WXGA vs. WXGA+ on 14.1/13.3?

I was looking into the HP dv2500t and the XPS m1330 (matte). I need a good screen for word processing, internet surfing, and occasional img editing and publications software (indesign).

Looks like the HP comes with only a WXGA! They call it a High Definition HP Brightview Widescreen (1280x800).
The M1330 only comes with WXGA too!

This made me look more at the T61 and Inspiron 1420, both of which have WXGA+ (is this equivalent to WSXGA, is there significant diff between WXGA and WXGA+?)

I've read around the forums that WXGA is pretty crappy, especially on a 14" (which the HP has). I don't want fonts to look blurry or crappy, i need to save my eyes which need readability and clarity. If the WXGA+'s on the 1420 and t61 are significantly better for the eyes, then I guess it's worth it.

Does this hold true for the HP dv2500t, or is that screen actually pretty good on the eyes? I'm leaning towards the HP (the m1330 ship date very late) but the screen res is the main concern.

Should I go to one of the chunkier models or is the difference not worth it?

 

WXGA+ = 1440x900
WSXGA+ = 1680x1050

WXGA+ is the only way to go on 14". The 1280x800 is really lousy and budget-oriented. You can't do any sort of multitasking. 1440x900 is 25% more screen area to work with. Worth the upgrade for sure.

 

Yes, but 13.1" can be classified and ultraportible and the 14.1" cannot. It depends on what you need.

 

Hmm, I see, thanks. I was hoping the dv2500t's "HD" label was more than a marketing tool. So WXGA doesnt provide much screen area, but is it worse on the eyes or is there no significant difference?

One thing's for sure - I've ruled out the m1330 because 13.3" with WXGA sounds like too little screen area and the ship date is absurd. I'm reluctant to dismiss the dv2500t though - anyone have direct experience with its screen for readability/clarity? Is the screen area deal a big handicap?

 

I find WXGA+ to be perfect on the 14.1" screen of my nc6400! I wouldn't have it any other way. Even so, I don't think there would be any problems with clarity no matter what resolution you select. If the LCD is driven at its native resolution, then fonts will look great. If it is scaled, then things begin to look blurry.

So if you're worried about your eyes because of font size, then maybe 1280x800 might be a good choice for a 14" screen. My eyesight is still very good so I enjoy the smaller font size that comes with WXGA+.

 

Ah okay thanks for the help. One more thing if I may... right now I use a 17 in. LCD at 1280 x 1024 (not widescreen). The font size is very comfortable. Would a 14.1" WXGA+ result in smaller fonts than a 17inch 1280x1024?

 

A standard desktop 17" monitor has about 96 pixels per inch, which is the same as 1280 x 800 on a 15.4" widescreen.

1440 x 900 on a 14.1" screen is 120 pixels per inch so it is significantly smaller. However, most people sit closer to notebook screens which, to some extent, offsets the smaller size.

If you find that 120 pixels per inch is too small you can change the Windows default graphics setting from 96dpi to 120dpi which will increase the size.

John

 

And if you get Vista the dpi scales much better than in XP.

 

shooot!! lenovo is out of the wxga+ for the t61 14 inches!! should i wait..or is it really that big of a deal? Im using vista so hopefully it won't be

 

I agree, I have vostro 14.1 with wxga+ 1440 x 900.

It's well worth it and looks very nice!!!

Love them. More landscape on screen. I do a lot of spead sheet work and it works out lovely.

 

So alsherban what did you decide?

Right now i want a new laptop in the next few months. I have a dell xps M1210 that has a 12.1"screen with 1280x800 resolution. The font is a bit small for me and screen real estate is also too small. I am on a quest for that perfect resolution sized laptop. I am thinking of going to 13.3 1280x800 or 14.1 1440x900 laptop. I made a little chart below to compare dot pitch sizes.

good read on wiki about resolution and dot pitch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_pitch
below is the calculator i used to determine the dot pitch
http://www.thirdculture.com/joel/shumi/computer/hardware/ppicalc.html

* Note: The greater the Dot Pitch the bigger the font thus easier on the eyes.

Display resolution - Screen - Dot Pitch - Pixels per inch - Possible Laptops

1280×768 (WXGA) --- 14.1 --- 0.2399 --- 105.87 ---- can be the T61

1280×800 (WXGA) --- 12.1 --- 0.2036 --- 124.75 ---- m1210
--------------------- 13.3 --- 0.2238 --- 113.49 ---- m1330 & ibook
--------------------- 14.1 --- 0.2373 --- 107.05 ---- T61

1440×900 (WXGA+) -- 14.1 --- 0.2109 --- 120.43 T61 - popular size here

1400×1050 (SXGA+) - 14.1 --- 0.2047 --- 124.11 T61

 

Thank you for doing this!

 

FYI, I have tried 1280 x 800 @ 12.1" and 1680 x 1050 @ 15.4" and found both a little hard on my eyes. I'm now on 1440 x 900 @ 14.1" and, at the moment, very happy. It is a good compromise between size and real estate.

John