About To Purchase A Spankin New Mbp!

OMG guys, i'm about to order the 15 inch mbp. Please tell me i'm making the right decision!!! i still can't decide between the glossy or matte though. I knew i was gona get matte and stuff till sam popped in with a post saying glossy was his favorite screen >.<. Now i'm really confused as to which screen to get.. OMG!

I need 5 people to reply with a choice and the most votes is what i'll get!

Here, i'll list what i plan to use the computer for and in what environments i'll be using them in. 1= almost never............10=always, very often. After this thread, i promise not to write any more for a while cause i know this is annoying you guys but this is the only way i am going to make a decision darnet!

1.) Gaming...8
I'll be gaming often on the computer but not all the time

2.) Internet / web surfing...6
Don't know if this helps.

3.) viewing photos....2 or less
Basically once in a GREAT while do i check out photos...maybe this will change with a camera???

4.) watching dvds....4
Haven't had a laptop before but on road trips i usually use a portable dvd player so i'll use this instead.

5.) Working in an office environment...2
I don't have any near future jobs in an office environment but who knows.

6.) Using at a desk with indirect light...7.5-8
Considering i have a desktop right now..i only sit at my desk really and play but considering a laptop is portable...

7.) Sitting outside with it.. 3
I'm estimating on this one cause you can't really play a desktop outside now can you. I think once i get a laptop, it might be nice to go out side once in a while to play. Probably won't always be really bright/sunny out though.

8.) Using in a college class room... roughly 6
Another estimate considering i don't go to college yet. I'll probally take it to half my classes (maybe more or less..not really sure)

Please feel free ask me about any other situations that i can rate. Thanks for reading all that and hopefully this post will resolve my last issue

 

Or you could flip a coin .

I vote Glossy*.

*Disclaimer...

 

glossy is also my fave. Just my 2 cents And dont worry you are making the right decision. Once you go mac, you cant go back.

Not only are you getting the lightest 15.4" laptop on the market, you are also getting a freakin demon of a machine, at only 1" thick. 1 freakin inch!! Not to mention you can pretty much install any OS known to man. OSX, Linux, xp, vista, whatever. Me as a programmer this is a great thing to have! Anyway, you won't regret it.

 

I'd go for glossy.

 

Yikes, did what I say affect your decision so much?

I like glossy, but you might not...best to check them out yourself. If you absolutely cannot choose, then I'd say get a matte, as there's nothing to hate about matte but you might find the reflections very annoying on the glossy screen.

But given how bright the screen is (the brightness makes you less "aware" of the reflections), and how you plan to rarely use it outdoors, I think glossy screen is a safe choice.

 

I prefer matte over glossy.

It would be best to check in person as Sam said, especially before you drop that kind of money.

 

Go for glossy you won't regret it.

 

Lol. Sam, what i said was a compliment. After reading many of your posts, i've come to the conclusion that you know what the hell your talking about . So yes, your posts did sway my decision as they have many other people.

 

Well, thanks for the compliments .

But with that said, yeah...what I may like does not necessarily mean you will like it too...everyone is different and their likes and dislikes will not be alike. So we're here to help you, but hopefully, we're not here to "control your life" .

 

BTW, this is directed towards the people that voted glossy...

Are you a student and do you take your laptop to class? This is my main concern, that I'll get reflection at my classes.

 

Well, I mostly leave my MacBook at home, but even with the window behind me, at full brightness (which is dimmer than the LED-backlit display on the 15.4-inch MBP), I don't notice reflections, or at least get annoyed by them.

 

I vote matte. It looks fantastic. No risk of glare, nor regret. My 17" had a glossy screen, and I used this frequently in college to take notes. If the classroom had big windows or bright florescent lights... it would make one huge reflection across my screen.

You've already made a fantastic decision by going with the 15" MBP... how about one more go matte.

EDIT: to be fair... the 17" notebook I had wasn't a MBP. There may be a huge screen brightness variation between the two.

 

I have a glossy macbook and I take it to class and outdoors all the time. If you crank the brightness all the way up, you won't have any problems outside whatsoever. The mbp has a brighter screen than the macbook, so you might only need to crank it like 80% to eliminate any unwanted reflections. Go glossy, you won't regret it. Indoors it's amazing, and outside just crank the brightness, I can guarantee you will not have any problems whatsoever. I've used my macbook on campus outdoors, no probs (under the shade though, never used it under direct sunlight)

 

I would just like to hear from a couple more college students on there experiences with glossy. That would be just awesome.

 

Apple has the most beautiful matte screens in the industry.

 

You might not want to hear this...but get the Matte.

I am of course biased (since my mbp has a matte screen), but it holds up way better than the glossy screen my old Dell 700m had.

Why, you may ask?

Matte doesn't get as finger-printy and as dusty as the glossy does.

If you have any source of direct light at all, it kills the glossy screen with a horrible reflection! The matte is so much easier on my eyes. Makes using the machine way more enjoyable.

 

I'm a student and can't explain how much I regret buying a computer with a glossy screen. The glossy screen is EXTREMELY distracting in class (although it's interesting to see who is looking over my shoulder). In anything but absolute darkness, games and movies are marred by reflection. I tried to use the computer at my desk at home and had to switch to my matte-screened desktop (the indirect sunlight caused so much reflection that detail was lost in the massive amounts of reflection). That said, when it's really dark the glossy screen looks amazing.

 

I take mine to class all the time...

ok i DON'T have a mac but i am just here to help

My notebook probably have one of the earliest glossy screens...(how long have glossy screens been around for btw? ) I have have enjoyed it very much ever since, in class its is fine. But at a desk during a nice sunny day (yes i should be outside ) it can get annoying, meaning i had to close the curtains/blinds, making the room dark, which i dislike even more ......


Edit: reading from above.....but then again it depends what the lighting are like in your classrooms, my school has diffused lighting , so no direct lights...

 

Seems like i'm getting votes for matte if your using it for college....

 

Well, it is worth noting that some of the posters who voted against glossy don't have MBPs, and usually what I've seen, the glossy coating on the MBP is less reflective than several other notebooks.

With that said, once again, if you absolutely cannot decide between the two, get the matte. You can't hate matte, you may hate glossy.

 

You cannot compare the MBP's glossy screen to other glossy screens, not even the MB's. They're just different.

I'm a student and I think simply having a laptop in class is distracting. Take notes the old-fashioned way, on paper.

 

heh....your quite right, both your points

 

Ok Ill put in my input. Im on my 2nd MBP after having dropped my first one down a flight of stairs. My first one was the matte screen, and the one I have now is glossy. Obviously, you cant go wrong with the matte screen, its the safe bet. I went glossy because the colors have better contrast I think its called? It just looks better in my opinion, games, photos, everything. It looks more...vibrant to me.

Personally, I do not notice the reflections because the screen is bright enough anyway. I use it everyday in lecture and have 0 regrets going glossy. When I do get the occasional reflection, I turn the computer until its gone, or adjust the angle of the screen...its really no big deal.

In my opinion, people who complain about reflections in glossy screens are either very anal, or just really fussy and picky. Its not that big a deal people, just get off your butt and move to a different location. The tradeoff is worth the better colors and viewing experience.

My vote goes glossy. However, these Apple screens are both very good screens and you cant possibly go wrong with either of them.

Good Luck.

 

Just out of curiosity, does the glossy screen make watching DVDs and Gaming a better viewing experience?

 

I don't have a MBP yet, but I do have a Sony SZ that has glossy screen with LED backlighting. It is a gorgeous screen, brilliant and bright, but it is only a 13.3 inch screen. The reflections in the home are not a big deal, like someone said you can move to reduce reflection. But I do get irritated on how the dust shows so predominately. That bothers me more than anything. I think on a larger screen matte would be better if you are an anal person...like me! So when I get my MBP it will be matte. Like another person said, what screen you pick depends how anal you are about things.

 

Glossy screens create richer, deeper colours, so yes, photos, movies, etc. will look nicer. However, it is worth noting that this, in another way, also means that you are seeing a "fake" image of what you see. What I mean by this is, because the glossy screens make colours look nicer, therefore its not what the actual photo looks like, as the glossy makes it look better than it actually is.

Of course, this is really minimal, but its worth noting for people in say the printing business, where what they see on the screen needs to be as close to what it looks when the photo is printed out.

 

Yes yes yes

 

Aight well it sounds like glossy is nice but not as reflective as other glossy screens so i think it sounds like i should get that.

 

I've always loved matte over glossy. Yet I've also never used a macbook/pro, so maybe mac does glossy right and that should be your choice.

I guess there's no way for you to get out to a store and check it out?

 

I have checked it out before and the glossy doesn't seem very reflective like people say about other notebooks. I can see how a little light here and there could get distracting but the great picture quality is worth it.

By the way, i just placed my order so i have probably a day to decide if i made the right choice before it ships off.

 

color accuracy really doesn't mean a thing for people that don't calibrate their monitors regularly anyway. and a calibrated glossy monitor will work for printing just as well as a matte one. that is a big misunderstanding.

and calibration is not really a simple process, profiles must be done for each printer, and paper type, etc. but there is absolutely no reason what so ever that a matte screen would reflect the colors of what is being printed better than a glossy screen, depending on the specific details.

 

I have a glossy screen, I had an old matte PC laptop and the glare annoyed me, I have a new glossy one and it doesnt bother me.
The LED screen is bright enough to kill all inteference.

Die unfaithful solar rays.Muahahahah

No, serious, even if you bought it already...get glossy, cool people do.

My brother has a Matte one...see cool people have Glossy.

 

Well, i ordered the laptop last night with glossy but i still have time to change it if anyone can convince me otherwise

 

Probably someone already suggested that, but the best thing is going to an Apple store and check out in person the difference between matte&glossy...i did that and honestly all my doubts wore off: i went for matte.
But again it's personal