MB screens really OK for practical use?

[Tensakun]

I'm on the verge of getting a MacBook, but one thing still gives me pause--its display.

Several people here have mentioned that it's a weak point. Went to a mega-store yesterday and looked at the MB closely. Under their relentless fluorescent lighting, the MB screen did seem dim, even after cranking it up to full brightness. A few minutes later, in a dark coffee shop, my 12" PB's screen seemed so much brighter.

Could my impression have been affected by the interplay between bright lighting and the MB's glossy screen? Would definitely get the Power Support antiglare film some have mentioned here, but would that extra layer take an additional hit on brightness? Or would cutting the glare with the film give me that nice matte luminosity?

Any current MB user's real-world experiences would be appreciated.

 

[AlecEdworthy]

Several people here have mentioned that it's a weak point. Went to a mega-store yesterday and looked at the MB closely. Under their relentless fluorescent lighting, the MB screen did seem dim, even after cranking it up to full brightness. A few minutes later, in a dark coffee shop, my 12" PB's screen seemed so much brighter.

Could my impression have been affected by the interplay between bright lighting and the MB's glossy screen?

I normally use my MacBook with a brightness setting of four (out of sixteen). Currently I am using my MacBook in my flat with reasonable lighting (not bright, two sixty watt bulbs, both about two metres above with one two metres to my front, the other about three or four metres to my front, both in almost completely enclosing paper spheres, so no direct lighting onto the screen causing reflections or anything) on brightness setting one and it is good for me.

One of my friends on the other hand almost always sets the brightness to full when she uses my laptop - she also uses her laptop (a Samsung) on full brightness whereas I cannot stand it that bright. In some lighting (e.g. very bright rooms) and for some particular viewing scenarios (e.g. some darker TV programmes or films) I turn the brightness up, but very very rarely do I set it all the way to 16 out of 16.

For what it's worth, my MacBook is a May 2007 release with a new screen fitted one week ago (after the original screen developed a fault). All of the above is valid for the original screen too though - I still used it on four out of sixteen most of the time and occasionally lowered it to one or two or raised it toward the top end of the scale depending on the environment and what I was viewing.

Alec

 

[techound1]

I agree with Alec that it's a very personal thing. I really can't ever seem to read the glossy screens well unless they are on full brightness (and I work daily on a matte MBP). If they have matte MBPs at the store, you may want to use it to compare to to see if screen finish is compounding the vitamin-sucking fluorescent light difficulties.

 

[WellRedd]

I only have a problem with my MB screen when using it outside in bright sunshine, even then it's useable.

 

[imfrog2002]

I don't have a problem with my screen. I usually keep it at 3 under max. If it's at full, it's usually too bright. When I'm outside, it can't be in full sunlight. If it is, you can't see it at all, but you can reposition and it works fine.

 

[Bariwasmypart]

I love the screen

I generally keep my macbooks screen on 3 out of sixteen. I almost think it is to bright otherwise. If need be I can even function with the brightness at one notch if I'm short on power. I also haven't found that light conditions around my macbook have made to much of a difference.

 

[Zadiek]

I think you will find that the macbook display is more than fine. I actually find it quite good. Nothing to worry about.

 

[QCassidy352]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

the screen is far, far brighter than any PowerBook screen ever used. The 12" display was particularly dim. The MacBook screen is great, IMO after using one for 2 years. I can't believe how dim and washed out ppc mac laptops' screens look now.