people saying their matte screen is useless in direct sunlight. however, I dont think i will ever be using my mbp directly under sun. would the matte screen be readable without squinting if i were under a tree on a sunny day?
 
I've had both, and in the same positon, the matte has far less glare. On the mbp, the glare is spread out, so what you see is more of an aura around the light source. With the glossy, the screen acts like a perfect mirror. When I went to my local Frys, I saw that the matte screens looked pretty good, but when I got to the glossy, all I could see was the overhead lighting...for rows and rows. Glossy is very much more reflective. Even good tilting can't always solve your problems. Either way, the OP needs to get to a store so he can check this out for himself. Nothing we can write here will change his personal perceptions.

Well, I suppose different people will get different perceptions of how much the glare difference is between the two screens. I really didn't notice much difference. In the end, the best way to choose between the two

Just a note, LCD screens characteristically don't work well in very bright conditions (such as outdoors on a sunny day). If you moved a desktop with an LCD display outside you would see the same thing, but of course most people aren't using desktop computers outdoors...they just use laptops. Not considering glare, you aren't going to get as prime screen performance using it outdoors as you will indoors in lower light conditions no matter what the finish of the screen.
 
I have a glossy in college and I love it. Im sorry i cant be of more help, but i had the same choice as you and glossy just looks better and I love it. All my friends think its really cool and photos look amazing, no glare issue at all... ever.
 
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