[abetterbell]

Can someone tell me what the factory setting is for the resolution on my 15" 1.67GHz g4 powerbook is ? I changed it by accident and didn't notice the default resolution. Thanks for helping a newbie!

[Alexey (rus)]

the highest possible setting available is the default. 1440x1050 i think.

[abetterbell]

The choice is 1440x950. That's the one I chose to set it to. Just wanted to make sure.

[mduell]

Either 1280x854 or 1440x960, depending on revision.

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by mduell

Either 1280x854 or 1440x960, depending on revision.

He is, as usual, right. The 1440*960 screen is really good for a 15 inches, my 17" rev.a has a lower vertical value.

Any idea(*) why the MacBook Pro 15" has 1440*900 instead of 1440*960?, just wondering about it… 60 vertical pixels, maybe not a big deal, but more than enough to show my Dock.

(*) justification really.

[ibook_steve]

Originally Posted by angelmb

He is, as usual, right. The 1440*960 screen is really good for a 15 inches, my 17" rev.a has a lower vertical value.

Any idea(*) why the MacBook Pro 15" has 1440*900 instead of 1440*960?, just wondering about it… 60 vertical pixels, maybe not a big deal, but more than enough to show my Dock.

(*) justification really.

Room for the iSight camera.

Steve

[mduell]

Originally Posted by angelmb

Any idea(*) why the MacBook Pro 15" has 1440*900 instead of 1440*960?, just wondering about it… 60 vertical pixels, maybe not a big deal, but more than enough to show my Dock.

Most widescreen computer screens have the same aspect ratio as the MacBook Pro, 1.6 (common resolutions: 1280x800, 1680x1050, 1920x1200). The 15" PowerBook enclosure was designed around a more square panel with an aspect ratio of 1.5 (originally 1152x768, then 1280x854, then 1440x960) for reasons unknown to me. It was one of the first (the first?) widescreen laptops and they never changed it when 1.6 caught on.
I'd love to see Apple step up to 1920x1200 in the 15" (a lot of people disagree with me), but Apple has an affinity for lower resolutions; they used to claim 100 dpi was optimal, but now that the PowerBook/MacBookPro are up to ~115 dpi they've dropped that claim from their site.

[tooki]

Originally Posted by angelmb

Any idea(*) why the MacBook Pro 15" has 1440*900 instead of 1440*960?, just wondering about it… 60 vertical pixels, maybe not a big deal, but more than enough to show my Dock.

Probably because the MBP's screen is basically an off-the-shelf part, the same as is used in countless PC laptops. The PowerBook's screen was basically a custom part for Apple, since nobody else used that particular size.

Edit: I forgot the punchline: Ergo, the new screen is probably less expensive.

tooki

[mduell]

Originally Posted by tooki

Probably because the MBP's screen is basically an off-the-shelf part, the same as is used in countless PC laptops. The PowerBook's screen was basically a custom part for Apple, since nobody else used that particular size.

Edit: I forgot the punchline: Ergo, the new screen is probably less expensive.

tooki

Most of the PC laptops seem to skip over 1440x900, jumping from 1280x800 to 1680x1050... I have no idea why, but 1440x900 is very rare compared to the two sizes closest to it.

[angelmb]

Great to know, thanks all.