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Glassy vs. Glossy vs. Matte: a 17" MBP comparison with many pics

I'm sick of these threads. If you like glossy so much, stick with your GD previous gen MBP.

All this thread does is confirm to me that glassy looks spectacular, thanks for the pics!

I wasn't feeling the glass because of threads like this, and the fact that I did think matte looked great. Well, I decided not too wait and went for the 15". I love it! It looks awesome, and the colors are rich and beautiful, and the black levels are pretty damn good. IN FACT, it looks far better than my 23 Cinema Displays at work, and my 42" HDTV at home!!!!

The reflection never bothers me, unless I have the brightness way too low, the rest of the time its non existent.

Your pictures are great, thanks for proving how great the 15" glass LCD screen looks. :)
 
derek1984 said:
Glassy = Gimmick.
Click to expand...

Besides that, someone here said it was "acrylic glass", and using the more common names for it --- PMMA, acrylic, or perspex --- those are actually plastics in my books. :p ;) Check wikipedia. It's a "thermoplastic" or "transparent plastic". It may be used by some companies as a substitute for glass because it doesn't shatter into dangerous small pieces (safety glass?). However, I can cut through it with a bandsaw like plastic, drill lots of holes into it, and it smells like plastic when I do it because it smells when it gets hot. ;)

I think the real gimmick is Apple actually telling people it's glass. Sure, it's "acrylic glass" and is used as a glass substitute, but Apple Marketing knew very well that people would think their screen was made with real glass --- stuff you'd find on a pint glass, the majority of windows, etc. Just tap on the screen with your finger. Does your car window make the same sound? That's the first thing I did when I saw a unibody at the Apple Store. That was before someone told me it was PMMA.
 
Anuba said:
If you don't have a 2009 MBP but you do have an iPhone (another super-glossy glass screen with a black bezel around it), do this: ...Good, so now ask yourself why you would defiantly point an MBP screen exactly at that bright light source, rather than just extend your index finger and gently nudge the laptop an inch or so to make the reflection disappear...? Unless of course you're taking photos to demonstrate how bad it can be in a worst case scenario.
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I have read this case scenario many times. However, it is flawed for a couple of reasons:
1) The iPhone's screen is small, so that it's optimal viewing angle is much wider. Blacks and colors turn negative or invert at a greater angle.
2) The MB/MBP's screen is much larger.
3) The MB/MBP's screen has a relatively narrow vertical viewing angle (although horizontal is fairly wide). In other words, there's only small degree of freedom you have when looking at the screen in order to get the image to look good. Open or close the lid beyond that and the top or bottom half of the screen, respectively, becomes a bit washed out. Oftentimes, the optimal viewing angle does indeed point the screen up a bit to the ceiling, so you're battling reflections for optimal viewing angle.
4) Also, people have different heights and need to adjust the lid accordingly.

The above problem is less of an issue on the iMacs or 24" LCD because they have much wider vertical viewing angles, so you can tilt it up or down a lot more to adjust the amount of reflections without making it looked washed out.



EDIT: This is what I mean.

17-23.jpg

This is the lid at almost 90 degrees so it doesn't point towards the ceiling. The blue stripes in finder get washed out, especially towards the bottom of the screen.

17-24.jpg

This is the lid tilted towards the ceiling to get the optimal viewing angle. The blue stripes in finder show up more clearly.

I could lower my seat in the first picture so that I get the best viewing angle when the screen is at 90 degrees and not tilted towards the ceiling, but at that point my chest would sit below the table which is uncomfortable, to say the least.
 
I also think the iPhone comparison fails. If I want to imagine the benefits of owning a full-sized mirror, looking at the vanity mirror in my car and imagining that it was larger is not going to work. Yes, they both reflect your image, but that's it. You don't get the effects of size and scale by looking at a vanity mirror, and working on a far larger, reflective LCD screen is going to impact you much greater if the screen is large and you're looking at really large reflections.

chris.robison said:
All this thread does is confirm to me that glassy looks spectacular, thanks for the pics!
Click to expand...

I don't doubt the fact that you like your glass display and think the image, colours, and contrast look good. It probably looks great. :)

However, is it actually attributed to the glass display, or is it simply the ability of the LCD technology that you like? What I mean is, if you were getting the same image quality and colour saturation out of a matte display, surely the matte display would be considered better.


People always say these glass displays are sooooooo much better than the display on their old MBP, old PowerBook, old Dell laptop, etc. However, perhaps its the display technology that has advanced. Surely you'd expect all laptop LCDs to be better than the laptops you replaced.
 
Abstract said:
I don't doubt the fact that you like your glass display and think the image, colours, and contrast look good.

However, is it actually attributed to the glass display, or is it simply the ability of the LCD technology that you like? What I mean is, if you were getting the same image quality and colour saturation out of a matte display, surely the matte display would be considered better.


People always say these glass displays are sooooooo much better than the display on their old MBP, old PowerBook, old Dell laptop, etc. However, perhaps its the display technology that has advanced. Surely you'd expect all laptop LCDs to be better than the laptops you replaced.
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Looks better than my PowerBook, my buddy's previous gen 17" MacBook Pro, and the new 17 side by side with matte and glass, the glass looks better(these use the same screen).

This is my opinion of course. I love how it looks, and others don't. I just get bugged that people make a big deal out of it, and they say things like "Glassy fail" or "Glassy should never even be an option".
 
There's no right or wrong answer. It's all a matter of personal preference. I am just curious what the sales numbers have been for the glossy vs matte on the 17 inch.
 
GLASSY FAIL

I can stand it on my iMac, but not on a laptop. I bought the 13" Glassbook on its release date, but ended up returning it a couple days later because of the screen.

derek1984 said:
There's no right or wrong answer. It's all a matter of personal preference. I am just curious what the sales numbers have been for the glossy vs matte on the 17 inch.
Click to expand...
It's probably really low because Apple is trying to push the glass version. I checked my local Apple store and they don't even have an antiglare 17" on the floor. I just hope Apple comes to their senses and realizes there is a demand for matte screens out there and brings "antiglare" to at least the 15".
 
But do they really have to drop the black bezel to make a matte version? It seems almost spiteful, like... if you don't bend to our will, fine, have an ugly machine (and pay extra for it!). Can't they just make the current glossy surface a little less reflective, except the spot where the iSight cam is of course? I've seen MBPs with an anti-glare film attached and that looks a thousand times better than the god awful matte option without the black bezel.

I know they have some serious form-over-function issues and that it's been getting worse over the last few years, but it's the Macbook Pro, they know the user type and their line of work. I have a hard time believing it's an "oops" thing, they must have tested this for months and months and determined that glossy was functional. For crying out loud, they tested hundreds of different designs on less important stuff like the shape of the thumb grip on the lid...
 
Anuba said:
But do they really have to drop the black bezel to make a matte version? It seems almost spiteful, like... if you don't bend to our will, fine, have an ugly machine (and pay extra for it!). Can't they just make the current glossy surface a little less reflective, except the spot where the iSight cam is of course? I've seen MBPs with an anti-glare film attached and that looks a thousand times better than the god awful matte option without the black bezel.

I know they have some serious form-over-function issues and that it's been getting worse over the last few years, but it's the Macbook Pro, they know the user type and their line of work. I have a hard time believing it's an "oops" thing, they must have tested this for months and months and determined that glossy was functional. For crying out loud, they tested hundreds of different designs on less important stuff like the shape of the thumb grip on the lid...
Click to expand...

Totally agree with the fact that the silver bezel is ugly. Techrestore matte or anti-glare film looks way better IMO.
 
I agree with Anuba about wishing that the matte version came with a black bezel.

I like the silver bezel more, to be honest. It looks better than the black one. :)

However, if you consider the overall effect that the black keyboard has on the design, the black bezel is actually more suitable for this design. It matches the black and ties the entire design together. With a silver bezel, the black keyboard looks awkward and out of place on the aluminium design. With the black bezel, the design isn't as bad.

I like the design of both machines when compared to other laptops on the market, but this design really isn't Ives' best.



Look at taphil (the OP's) photos of his 15" MBP, and imagine that the keyboard was black. How awkward would that look? Yikes! :eek:
 
Abstract said:
Actually, I agree.

I like the silver bezel more, to be honest. It looks better than the black one. However, if you consider the overall effect that the black keyboard has on the design, the black bezel is actually more suitable for this design. It ties the entire design together. With a silver bezel, the black keyboard sits alone and looks completely out of place. With the black bezel, the design isn't as bad. I like the design of both machines when compared to other laptops on the market, but this design really isn't Ives' best.

Look at taphil (the OP's) photos of his 15" MBP, and imagine that the keyboard was black. How awkward would that look?
Click to expand...

They should have made a silver keyboard with the 17" matte MacBook Pro. Black is out of place.
Also, I do not think the 15" MacBook Pro will see a matte screen for some reason.
 
kabunaru said:
They should have made a silver keyboard with the 17" matte MacBook Pro. Black is out of place.
Also, I do not think the 15" MacBook Pro will see a matte screen for some reason.
Click to expand...
They need to get their act together and consolidate all that stuff. Right now the black-on-silver transition is complete as far as the computers are concerned (if you discount the fact that the Mac Pro has no black ornamentation and that there's still an old white plastic MacBook available), but the separate keyboards, mice and various cables and peripherals are still stuck in Apple's "white box" time bubble (circa 2004-2007). These things don't mix and match too well. If they insist on non-silver keys, they should go either all-white or all-black keys across the board, or find some nuance of grey that looks like aluminium if you squint, or whatever. Something's gotta be wrong when 3rd parties have peripherals that match Apple's computers better than anything from Apple.

7016.1.0.jpg

dinovo-keyboard-mac-edition-logitech-wireless-keyboard.jpg
 
I'm sorry i know you professionals need the matte but it looks washed out and bland to me. As a casual computer user i will stick to my glossy the colors just look more vibrant and sharper. I don't really have too much trouble with glare, I mean i see it sometimes but not to the point where it bothers me at all.
 
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