Gizmodo review: Viewing angle sucks again

Pros have a glossy screen as well.

 

It's not about the matte/glossy screen, it's the viewing angle -- how far to the side you can be and still see a good picture.

 

Why are you looking at your computers from the side?

 

Who gives a rats ass that the viewing angle isn't that great... I don't know about you but I tend to work on the computer when it's in front of me

 

Exactly...some of you are ridiculous

 

I noticed something was off on my MB. The screen is worse than my Air. Worse both vertically and horizontally. It makes watching movies more difficult.

 

yeah man, who watches movies on a laptop with more than one person

 

I think the screen difference is a big one. I'm sure everyone with a laptop at one point in time or another will use it to share something; be it photos or a movie, or something cool you discover on the web.

When buying a primary desktop monitor, it's one of my prime considerations. If you plan to use your computer for any video playback, i.e. watching movies, etc, viewing angle is very important.

That being said, I don't know why the discrepancy between the screens is so big. Both us TN displays, I wonder why the MBP's screen is so much better?

 

Snap, would have been nice to see the 2.0 MB in the benchmarks.


EDIT :
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2008/10/

 

the screen is inferior to both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. I love the screen on the Air and was hoping the MacBook would be using the same part# but it definitely isn't.

It's the vertical viewing angle that is particularly bad..horizontal looks ok.

And it's not just the viewing angles, it's also the richness of the colors on the MBP and MBA. This was the only disappointment for me, I love everything else.

 

Viewing angle isn't dependent on the finish of the display (matte vs glossy). It's more an issue of panel type. Almost every single laptop on the market right now (to my knowledge) uses TN panels, which are known for its fast response time but notorious for its limited viewing angles. If you wanted a laptop with a decent/very good viewing angle, it would have to ditch the TN, replaced by a S-PVA or S-IPS panel... which would pretty much add on about an extra 700-800 dollars on top of the base price of the barebone laptop.

 

Glad to see the MBP doesn't seem to have problems

 

I watch videos all the time in bed with my GF.

 

*Yawn* It's not that bad... I've seen a few of the new MBs and the screen is pretty awesome, the viewing angle doesn't suck at all. Quit whining.

 

Go get a TV?

 

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there, for an almost-£1000 laptop, the screen is abysmal. I love everything about the MacBook (especially the smaller size), but I noticed the screen wasn't very good as soon as I spent some time with it on my lap - if I moved my head at all from the optimal 'straight on' angle, it would either get really dark or really washed out. I have a Core Duo MacBook Pro and although it does the same thing, it doesn't do that until more extreme angles (ie, angles you wouldn't actually be using the laptop at). The fact you only have to move your head so little before the image shifts noticeably is what kills the new MacBook in my opinion. I'm swapping it out for a MacBook Pro as soon as I can.

The fact I noticed this before reading about Gizmodo's review shows how bad it is because I don't normally notice stuff like that unless it's really bad.

I'm quite annoyed actually because I love the MacBook otherwise, it's just Apple cheaping out as usual.

 

The viewinf angle of my old macbook is really bad. The color changes a lot if I move my head a few inches, especially with the default desktop background. (black and purple space one). The black becomes whiter when I change my position even a bit.

This really bothers me. Everytime i change my position, I need to adjast the angle of the screen. I'd upgrade from late 2007 if it's better than old one. I hope someone can post that comparison.

And I wonder there's individual difference if some people say ok with theirs. I don't know how the quality check in the factory.

The thing is sony or toshiba is using mush better LCD. I heard the type of laptop PC's LCD is called TN. I dunno but if it's same type, how come some are good, some are bad. The manufacturing process must be same. Are they sorting out bad panels and selling them to apple for cheap?

 

I went round the 8 or so MacBooks that were on display in my local Apple store and they were all the same. I did notice that the MacBook Pro screens were much better in this regard. Unfortunately they've run out of stock of the new MBPs so I'll have to wait until they come in again before I can exchange it.

I think Apple's logic is that most people buying MacBooks are consumers (ie, Joe Sixpack) who aren't going to be that discerning regarding their screens, and so they can get away with using cheaper panels. However, because the MB and MBP are virtually identical, there's going to be a lot more 'tech-savvy' users opting for the MB over the MBP and they're going to be disappointed with Apple's 'consumer-level' choice of LCD Panel.

I think Apple should include a 'high-res' BTO option which offers a higher resolution but more importantly a higher quality panel which will allow the more discerning users to retain the portability of the 13.3" MacBook but have a good quality screen.

 

jeez even contextually here nobody understands sarcasm

 

Exactly. If someone else is looking at your screen, it's difficult for them to do so.

And I've had problems with the top and bottom of my display being darker than the centre unless I move my head slightly upwards. I'm not asking for perfection from all angles, but I should be able to look at my screen and not get angle-related viewing effects.

Some people have friends.

 

I still say, don't you people own TVs? Who the hell sits 5 people in front of a laptop watching a movie? You plug 2 cables into it and hook it up to you LCD TV...

 

It is not unreasonable in the slightest to expect that two people should be able to comfortably sit in front of a modern and comparatively expensive laptop and be able to see the screen perfectly.

Do you owe Apple something? It amazes me how people will defend a corporate giant when they've so obviously simply cheaped out.