I got your point but the current laptops will run leopard fine and the MacBookPros are higher dpi than normal for Macs already. So saying they weren't 'leopard ready' was disingenuous. Going 1680x1050 now (which has always struck me as a silly res since HD movies are 1080) would result in many users having to squint at 72dpi applications running on 150dpi+ screens.
Speaking personally, I'd quite like more pixels on a small screen rather than smoother fonts and icons but in general that's not what other people want. I've a long history of working with screens with extreme resolutions on small screens since most of my career I was designing software for Japanese computers. Back when the PC had mono, CGA or EGA screens the IBM 5550 I was using had 1024x768 on a 14" screen. It was gorgeous back then having an 80x25 line screen with 24pt smooth fonts. But then I could run 1024x768 and 10pt in graphics mode and get much more on screen. Anhyhoo...
BTO option maybe. They can do glossy or matte screens in the MacBookPro now so why not different resolutions? But I suspect they won't in the MacBook and Digitimes are talking crap as usual.
Going 1680x1050 now (which has always struck me as a silly res since HD movies are 1080) would result in many users having to squint at 72dpi applications running on 150dpi+ screens.
Depending on what the quality hit was to run in non-native res, you may have a point. I myself would take the hit, run in a lesser res for '07 until the app support came, and then run in 1680x1050.
Quote:
BTO option maybe. They can do glossy or matte screens in the MacBookPro now so why not different resolutions?
Yep, and that is what Dell is doing already in the 15" notebook space. For not a lot of money either (~$1K). Apple should give you the choice, but they tend not to in situations like these. \
Yep, and that is what Dell is doing already in the 15" notebook space. For not a lot of money either (~$1K). Apple should give you the choice, but they tend not to in situations like these. \
I just checked. They don't offer any 15" laptop with 1680x1050 at any price level. At least not in the UK.
Dell Inspiron 6400 15" offers the choice of 1280x800 15.4 or 1440x900 for £60 more. When configured to roughly MacBook specs with a 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo (that's the most powerful option), it costs £892 here in the UK. The 2.0Ghz MacBook here costs £879. I know which I'd rather have.
They offer 1440x900 and a quite silly 1920x1200 on the 17" screens though eg a Dell 9400 will cost you £1883.50 with a £70 discount compared to a similarly specced 17" MacBook Pro which costs £1899 here but comes with a 2.33Ghz CPU instead of the Dell's 2.16Ghz max CPU speed. If you wanted faster then you'd have to go to the more expensive XPS models.
Apples are of course lighter, better specced, better looking, slimmer and come with better software than the Dells and they're CHEAPER. I specced the Dells with Windows Vista Home premium, no anti-virus and no photo software.
Interesting. The 9400 starts at $900 in the US. Sure, when you max it out, it's a little more expensive than an Apple, and Apple's model is very nice, but Apple is the take-it-or-leave-it company, so they only offer high-end models for that screen size and that's it.
Interesting. The 9400 starts at $900 in the US. Sure, when you max it out, it's a little more expensive than an Apple, and Apple's model is very nice, but Apple is the take-it-or-leave-it company, so they only offer high-end models for that screen size and that's it.
UK prices are including VAT @ 17.5% (roughly equiv for you is sales tax) btw. The 9400 starts at £779 here (£ 663 without VAT or $1,293). It's quite nasty though - T5500 1.6, GMA950 and slow RAM.
Dell rip us off in the UK even more than Apple do somewhat surprisingly if they're $900 in the USA. At least a MacBook that's $1099 there is £637 here before VAT ( $1242 ). Dell are ripping us off by nearly $400 whereas Apple are only ripping us off by $143.
The other interesting thing I've just noticed is you can only get them with Vista Home Premium. WTF?
I just checked. They don't offer any 15" laptop with 1680x1050 at any price level. At least not in the UK.
"Not in the UK" is an apt disclaimer, because in the US, Dell DOES offer a 1680x1050 display on a 15" notebook, as Chucker also noted. Seems like a nice display too:
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
15.4 inch Ultra SharpTM WSXGA+ with TrueLifeTM
Native Resolution\t1680 x 1050 pixels
MegaPixels\t1.76 Mpixels
Pixel Pitch\t\t0.197 mm
Luminance/Brightness(typical)\t cd/m2 (nits)
Horizontal Viewing Angle\t+/- 65 degrees
Vertical Viewing Angle\t+50/ -50 degrees
Contrast Ratio\t\t300:1
Copyright 1999-2007 Dell Inc.
I'm sure they'll offer the same thing in the UK before too long... its not the US, but it is a sizeable market.
I'm sure they'll offer the same thing in the UK before too long... its not the US, but it is a sizeable market.
Looking at the difference between Dell UK and US, there's quite a few other differences. You can get a slower CPU, Windows Home Basic, 512MB of RAM and it's a lot cheaper. Dell UK don't really offer the cheaper options here. There's much fewer options. I'd reckon about 2/3rds.
So I wouldn't be so sure Dell would offer a 1680x1050 15" here. They seem to pick an choose the more common options that people actually want rather than too slow, too little ram or too high res a screen.
So I wouldn't be so sure Dell would offer a 1680x1050 15" here. They seem to pick an choose the more common options that people actually want rather than too slow, too little ram or too high res a screen.
For many folks, there's no such thing as 'too high a res'.
Seriously though, the historical trend with laptops has been for res to increase ever on, in all markets. It may take awhile, but very high-res laptops will make their way across the pond. And I wouldn't expect the res 'arms race' in notebooks to even begin to subside until we hit 1920x1080 (so high-def DVDs can play in all their glory).
Comments
You might be missing my point.
I got your point but the current laptops will run leopard fine and the MacBookPros are higher dpi than normal for Macs already. So saying they weren't 'leopard ready' was disingenuous. Going 1680x1050 now (which has always struck me as a silly res since HD movies are 1080) would result in many users having to squint at 72dpi applications running on 150dpi+ screens.
Speaking personally, I'd quite like more pixels on a small screen rather than smoother fonts and icons but in general that's not what other people want. I've a long history of working with screens with extreme resolutions on small screens since most of my career I was designing software for Japanese computers. Back when the PC had mono, CGA or EGA screens the IBM 5550 I was using had 1024x768 on a 14" screen. It was gorgeous back then having an 80x25 line screen with 24pt smooth fonts. But then I could run 1024x768 and 10pt in graphics mode and get much more on screen. Anhyhoo...
BTO option maybe. They can do glossy or matte screens in the MacBookPro now so why not different resolutions? But I suspect they won't in the MacBook and Digitimes are talking crap as usual.
Going 1680x1050 now (which has always struck me as a silly res since HD movies are 1080) would result in many users having to squint at 72dpi applications running on 150dpi+ screens.
Depending on what the quality hit was to run in non-native res, you may have a point. I myself would take the hit, run in a lesser res for '07 until the app support came, and then run in 1680x1050.
BTO option maybe. They can do glossy or matte screens in the MacBookPro now so why not different resolutions?
Yep, and that is what Dell is doing already in the 15" notebook space. For not a lot of money either (~$1K). Apple should give you the choice, but they tend not to in situations like these.
.
Yep, and that is what Dell is doing already in the 15" notebook space. For not a lot of money either (~$1K). Apple should give you the choice, but they tend not to in situations like these.
I just checked. They don't offer any 15" laptop with 1680x1050 at any price level. At least not in the UK.
Dell Inspiron 6400 15" offers the choice of 1280x800 15.4 or 1440x900 for £60 more. When configured to roughly MacBook specs with a 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo (that's the most powerful option), it costs £892 here in the UK. The 2.0Ghz MacBook here costs £879. I know which I'd rather have.
They offer 1440x900 and a quite silly 1920x1200 on the 17" screens though eg a Dell 9400 will cost you £1883.50 with a £70 discount compared to a similarly specced 17" MacBook Pro which costs £1899 here but comes with a 2.33Ghz CPU instead of the Dell's 2.16Ghz max CPU speed. If you wanted faster then you'd have to go to the more expensive XPS models.
Apples are of course lighter, better specced, better looking, slimmer and come with better software than the Dells and they're CHEAPER. I specced the Dells with Windows Vista Home premium, no anti-virus and no photo software.
I just checked. They don't offer any 15" laptop with 1680x1050 at any price level. At least not in the UK.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=bncwe1s&s=bsd
For $100 more, you get 1680x1050. I know, not the UK, but that wasn't the point.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=bncwe1s&s=bsd
For $100 more, you get 1680x1050. I know, not the UK, but that wasn't the point.
Not in the UK you don't.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...ftdhpnotebook1
Interesting. The 9400 starts at $900 in the US. Sure, when you max it out, it's a little more expensive than an Apple, and Apple's model is very nice, but Apple is the take-it-or-leave-it company, so they only offer high-end models for that screen size and that's it.
UK prices are including VAT @ 17.5% (roughly equiv for you is sales tax) btw. The 9400 starts at £779 here (£ 663 without VAT or $1,293). It's quite nasty though - T5500 1.6, GMA950 and slow RAM.
Dell rip us off in the UK even more than Apple do somewhat surprisingly if they're $900 in the USA. At least a MacBook that's $1099 there is £637 here before VAT ( $1242 ). Dell are ripping us off by nearly $400 whereas Apple are only ripping us off by $143.
The other interesting thing I've just noticed is you can only get them with Vista Home Premium. WTF?
I just checked. They don't offer any 15" laptop with 1680x1050 at any price level. At least not in the UK.
"Not in the UK" is an apt disclaimer, because in the US, Dell DOES offer a 1680x1050 display on a 15" notebook, as Chucker also noted. Seems like a nice display too:
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
15.4 inch Ultra SharpTM WSXGA+ with TrueLifeTM
Native Resolution\t1680 x 1050 pixels
MegaPixels\t1.76 Mpixels
Pixel Pitch\t\t0.197 mm
Luminance/Brightness(typical)\t cd/m2 (nits)
Horizontal Viewing Angle\t+/- 65 degrees
Vertical Viewing Angle\t+50/ -50 degrees
Contrast Ratio\t\t300:1
Copyright 1999-2007 Dell Inc.
I'm sure they'll offer the same thing in the UK before too long... its not the US, but it is a sizeable market.
.
I'm sure they'll offer the same thing in the UK before too long... its not the US, but it is a sizeable market.
Looking at the difference between Dell UK and US, there's quite a few other differences. You can get a slower CPU, Windows Home Basic, 512MB of RAM and it's a lot cheaper. Dell UK don't really offer the cheaper options here. There's much fewer options. I'd reckon about 2/3rds.
So I wouldn't be so sure Dell would offer a 1680x1050 15" here. They seem to pick an choose the more common options that people actually want rather than too slow, too little ram or too high res a screen.
So I wouldn't be so sure Dell would offer a 1680x1050 15" here. They seem to pick an choose the more common options that people actually want rather than too slow, too little ram or too high res a screen.
For many folks, there's no such thing as 'too high a res'.
Seriously though, the historical trend with laptops has been for res to increase ever on, in all markets. It may take awhile, but very high-res laptops will make their way across the pond. And I wouldn't expect the res 'arms race' in notebooks to even begin to subside until we hit 1920x1080 (so high-def DVDs can play in all their glory).
.