Macbook Pro: glossy or matte?

[RaceTripper]

Dell has achieved new heights of incompetence and cannot get their act together with my XPS laptop, so I am ordering a 17" MacBook Pro.

So the big decision is should I get the matte or glossy screen. My Dell has a glossy and I have liked it more or less.

 

[bwilder10h]

dont forget to get me one too... :smile:

 

[ozarkshome]

I have the glossy. I feel it adds some punch to the photos when showing them to others. There is some reflection if there are lights behind you. I find it easy to "look past" them and still get a great looking photo.

 

[RaceTripper]

dont forget to get me one too... :smile:

Well, you're no darn help. :wink:

 

[RaceTripper]

I'm leaning towards matte. The Apple Store guy told me the matte is more accurate for color and better if I plan to calibrate using Spyder2. Anyone know whether that's true?

 

[ozarkshome]

Unless he had actually tested it I doubt it is true. I normally use mine with a 20" ACD and the few times I have viewed the final photo my old eyes could not tell much difference. Glossy might have a bit of additional saturation, will have to test it again in a few days after I get the laptop calibrated.

 

[RaceTripper]

Unless he had actually tested it I doubt it is true. ....

You doubt or know for sure? Maybe he knows something you don't?

Thanks, but conjecture doesn't really help me.

 

[Clix Pix]

Matte here.... I want accurate color and I don't like the reflections that you get with a glossy screen. Mine is hooked up to a 23" ACD at home, but when I'm on the road and want to work on images, I prefer the matte screen.

 

[stephen99]

I'm with Connie on this one. I like the looks of the glossy screen but the reflections bother me. I went with matte.

 

[SRA]

I concur with Connie too. It seems to me that the absence of glossy monitors on Apples HD desktops is some hint. :wink:

 

[BlueMerle]

I've got a 15" MBP with a matte screen and I've never had one regret. I'm outside with it a lot and unless the sun is over my shoulder I don't have any trouble. I've seen too many people with glossy screens struggle to see. YMMV!

Good luck what ever you get... And welcome to the coolness of Mac

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[RaceTripper]

Good luck what ever you get... And welcome to the coolness of Mac

You mean welcome back. My first Mac was a Macintosh Plus. I had to switch to Windows back in the late 90s for professional reasons (I'm a software engineer), and Windows has annoyed me in some way at least once every day.

I can't wait to be on the Mac again.

 

[RaceTripper]

Matte it is. Almost everyone says that's preferred.

Thanks everyone. Hopefully this thread will serve others well.

 

[Julien]

Dean , this might be of no help at all regarding your "problem" , but it seems that the Macbook Pro lineup is going to be revamped during the WWDC this June. Now this seems to concern only the 15" models , but Apple might come out with LED backlight displays. It might be worth it to wait just a while ...

 

[BlueMerle]

I had to switch to Windows back in the late 90s for professional reasons (I'm a software engineer), and Windows has annoyed me in some way at least once every day.

Amen to that! I'm a network admin and had to use windows also! But now with intel Mac's and BootCamp... well lets just say it's the best two for one deal anywhere!! :biggrin:

 

[RaceTripper]

Dean , this might be of no help at all regarding your "problem" , but it seems that the Macbook Pro lineup is going to be revamped during the WWDC this June. Now this seems to concern only the 15" models , but Apple might come out with LED backlight displays. It might be worth it to wait just a while ...

Can't wait. My Dell craptop is totally crap now (see my blog for some of the story, updates forthcoming), and I no longer trust anything about Dell to keep me running reliably. Even though Dell says they'll fix my XPS (9 component failures so far, and now they're shipping 6 more to replace), I have zero confidence in them. I need a new machine now.

Apple may refresh the 17" at WWDC, but not with a LED screen. That's for the 15" ones, and the 13" come later this year. I doubt we'll see LED screens for 17" before next year.

 

[SRA]

Dean , this might be of no help at all regarding your "problem" , but it seems that the Macbook Pro lineup is going to be revamped during the WWDC this June. Now this seems to concern only the 15" models , but Apple might come out with LED backlight displays. It might be worth it to wait just a while ...

Julien,

That's great news.

 

[RaceTripper]

It's ordered:
Parallels Desktop for Mac
Wireless Mighty Mouse

17" MacBook Pro - Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz Notebook Intel
Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz, 17" TFT, 2GB DDR2, 160GB SATA, ATI Mobility Radeon X1600, 8x Superdrive, Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T, 54-Mbps Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and iSight, OS X v10.4 Tiger

I also ordered a 2 GB module from 18004Memory for $145, to bump it to 3GB total.

Now my problem is I can't have camera-enabled devices at work, so until I can solve that problem, my Mac will have to stay home. :frown:

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;