Screen Resolution Question

[teerexx52]

I have a question concerning the screen resolutions on the various MacBook Pros and the Airs. I am 60 years old and wear glasses. I tried a 13" 2011 MacBook Air with the higher screen resolution. Everything was very sharp but smaller on the screen and harder for me to see. I went back to a standard resolution 13" MacBook pro and it works pretty well but I find myself scrolling more. Now getting to my question. Would there be any advantage in getting a 15" standard resolution screen over the 13" MacBook pro? Would it be any easier to see than the 13" and maybe less scrolling? Thanks in advance for anything you might be able to share with me.

 

[Blipp]

15" standard res should be perfect for your needs. Additionally you could always just lower the resolution the display is set to or make the text larger. Just out of curiosity how do you do with your iPhone 4 retina display?

 

[AWallen90]

I agree that a 15" would be great unless you want the smaller more portable laptop.

 

[palpatine]

I have a question concerning the screen resolutions on the various MacBook Pros and the Airs. I am 60 years old and wear glasses. I tried a 13" 2011 MacBook Air with the higher screen resolution. Everything was very sharp but smaller on the screen and harder for me to see. I went back to a standard resolution 13" MacBook pro and it works pretty well but I find myself scrolling more. Now getting to my question. Would there be any advantage in getting a 15" standard resolution screen over the 13" MacBook pro? Would it be any easier to see than the 13" and maybe less scrolling? Thanks in advance for anything you might be able to share with me.

I am sure others can offer more technical advice, but practically speaking, with the 15" you have a lot more real estate. Left to the native settings, it will appear quite tiny on the screen (hence, your problem with the MacBook Air), but adjust those settings and you can view the same amount of content that you might have on a 13" screen (let's say, the content of this post), but with a larger font, and better resolution. It's a win/win situation. The adjustment is the key.

If you have poor vision, or just want to view larger fonts, I would recommend the 15". If you ask at an Apple store, I bet the staff there can show you how it's done, and I think you'll be quite pleased. I know someone with vision problems who (as a previous poster mentioned) views the screen at a lower resolution on a 15" PC. It is a huge help.

 

[bozz2006]

I actually have a 2008 13" macbook with the same resolution as your 13" macbook pro, and I just recently bought a standard resolution 15" macbook pro. I found the 15" MBP to have the same appearance as the 13", with a whole lot more screen space. I opted to not go for the high resolution 15" because I had the same concern as you're voicing; I didn't want text and icons to be so small, and I'm very very happy with the 15". I think it would suit your needs perfectly.

 

[dslrjunky]

I have a question concerning the screen resolutions on the various MacBook Pros and the Airs. I am 60 years old and wear glasses. I tried a 13" 2011 MacBook Air with the higher screen resolution. Everything was very sharp but smaller on the screen and harder for me to see. I went back to a standard resolution 13" MacBook pro and it works pretty well but I find myself scrolling more. Now getting to my question. Would there be any advantage in getting a 15" standard resolution screen over the 13" MacBook pro? Would it be any easier to see than the 13" and maybe less scrolling? Thanks in advance for anything you might be able to share with me.

well im not quite 60 by large margin, but I do pdf documents that I need it full screen coming from 13">15" its quite a difference in terms of real estate as I find myself scrolling less and less when im doing some long pdf forms for clients... now if you say is text, images and etc. clearer on 13" vs 15' (1280x800 vs 1440x900) there im not quite sure.. but either way ill see it as more subjective to users rather than the machine itself..

if all else fails why not get yourself an external monitor? unless you want the screen size for portability i can see it as a problem..

 

[bozz2006]

now if you say is text, images and etc. clearer on 13" vs 15' (1280x800 vs 1440x900) there im not quite sure...

Yes, I think that's the question. To my eyes, text, images, etc., look to be the same size on the 13" as on the 15". You can just fit a lot more of it onto the 15" screen.

 

[dslrjunky]

Yes, I think that's the question. To my eyes, text, images, etc., look to be the same size on the 13" as on the 15". You can just fit a lot more of it onto the 15" screen.

or he could use external monitor, Im using one in portrait mode and its heaven sent with a 24" 1200x1920 for long pdf forms.. I don't do much image editing so I cant comment on that but for that you need higher res screen though...

 

[teerexx52]

First of all thank you all for your input. In reading through all these posts would it be safe to say then the experience on the 15" would be the same as on the 13" only more real estate is shown?

Also, I am fooling with font sizes as well in my browser and that seems to help. Changing the screens native resolution though seems to produce a less than sharp font so not sure I like that as well.

So, I am thinking about a 15" or an external monitor. Portability isn't an issue really. I just take the computer to Panera or Starbucks. I have an ipad for those times I need to go light weight. Again, thanks for all the help. If anyone can add to this I'd appreciate it. At the end of the week I am going to return my imac (yellow screen) and look at a 15" pro. My wife will probably take my 13" if that is the way I go

 

[bozz2006]

In reading through all these posts would it be safe to say then the experience on the 15" would be the same as on the 13" only more real estate is shown?

Exactly.

Also, I am fooling with font sizes as well in my browser and that seems to help. Changing the screens native resolution though seems to produce a less than sharp font so not sure I like that as well.

Right, that's kind of the trade off there. I don't like messing with the resolution because everything ends up looking like crap. And if you just choose to go with a lower res on your 13", you still have the problem of having to scroll a lot, which you indicated that you didn't care for in your initial post.

 

[palpatine]

First of all thank you all for your input. In reading through all these posts would it be safe to say then the experience on the 15" would be the same as on the 13" only more real estate is shown?

More or less. It actually has a higher resolution than the 13", so you could conceivably lower the resolution to the 13" level and still get the experience. However, you may not need to do that. Try it out in the store, ask the staff to show you the possibilities, and see what you think.

Also, you may not know about this shortcut, but on websites you can use "command"+ to increase font size, and "command"- to decrease it. This enables you to retain the same resolution while avoiding the ugliness that can happen with a change in the resolution on the 13".

So, I am thinking about a 15" or an external monitor.

It's difficult to beat an external monitor! But, it depends on how you use it. If you are sitting on the couch or laying in bed with the computer, then it won't do you much good.

 

[teerexx52]

More or less. It actually has a higher resolution than the 13", so you could conceivably lower the resolution to the 13" level and still get the experience. However, you may not need to do that. Try it out in the store, ask the staff to show you the possibilities, and see what you think.

Also, you may not know about this shortcut, but on websites you can use "command"+ to increase font size, and "command"- to decrease it. This enables you to retain the same resolution while avoiding the ugliness that can happen with a change in the resolution on the 13".


It's difficult to beat an external monitor! But, it depends on how you use it. If you are sitting on the couch or laying in bed with the computer, then it won't do you much good.

Thanks. Yes, you are correct. The external monitor works great as long as you are at the desk where it is. Also, thanks for the keyboard shortcuts, Using them right now.

 

[palpatine]

Thanks. Yes, you are correct. The external monitor works great as long as you are at the desk where it is. Also, thanks for the keyboard shortcuts, Using them right now.

Glad I could help

Here is another suggestion. Move your dock to the right side of your screen (system settings->dock). I included a screen shot. If you do this, you free up more vertical screen space, and that should help you to cut down on the scrolling

 

[bozz2006]

Glad I could help

Here is another suggestion. Move your dock to the right side of your screen (system settings->dock). I included a screen shot. If you do this, you free up more vertical screen space, and that should help you to cut down on the scrolling

Dang! I thought I had a lot of unread email messages! lol

 

[getz76]

If you need more vertical screen real-estate, you can also auto-hide your Dock.

 

[palpatine]

Dang! I thought I had a lot of unread email messages! lol

LOL. Don't even bother sending me an email. I won't read it until next year. I hate emails.

Some of you may not have been alive before emails (well, the OP was!), but there was a time when you could go for weeks without a phone call, letter, or any other kind of contact besides face-to-face.

The benefit of this was that your school or business generally restricted communications to the important stuff, and you didn't get bombarded every day with endless blather telling you about a bunch of stuff you don't need or want to know. Don't even get me started on facebook updates and twitter.

I don't miss the good old days, because I still live them by ignoring emails. Neal Stephenson is my digital age guru
http://web.mac.com/nealstephenson/Neal_Stephensons_Site/Bad_Correspondent.html

 

[palpatine]

If you need more vertical screen real-estate, you can also auto-hide your Dock.

Good point.

I haven't decided which one I like better. I kind of like to keep the dock visible sometimes.

If you do hide the dock, keep it at the bottom of the screen. Having it on the right makes scrolling a real problem, because it keeps jumping out! Having it on the left makes it difficult to control the windows, because every time you go to press the red, yellow, and green buttons it jumps out

One of the benefits of having the dock at the bottom is that the icons look a lot better

 

[getz76]

Having the dock hidden is not perfect, but I do like it better than having it on the side. For a 15" screen, the benefit for me outweighs the cost.

 

[teerexx52]

If you need more vertical screen real-estate, you can also auto-hide your Dock.

Yes, I have been doing that for a long time now.