How much of a difference does the 1920x1200 screen make?

[DDar]

Well, I plan on getting a MBP, and I was hoping to get one with a 1920x1200 screen, but apparently that's not available in Mexico unless backordered or gotten from the Macsite. The person who's getting it for me seems reluctant to buy online, so if I absolutely can't get the hi-def screen, I'm just wondering, will it make that much difference?

Also, if I buy the computer online, what do you think are my chances of getting a laptop made in the last few months? (Because of the NVidia chips issue)

 

[iToaster]

You will always get a computer made in the last few weeks or so when you buy from Apple. For a comparison of space, in the attached picture the blue area is the relative size of the standard resolution screen compared to the high resolution... I think it would be worth it to go with the higher resolution one.

 

[iMacmatician]

The person who's getting it for me seems reluctant to buy online, so if I absolutely can't get the hi-def screen, I'm just wondering, will it make that much difference?

1920*1200 is 31% higher resolution than 1680*1050.

Now, that's the raw resolution. Most applications (including the OS) have a set of toolbars, sidebars, palettes, etc. Toolbars and sidebars have a fixed size in one dimension and a varying size in the other depending on the display resolution. Palettes have a fixed size in both dimensions. The actual work area is the total display resolution minus the toolbars, sidebars, palettes, etc.

As the display resolution increases, the toolbars, sidebars, palettes, etc. take up a proportionally smaller area on the display. So, 1920*1200 will give more than a 31% increase in "useful" display resolution.

As an example, a vertical sidebar taking up 25% of a 1680*1050 display (75% useful area, 1260*1050) would take up 21.9% of a 1920*1200 display (78.1% useful area, 1500*1200). The increase in "useful" resolution is 36%, greater than the raw 31%.

 

[DDar]

Do you guys know if there's any way to change the screen later to 1920x1200 after I buy the MBP?

 

[Abhorred]

Do you guys know if there's any way to change the screen later to 1920x1200 after I buy the MBP?

Apple doesn't offer this as a service. You can, however, buy aftermarket screens at that resolution, but they bring with them the inherent costs of purchase and installation along with voiding the warranty.

If you're at all inclined towards the Hi-Res screen, it'd probably be worth it to try and get it at the time of purchase; it might be more difficult, but it'll save you a lot of money and hassle down the road.

 

[aross99]

My suggestion is that you take a look at one in person at the Apple store, before you decide to buy one. To me, everything was much smaller on the screen. I have a hard enough time reading some of the text on my 1680x1050 screen, so 1900x1200 was just to much for me.

I know this isn't an issue for some people (cue up the "old timer" jokes... LOL), but the text was just too small for me...

 

[coogee]

I have 1900x1200 17"MBP. Needed a repair (sleep issue). Shop decided my screen was faulty and replaced it. They put the normal screen in. When I got it back it was shocking. Felt tiny. Had the screen replaced correctly and, 6 months on, 1900x1200 now feels a little small!

If you can get the Hi-Res do it, it's not a simple thing to upgrade later, it's more of a now or never decision imo.

Hi-Res Video looks fantastic on it as well.

 

[DDar]

My suggestion is that you take a look at one in person at the Apple store, before you decide to buy one. To me, everything was much smaller on the screen. I have a hard enough time reading some of the text on my 1680x1050 screen, so 1900x1200 was just to much for me.

I know this isn't an issue for some people (cue up the "old timer" jokes... LOL), but the text was just too small for me...

I don't have an Apple store where I live... But from what I remember about the ones in the States, the 1920x1200 DID make everything look smaller than the standard... But it seemed to be better lit and have more vivid colors... I plan on using this computer mainly for digital painting, so I suppose the 1920x1200 is sort of a "must have" eh?

 

[techlover828]

for $100 I'd go for it, if your going to spend 2.5k on a laptop, that extra $100 will be worth it I'd think.

 

[ohforfckssake!]

I just got my hi-res 17 yesterday. Without a normal 17" screen to compare it to, I can't really say much about the 'difference'. One thing I can say though is that the LED backlight is brilliant, there's acres of space, and the words are antlike small (but sharp!). If you like reading off your screen from a distance, you'll either have to increase font size (which doesn't change text on tabs and address bar but only within the browser window itself) or you'll have to reduce the resolution, which leaves things a little blurry but large enough to read from a distance.

Was this slightly annoying? Sure it was, but I still wouldn't trade it in for a lower native resolution.