Your thoughts on matte screen protectors?

[oper8n]

Hey guys, I'm in the market for a MBP, going Mac for the first time.

One big feature that I have been looking for in a new notebook is a matte antiglare screen. MBP's obviously only offer this option on the 15", and even getting a refurbished one with the matte display will run me close to $1800, which is quite prohibitive. I wouldn't even be using the 15 to its full potential anyway. I think a 13 would suit my needs better, but of course, there's no matte factory option.

Anyway, I just heard of matte screen protectors for the regular glossy displays. I wanted your guys' opinions on them and whether or not they have been useful for your needs/desires.

 

[newbiemacguy128]

This has been answered before, but I guess i'll go ahead and answer your question anyways.

I tried a couple on my 13in MBP before. The Moshi brand and one other cheap off brand one. They both had the same effect. I had decreased visibility (it looked hazey) and it effectively knocked down my brightness about 2-3 notches. So it made my Mac look like it had a cheap screen and decreased my battery life.

Also, if you wouldn't use the 15in MBP to its fullest potential, you could just as easily go with the MBA. Its still glossy, but doesn't have the extra glass on top of it that makes the MBP super glossy. As long as you aren't doing any processor intensive work, the air can do anything the 13in pro can.

 

[noripwr]

Like above said. I had the moshi antiglare screen protector. At first I liked it, then realized it was counterproductive when using the MBP outdoors. For example when outdoors, without the moshi I could use my mbp with brightness set to 2-3 notches. Of course I could see my own reflection but I was able to see icons and text.

With the moshi on in the same scenario, I had to set brightness to about 80% to make out anything on the screen because it was just too hazy. And due to the haziness, text appears less sharp than it should.