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glossy vs antiglare vote

which do you prefer

  • glossy

    Votes: 255 39.5%

  • antiglare

    Votes: 391 60.5%
  • Total voters
    646
tim100 said:
I am surprised by the results.
Click to expand...

I'm not.

Shiny toys sell.

The glossy display "looks cool" at a glance, and consumers respond by buying them. Steve Jobs is a powerful influence over certain people. He pushes cool toys & they buy them.

Matte is for professionals.

MacBook Pro sales took a hit when Jobs tried to cram glossy down our throats. When Apple "switched" matte for glossy as the standard & only display, the professionals pushed back by closing their wallets. Finally after months of resistance, greed prevailed & Jobs silently admitted his mistake by putting matte back as a choice. Then the ever arrogant child had to prove his power by charging for what was once standard. No big surprise.
 
Glossy screens have way too many reflections! AG is the way to go, and the silver border on the new models looks much better than my old work MBP.
 
wirelessmacuser said:
Matte is for professionals.
Click to expand...

Wow, what a blanket statement. Obviously the poster is speaking for the "Professional MBP Worker's" lobby....

I find it interesting that I have never met an Apple Store employee who did NOT try to aggressively sell me the AG screen - rather than to try to discuss the pros and cons of either choice. Before I bought my 17" HR Glossy, I spent perhaps 5 or 6 hours (total) across 2 or 3 Apple Stores comparing the screens side by side - and every sales person mercilessly pushed AG...

That tells me that there is a good profit return from that little option choice...

I won't rail on again about glossy - it has really all been said - but will note that I find the AG as distracting as people claim gloss is but in a different way. Glare is not gone but diffused into a white blob that impacts the clarity and precision of the image. No, you won't see your own reflection, but you will see light sources blob out and mute the image. To my "unprofessional" eyes, this impacts the precision of the image and give me a worry that what I eventually print will not be what I am seeing - even on a calibrated screen. Everyone talks about use in bright sunlight (which I suspect is an uncommon but occasional computer use location) but AG in bright sunlight is going to be as much a challenge - but in a different way (if the bright Apple Store lights are any indication...)

I respect both choices - but after a month of use, I am even more enthusiastic about my Glossy decision... :D
 
I'm seriously concerned about the protection of a glossy. I do not want to screw up the screen on a 3k$ computer. i'd like to be able to do work outside though. I guess like... glossy then get a post manufacture AG coating? Or is the vulnerability of the AG overstated? this is pretty much what is keeping me from making my purchase.

also on smalldog the antiglare is cheaper than the glossy for those who care
 
Kavier said:
Glossy screens have way too many reflections! AG is the way to go, and the silver border on the new models looks much better than my old work MBP.
Click to expand...

do others prefer the silver border?
 
tim100 said:
do others prefer the silver border?
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I like the look of the newer iMac's with the black boarder so the fact the my MacBook Pro now matches this scheme, I like it! :)
(it doesn't hurt that, to my eyes the black boarder makes the colors appear to "pop" a bit more and the black level seem a bitter deeper)...
 
1=1? said:
I'm seriously concerned about the protection of a glossy... Or is the vulnerability of the AG overstated? this is pretty much what is keeping me from making my purchase.
Click to expand...

Yes, the vulnerablility of the AG screen is overstated. Remember that, until three or four years ago, all Apple laptops had only matte screens, without any "protective" glass. Somehow, we all got by without it, just fine. Heck, we didn't even realize our laptops had some special "vulnerability". I've been using matte screen Apple laptops since the early-mid nineties, and I haven't had any disasters, yet. Matte screens are not that fragile, and vulnerability is not really an issue.
 
1=1? said:
I guess like... glossy then get a post manufacture AG coating?
Click to expand...

What about this? I like the black border, and the piece of mind of protection would be good if i can get approximately the same result by adding a AG film.
 
When I purchased mine last week the Apple employee ranted and raved about glossy being better trying to talk me out of the AG. I told him I just wanted to see how much smaller the fonts would be on the Hi-res because my only two choices were get the new AG in hi-res or keep my old early 2008 MBP. Glossy was never an option for me. Hate the reflections. Hate the fingerprints or any other marks that just jump right out at you. The reflections bother me under just about any lighting condition and even if I only used it in a dark room I would prefer the matte.

I also prefer matte paper for my photographs.

If you like the glossy then be happy with it.

JerseyBill said:
Wow, what a blanket statement. Obviously the poster is speaking for the "Professional MBP Worker's" lobby....

I find it interesting that I have never met an Apple Store employee who did NOT try to aggressively sell me the AG screen - rather than to try to discuss the pros and cons of either choice. Before I bought my 17" HR Glossy, I spent perhaps 5 or 6 hours (total) across 2 or 3 Apple Stores comparing the screens side by side - and every sales person mercilessly pushed AG...

That tells me that there is a good profit return from that little option choice...
Click to expand...
 
I have both which is the best of both worlds. Just got a 15" Macbook Pro i7 HR-AG and an iMac 27" i7 that is glossy. The glossy one is downstairs in the corner away from the window so glare isn't an issue. I like the laptop in matte because I can take it anywhere and it looks great but I voted antiglare.
 
JerseyBill said:
Before I bought my 17" HR Glossy, I spent perhaps 5 or 6 hours (total) across 2 or 3 Apple Stores comparing the screens side by side - and every sales person mercilessly pushed AG...

That tells me that there is a good profit return from that little option choice...
Click to expand...
Or it tells you that a lot of unhappy customers came back to the store returning the machine with the glossy screen because they can't work with it anymore. Or they had a lot of people asking for the antiglare option. There are more options why they were pushing the AG option than just a good profit return.

No, you won't see your own reflection, but you will see light sources blob out and mute the image. To my "unprofessional" eyes, this impacts the precision of the image and give me a worry that what I eventually print will not be what I am seeing - even on a calibrated screen.
Click to expand...
There will always be reflections, there is no stopping in that because it's mother nature. You can only eliminate as much reflections as you can by using matte objects with dark colours (or simply black matte objects). If you want to print something and make sure that whatever you're looking at will come out exactly the same you'll need to do a lot more than just calibrate your screen. You need to calibrate the screen and the printer so they match as closely as possible. The white blob you see is only a problem when you have a very bright reflection like some bright light hitting a white object or something like that. The anti glare only gives you the least amount of reflections, it does not and can not get rid of them completely. This makes this type of screen easier on the eyes.
 
I initially got the HR gloss 15" but had to return it. The glare was unacceptable under fluro lights at uni and in the office.

I now have the antiglare and am very happy with my decision. AG is lighter as well.

I did think the gloss looked better, but it was completely impractical for my purposes.
 
tim100 said:
design is a factor to me
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The "design" on the black is good for the average sucker who likes piano black finishes and super shiny screens. I'm guessing most of the people here also own a Samsung LCD/Plasma lol.
 
I own a matte, but it's because I use this as an all around computer/laptop, so I need it to be versatile/flexible in any type of environment. If it wasn't for this, I would probably have gotten gloss, as the colors are definitely much nicer and deeper than the matte.

-Don
 
Its a personal preference. Anyone who is interested in looking at the antiglare alternative should go to an apple centre and compare the machines for themselves.

Also, think about this. People occasionally buy the glossy and wish they got the antiglare, but you rarely see someone who bought the antiglare and wish they got the glossy.
 
I know I am in the minority, but I honestly like the look of the silver bezel more than the gloss. That was my main reason for the getting the anti glare. If the glossy had the silver bezel, I probably would have boughten the glossy.

Also I notice myself going outside to go on my computer now that it is summer time, when I had my glossy macbook I couldn't even use it in the car on a sunny day because it was so bright.
 
AttilaTheHun said:
100%

all my life I am paying for AG I am very happy with the glossy now.
the AG is like reading newspaper try to watch a move with it
Click to expand...

Maybe because the movie you're watching is starring your own reflection?

Perhaps you should calibrate your screen, movies on my properly calibrated screen is gorgeous, and I can focus on the actual movie rather than seeing how bad of a hangover I've had the night prior:rolleyes:
 
I've owned my Core i5 MBP now for a month and couldn't be more happier with it. I chose the high res glossy simply because I never work outside and I like how it makes the colors look more vibrant. I think the matte screen is an excellent choice if you work in an environment with a lot of reflecting lights. The anti glare screen does have a glare but its not distracting where as the glossy is a mirror. I think both screens have their pros and cons.

As many have indicated its all a matter of personal preference. Let's hope that Apple someday doesn't remove the matte screen and only give one option.
 
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