New MACBOOK,,Scratches and Screen Glare!?!

hey guys...
im really considering buying a Aluminum unibody macbook. With previous notebooks, i ended up sending them back because of the glossy screens, attracting way too much glare. could someone tell me if the new macbook screens attract excessive glare, and can someone tell me there experiences with the screen. Also does anyone know if the Aluminum body scratches easily? is it the same Aluminum used in the older ipod nanos and minis?
thanks...

 

the screen on the unibody macbook is widely considered one of the "glariest" screens ever - honestly, i've seen it, it's almost like a mirror. IIRC you can select a matte option when configuring though.

 

where can you select a matte screen option??

 

I can tell you that the screen is quite glossy.I think you should go to your local apple store and check it yourself.and it is not easily scratch_able AFAIK.

 

you can do that only with 17".

 

i hate the screen. haven't used one much yet, but i really dislike the screen.

 

wow...thats a real deal breaker for me...I had a sony vaio laptop, and it was a glossy screen, but somehow sony made it to be anti-glare..it really was a great screen...apple needs to take some tips from sony..

 

Apple already did take tips from Sony. It's called the PowerBook 100. Sony made it and Apple sold it.

 

Its would be pretty hard to scratch it since its glass. Personally I don't find the glossy to be annoying by any way, it really depends on how you use it, where you use it. I mostly use it in my flat, so far I haven't noticed any reflections during normal usage.

You should try to head to a store and check it out for yourself, then try to make up your mind.

I think the deal breaker for you wouldn't be the glossy, but the panel itself which is basically crap.

 

The quality of the panels used is also sub-par... glossy isn't generally as bad as some people make it, but the Macbooks are glossier than other edge-to-edge glossy screens.

 

I've had absolutely no problems with my MacBook screen. I've used it in various places ranging from my living room with low lighting, my office with many fluorescent lights, on a bus next to the window on a bright sunny day, and even outside on my deck. Not once did I think "This screen is too glossy" nor have I wished for a matte screen.

 

i have one and i dont find glare to be a problem indoors but it depends on the light you have in the room. the problem is the border around the lcd is reflective black which intensifies the glare on the screen making it mirror like. I also find the macbook to be very scratch prone. it isnt just plain aluminum its painted over the aluminum and has no clearcoat. you can tell just by touching it. it scuffs like crazy if anything touches it. i know from experience.

in my opinion the macbook air has the best screen right now. maybe the macbook matte 17 might not be bad but glare isnt the only problem the screen themselves are crappy. so macbook air is sort of better. it does have the 9400 graphics too.

 

It's not painted it anodized. I haven't had a problem with mine.

 

so how was the glare while using it with the bright lighting? was it to the point that you could only focus on the glare on the screen, or were you still able to view what you were doing on the screen with ease?

 

dude its not anodized. i know i actually own one as well. go to any respectible mac forum and post your "finds" about it being anodized and see what they tell you. its not. anodize doesnt scratch or chip. its a bonding process. i have a scrape on my macbook. that wouldnt happen with anodization

 

True. I have scratched mine and I see white, even though the scratch is very very little.

 

I see, so you're saying that Apple is lying and you know more about what they make better than they do?

 

And back on topic, the brightness of the screens really do make up for the glossiness.

I've used mine inside and outside, on a plane and on a bus, in a park, you name it. Haven't even considered ", I wish I had a matte".

But yeah, go to an Apple Store and try one out yourself.

 

Heh, I have BMX parts that are anodized and they scratch. So you are wrong, it's not like it's a diamond coating. Who ever told you anodized products are scratch proof didn't know what they where talking about.

The white is the aluminum, anodizing is a vary thin coating.

 

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *takes a deep breath* hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Sorry, but

 

I have no problems focusing on the screen regardless of where I am, or what the lighting conditions are. Obviously in brighter rooms I have to turn the brightness up on my MacBook but that's it.

 

AHHH now can someone clarify if its Anodized or not...build quality is real important to me, and i dont want to be worried about scratching my laptop, ima heavy user...i thought the macbook would have an advantage when it comes to the build, and would be somewhat scratch resistant....anyone know if the aluminum is like that on the ipod nanos???

 

IT IS anodized. Anodizing DOES NOT make it scratch proof, it helps but since aluminum is already a vary soft metal it will still scratch, just not as easy.

 

macbook unibody has a ultra-glossy screen since they have to compensate poor quality of TN-Film panel installed on this PC.

PS: historically glossy screen appeared as a slight improvement of the low-cost TN-film panels. glossy cover improves brightness (laptop cannot use power consuming CCFL/LED backlights to have applicable brightness, since it is small space and requirements to power consumption), but if you have ever read glare magazines you should notice glare brings to loosing details on a picture. glare is more to impress that to improve picture quality. welcome to marketing world

 

What a ridiculous comment.

 

Be prepared to deal with extreme glare if you go with a new MB/MBP. The glassy, glossy screen is annoying under most lighting and unusable under some lighting. I have an older, matte MBP screen to compare it to and I haven't once had trouble with the older screen (including when sitting outside at a park or something).

The aluminium finish is not the same as the older Minis (or MBs/MBPs), and it does not scratch easily. The new MBPs/MBs are built like tanks.

 

I am not sure you can see and read (not even understand) my comment well due to glare screen installed on your lap Try to print it on paper and read it again

If you have any objections and can substantiate it in a sequence of sensible thoughts I will be happy to hear it, otherwise good luck !

 

I can see and read your nonsense quite well from my MacBook whilst sitting in a room full of florescent lighting, both in front and behind me.

Apple made this really cool feature to help with glare. It's called an "adjustable" display whereas you can move it forwards and backwards in order to position the screen at an optimum viewing angle.

I realize this is well beyond your comprehension (evident by your comments) but perhaps you should give it a try next time you see some glare on your laptop screen instead of throwing a verbal temper tantrum.

 

Khris, birgadir has a point about the glossiness compensating for the low quality of the panel. Maybe the rest, along with his attitude, is not great, but you can't say the panels used in the standard Macbooks are of excellent quality.
Many other edge-to-edge screens aren't as glossy as the Macbooks - but imagine how those panels would perform without the cover.

 

I've owned a Black MacBook, 1st Gen MacBook Air, and now a 2.4 Unibody MacBook. I can not honestly say that I preferred the screen of one over any other, nor can I say I saw a discernible difference.

If the "glossiness compensating for low panel quality" is how you want to justify it, go for it......however I have to disagree.

 

We can disagree, even vigorously, without being discourteous. I saw a new MacBook a few weeks ago. I'd have to agree the glare on was more than most. Some people have a high tolerance for the glare with others dislike it greatly. The sad part is you're paying $2k+ for a MBP and they're not even giving you a decent panel, regardless of whether it's matte or glossy.

 

Well, i had a dell Vostro 1400, (loved the build of it), but it had a Very glossy screen that attracted too much glare, after doing some research i found that dell's glossy screens are some of, if not, the worst screens available. Could anyway say if the macbook has a screen similar, or worst then Dells glossy screens?

 

What's the answer you want to hear......I'm sure someone will give it.

 

imho the screen is one of the best quality of Apple computers. it is so bright and the colors are so vivid.

 

Excuse me for getting slightly offtopic but I want to ask a really noobish question. I read all over the place that the new MBP do not have good screens. Can you please tell me the models so that I can look up some more precise info about them?

Do they figure in this list?
http://lcdtech.no-ip.info/en/data/laptop.lcd.panels.htm

Tnx!

 

em,no....

 

Sorry, there is nothing related to your belief in apple. I am not going to discuss your religion I have just told you history of glare screen and the reason why it appeared and used(ing). I think you should notice that most of LCD TV and PC LCD monitors don't have this "super magic" glare coating. Looks strange !?

There is nothing special with apple Macbook screen, it is glare low-cost TN-Film panel. Most of the laptop either it is budget Acer or Apple or Asus or HP etc use the same low cost panels. By the way high-reflective screen has another bad side. Actually what you see on the screen is combination of picture shown on the screen and reflected things (you face, for example). Your brain has to do extra work separating picture from the reflected garbage. In other words it is not healthy. I remember one of the requirements to old CRC monitor was to be as anti-glare as it is possible, otherwise they could not be certifed with bunch of ECO standards.

PS: I expect to see a reasonable argument from your side, probably I have expected too much For example, Sony uses glare coating (one of the best on the market) for ages. Do you know why ?

 

"Many other"

Brigadir is also correct that very glossy screens in multiple-light-source conditions do give extra strain. There is a minute amount of sensitive people out there who cannot use glossy screens because the strain is especially strong for them.

 

I was saying that HP's displays are even worse...I bet new dells are super-glossy as well! Love glossy

 

I'll ignore the rest of the self-righteous BS because at this point, I've already fed the troll enough.

I'm sitting in my livingroom right now with background lights on and the brightness on my Mac at about a third. I see no reflection of myself, or any other "reflected garbage". Sitting in my office at work with several florescent lights on and the brightness on full, once again I see no "reflected garbage". Your point of being "not healthy" is without merit.

Please, get off your soap box because it's very obvious your narrow minded opinion will not change regardless of what others say, or even prove to you.

 

Exactly.....a minute amount of sensitive people. The general public however has no problems with a glossy screen, and a large portion prefer glossy over matte. Why do you think most manufacturers are moving towards glossy screens......consumer demand.

 

Khris, I'm sorry, but the strain does exist for 'normal' users as well. You just happen to never have noticed it - I know it's there. If you're going to insult someone over some factual statement, please do research it, instead of going "I don't see it". Because it's there.

Glossy screens make a lil' worse panels look better. They boost the contrast and vibrance, but much too often at the cost of good color reproduction.
Many pros that work intensely with colors will tell you that matte screens give better color reproduction.

And this isn't really a case of demand... consumers aren't given a choice in the vast majority of consumer notebooks, and believe that the screen just must be glossy.

 

I am not even sure glossy can improve contrast (at least make the improvement noticeable for user). Contrast is ratio between the higher luminance and the lower luminance. Matte screens diffract the light and glossy screens try to reduce the diffraction. As result we have more bright screen. But as you know there is no TFT screen which is able to produce pure black color. Glossy coating makes lighter the "dirty" black color too and the ratio (what we call contrast) stay practically the same to what we have on original matte screen.

 

I fully support your idea to ignore the dispute, since it is impossible for me to argue somebody if the somebody has only personal office-educated opinion

 

Just to add another opinion. I've always been the anti-glare kind of user due to experiences using other people's notebooks (correcting their mistakes). Lately I've looked at several notebooks while trying to find a replacement to my old Inspiron 6000. My wife and mother-in-law both recently got MBs so I had a chance to really play around with one. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the MB's screen. It is so much brighter and has better color than my Dell. I haven't noticed the glare at all. Maybe I'm uneducated, maybe I'm ignorant, maybe its just because I'm comparing it to an older screen but I'm definitely happy with it.

 

This thread has devolved into an argument that's not going anywhere. Closed.