I'm looking at buying a new 15.4" wide screen laptop (Dell D810) and am curious if I should go for a display with a higher native resolution. The options are WXGA (128 hex 800), WSXGA+ (168 hex 1050) and WUXGA (192 hex 1200).
I know if you don't use the native resolution images will look fuzzy so my concerns are: 1) Will fonts appear too small on the WSXGA+ and WUXGA models 2) Is image quality going to be worth the price and effort? 3) Will gaming suffer because I am forced to run at the native resolution or higher. (obviously?) 4) Will I be happy with a 15.4" wide screen (currently using a 14" standard) or would I be better off looking at a model with a 17" wide screen?
What are your thoughts?
I'm going to stop by a best buy to see if they have examples of each of the screen resolutions so it can help make up my mind.
I don't know about the higher resolutions, but I've just got a new laptop (Asus M8000Ne) with a WXGA (128 hex 800) display. Previously I used a CRT monitor running at 1024x768, and must say that I'm more than pleased with the new display (and the new computer!)
Windows tends to have problems with many things (truncating text in dialog boxes, etc) if the font size is anything other than “96 dpi”. Unfortunately “96 dpi” is tiny on high resolution notebooks. Microsoft says they'll fix this in the next release of Windows, whenever that is (assuming they still can do a release). The problem isn't fatal – I live with it – but it is annoying.
A notebook with a 17” screen will be huge & heavy, not terribly portable.
I don't see 17” as being worth the cost in dollars, weight or defective pixels unless you edit large video or pictures. How good are your eyes? I personally prefer the extra screen space of 168 hex 1050, but if your eyes aren't the best 128 hex 800 might be better.
I've always been of the mindset that unless you're someone who uses just a laptop and is also a heavy computer user(kinda rare) spend the money on the best monitor you can get for your desktop and spend less on the laptop. the price difference in laptop screens can easily get you a 19" samsung lcd for your desk or save you enough to justify a widescreen one that pivots. you can't upgrade laptops easily, they get stolen, broken, and they make you uncomfortable if you work on them day in-day out. i've got a refurb-g4 powerbook with a small screen, it's light and won't be the first stolen based on bling and powerbooks are the only good thing apple does. i digress, i can't imagine writing a 120-page paper on ANY laptop, nor doing a 8-10 hour workday. get a light one you don't think about and get the widest, sexiest lcd for getting work done you can.
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nietzsche Deactivated User
5470 Posts 8/03
Posted - Mar 17 2005 : 9:10AM
The big drawback to laptops for me is that the keyboard is recessed. I don't rest my hands when I type so it's a pain in the ass to type on laptops.
I have an old IBM T21 notebook. It's nothing fancy compared to the new stuff but I recently purchased a used docking station for it through Ebay (only $35) and was pleasantly surprised about the expanded video support capabilities. When docked the computer is capable of independently controlling two displays(external monitor/LCD and internal LCD) with different resolutions for each. I really like this feature. I have three monitors on my desktop so using multiple displays is a luxury I've kinda grown used to having. Now that I can have it on the notebook I'm considering dumping the desktop.
Actually, all the "better" laptops support multiple resolutions but not all of them support multiple resolutions simultaneously. Controlling two monitors (one built in and one connected externally) is not a simple task. Most allow the two monitors to be set at different resolutions but allow only one of the two to be active -- the other is switched off automatically. Support for simultaneous use of two monitors at disparate resolutions requires additional video memory and duplicate ramdacs.
I still use an older Dell laptop with a 15" SXGA display and a native resolution of 1400 x 1050. I've always found the fonts to be way too small, and I guess the same would be true for any of the higher resolutions you listed. In fact, having used this laptop for all my web browsing and word processing over the last five years, it's a miracle that I haven't caused permanent damage to my eyesight! DVDs and graphics have always looked pretty good though.
Given your options, I'd probably go for the WXGA @ 1280 x 800.
Posted - Mar 16 2005 : 11:59AM
