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Dave Hagan · May 22, 2006, 01:37 PM

Just curious who here's opting for the glossy screen on their MacBook Pro...

MisterRogers · May 22, 2006, 01:52 PM

Hey Dave,

I just ordered a 17 2.16 with the glossy screen. Checked out the macbook, liked what I saw. My color reaction is slow (slightly color blind), and have sensitive eyes, so I never work in direct light, and usually in a dark to darker room The more vibrant colors, plus the infrequent 'glare' situations make it a good fit for me.

Mike

skrumrei · May 22, 2006, 04:33 PM

I just received my new CTO 15" MBP 2.0 with the glossy screen. I must admit was second-guessing my decision to go with the glossy screen after reading all the negative posts. After getting it in my hands, however, I'm sold on the glossy screen. It's beautiful! And while you see a lot of glare on pictures taken from an oblique angle, from straight on, I see almost no glare at all, even in my office with a large window right behind me. The colors are more vivid, especially the blacks, and everything looks sharper. I'm sure there will be some circumstances where the glare could be an issue, but I think, overall, the net sum is positive for the glossy screen.

bcaslis · May 22, 2006, 05:14 PM

That's great to hear, I'm very interested in the glossy screen. Two questions:
1.) How long did it take to ship after you ordered it?
2.) Have you seen any MacBooks? If so how does the MBP glossy compare? Same viewing angles, different, etc..

Originally Posted by skrumrei

I just received my new CTO 15" MBP 2.0 with the glossy screen. I must admit was second-guessing my decision to go with the glossy screen after reading all the negative posts. After getting it in my hands, however, I'm sold on the glossy screen. It's beautiful! And while you see a lot of glare on pictures taken from an oblique angle, from straight on, I see almost no glare at all, even in my office with a large window right behind me. The colors are more vivid, especially the blacks, and everything looks sharper. I'm sure there will be some circumstances where the glare could be an issue, but I think, overall, the net sum is positive for the glossy screen.

skrumrei · May 22, 2006, 05:26 PM

1. I ordered it on 5/16, it shipped on 5/18, and I received it today 5/22. I paid the $15 for 2-day delivery.

2. No, I haven't see the MP in person, so I can't help you here.

Bryanmc · May 22, 2006, 05:29 PM

From the MacBook Pro product page:

Finishing coat
MacBook Pro offers an antiglare coated widescreen display that’s perfect for color-minded professionals. For a more immersive viewing experience, you can configure MacBook Pro with a glossy finish. This gives everything you see a richer, more saturated feel.

I do graphic work on my MacBook Pro, it's my living, so I have to have something that's going to show me accurate color. I've seen the glossy and it really does make things richer and the saturation looks much stronger, but I've got to have accuracy.

So I didn't go with glossy on my MBP. Whatever you do, check it out before picking.

bcaslis · May 22, 2006, 06:08 PM

Thanks very much! Sounds like there isn't any noticable delay in getting the glossy display.

Originally Posted by skrumrei

1. I ordered it on 5/16, it shipped on 5/18, and I received it today 5/22. I paid the $15 for 2-day delivery.

2. No, I haven't see the MP in person, so I can't help you here.

Dave Hagan · May 22, 2006, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by MisterRogers

I just ordered a 17 2.16 with the glossy screen.

Hi Mike,

I guess the real question on a lot of people's minds (including mine) is the screen more evenly illuminated? How is the brightness distribution?

Does the unit get hot or whine?

MisterRogers · May 22, 2006, 07:54 PM

I'll be sure to chime in with details when it arrives. It's currently scheduled to ship June 1st, though this is the third MBP I've ordered, and Apple has been early every time.

The often mentioned MBP 'whine' hasn't bothered me in the least. Partly because it's not that noticable, and partly because I believe when you pack so much together in such a tight case, it can't be considered a flaw to have some electro/mechanical noise. I have a couple of friends who have MBP 17's, and they don't hear any whine. They both however, have the same slight discoloration along the bottom edge of their screens. This seems to be fairly common with the early batch of 17's. I'm curious to see if the glossy screen has the same, or is as noticable.

All in all, my experience with MBP's has been quite good. They're fast, have good screens, generally well constructed. No complaints. Yep, they generate alot of heat sometimes. I've owned virtually every PB model since the Ti400, and they've all been toasty.

More to follow...

pete · May 22, 2006, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by Dave Hagan

Hi Mike,

I guess the real question on a lot of people's minds (including mine) is the screen more evenly illuminated? How is the brightness distribution?

Does the unit get hot or whine?

Yes, I'm very curious about this too.

Simon · May 23, 2006, 04:12 AM

Pics? Maybe side by side with a non-glossy MBP or PB?

samuel690069 · May 23, 2006, 05:35 AM

Just spoke to TNT and my 15" 2.16 CTO MBP should be here tomorrow with a gloss screen.....it's my 3rd unit and obviously the latest build so it will be interesting to see what issues (if any) have been solved with regards to construction quality/whine etc.....fingers crossed. I have had a week 15 and 16 build and both were poorly assembled and whined.

pete · May 23, 2006, 08:04 AM

Please post as soon as you can to let us know how it is....thanks.

Dave Hagan · May 23, 2006, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by dantay

my 15" 2.16 CTO MBP should be here tomorrow with a gloss screen.....it's my 3rd unit and obviously the latest build so it will be interesting to see what issues (if any) have been solved

Great. Hope it works out well. Can't wait for a report! (And maybe pictures too?)

samuel690069 · May 24, 2006, 06:51 AM

Well its arrived.....overall build quality seems to be slightly better....the lid is not perfect but at least has the same size (2-3mm) gap either side when closed. The keyboard is a little more even than either of the other 2 units i.e. the eject key is no longer raised above the others....but a couple are a little wonky. The gloss screen is for me a big improvement over the matte.....contrast colour and detail are all miles better and it seems to be clearer outside also! Sure if you view it from an odd angle you will get reflection....but i sit behind the screen so its not an issue.....I gladly trade this for the washed out haze of the matte screens, but its all personal taste. Finally the whine....guess what its still there on a week 20 build! This one seems a little quieter than the second (week 16) and about the same as the first (week 15) This unit was manufactured on the 18/06 so its about as new as you can get. I will be keeping this one as the upgrade in build/power/screen quality now out way the whine.....I still wish it wasn't there though.

pete · May 24, 2006, 07:10 AM

Thanks for the report. Can you say something about the viewing angles of the display? Are they similar to the matte ones? Do you think it is the same display with a glossy coating or do you think it's an entirely different display?

Cheers,
Pete

Simon · May 24, 2006, 07:44 AM

Dantay, could you take a couple of pics comparing the glossy and non-glossy screens?

samuel690069 · May 24, 2006, 07:48 AM

I think it may well be a new screen.....there seems to be no motion blur on fast moving objects against a dark backgound.....I noticed this issue with both the matte screens.....with regards viewing angles they seem to be slightly better also....the colours start to go out at a wider angle than the matte. I'm no expert though and it may be to do with the finish.....the motion blur or lack of it makes me think this panel is new with a quicker grey to grey rate. I dont know the reaction time for the matte screen but this one is noticably better with fast motion.

samuel690069 · May 24, 2006, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by Simon

Dantay, could you take a couple of pics comparing the glossy and non-glossy screens?

I no longer have the matte screened MBP so i'm sorry I can't

samuel690069 · May 24, 2006, 07:51 AM

I forgot to mention that they seem to have sorted out the back light issues as well.....this is the best and most uniform back lighting i've seen on an LCD screen. There are no bright or dark corners on the screen and no horizontal lines....this is another reason to keep it!

pete · May 24, 2006, 08:16 AM

thanks! Does anybody know if the glossy screens will be available on MBPs that are sold in Apple stores?

I noticed that the only online stores selling the glossy ones are macmall and clubmac and I wonder if other retailers will start selling them too...

Dave Hagan · May 24, 2006, 08:16 AM

Do you think they sorted out the backlight issues as a result of the display being glossy or do you think they have sorted it out on the matte too?

I am also curious to know if the viewing angle has changed with the glossy screen? Are you able to see images better at angle with the glossy over the matte?

samuel690069 · May 24, 2006, 08:30 AM

Colour does not wash out in the same way as it does on the matte at an angle....this may be due to the gloss finish....overall this screen is better (for me) than the matte.

samuel690069 · May 24, 2006, 01:09 PM

Well that was short lived....this one is going back too. One of the fans just cut in and it sounds like the corner of a sticker or such like is flicking againt the fan blades as the rotate....its really loud....also found a stuck on green sub pixel near the centre of the screen. Thought I was onto a winner this time but sadly not, i'm not going to give it another try at the moment so will be leaving the apple crowd after only a few weeks....love the os and the look of the macs just wish they could sort out the qc.

alex_kac · May 24, 2006, 02:20 PM

Its interesting to me how so many people are sending back 4, 5 or even 10 MacBooks/MacBook Pros for QC issues that I'm sure exist yet so many others never have this issue. The interesting part to me is how its not random.

I wonder if Apple has several manufacturers and one is doing great and the others are not. Or something along those lines.

Simon · May 24, 2006, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by dantay

Well that was short lived....this one is going back too. One of the fans just cut in and it sounds like the corner of a sticker or such like is flicking againt the fan blades as the rotate....its really loud....

Interesting you mention that. I have been experiencing the same since two days on my only 2 month old MBP. Do you have any idea what is causing this? Are the bearings bad or is there really something (tape?) sticking into the fan blade area?

It's very annoying. And it's definitely not what you'd expect from a two month old almost $3000 notebook.

porieux · 06:34 AM

...

rcarlosnyc · May 24, 2006, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by dantay

Well that was short lived....this one is going back too. One of the fans just cut in and it sounds like the corner of a sticker or such like is flicking againt the fan blades as the rotate....its really loud....also found a stuck on green sub pixel near the centre of the screen. Thought I was onto a winner this time but sadly not, i'm not going to give it another try at the moment so will be leaving the apple crowd after only a few weeks....love the os and the look of the macs just wish they could sort out the qc.

I have a feeling the people returning 4-5 laptops are severally anal and find problems because they're looking for them. I purchased a 17" MacBook Pro last week and I don't have any of the many problems I've seen on the boards.

samuel690069 · May 24, 2006, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by rcarlosnyc

I have a feeling the people returning 4-5 laptops are severally anal and find problems because they're looking for them. I purchased a 17" MacBook Pro last week and I don't have any of the many problems I've seen on the boards.

Your very lucky then.....I have 3 lap-tops....a Dell/Toshiba/Sony all are pretty old now and none have these issues. I wanted to get a decent MacBook Pro and envy those who have as build right its a lovely bit of kit....good for you

bcaslis · May 24, 2006, 05:28 PM

I disagree. All screens reflect and glare, they just do it differently.

A glossy screen reflects glare more directly, but shows images on it's screen with greater clarity since there is no matte finish diffusing the image. How badly a screen reflects depends on how good an anti-reflective coating it has (much like eyeglasses).

A matte screens shows glare less directly by diffusing the light. This makes the image on the screen lighter or more white than normal. The matte finish also make the onscreen image slightly more diffuse, somewhat like the effect of antialiasing.

Both have pros and cons. Personally, I prefer the glossy screen in most situations.

Originally Posted by porieux

Glossy screens are really horrible, it's a shame that Apple had to make this concession to the pathetic PC laptop market. If you calibrate your 'matte' display properly it will not look 'washed out'.

8minute · May 24, 2006, 09:04 PM

Does a glossy screen make it harder for someone else (to the side of you) to see what you are doing? If it does it might be a bonus for those who don't want ppl snooping around if you are in public places working on confidential documents, hacking into NASA, surfing for pr0n etc

svtcontour · May 25, 2006, 02:14 AM

I dont think there has been QC any worse than what Apple is doing now in the history of time. I'm not a mac person (used to have a B&W tower a while back as a 2nd box) but as for PC's go, I wouldnt stand for 1/2 the stuff you guys are. You're all very dedicated, I'll give you that.

I was going to buy a laptop a while back and went to bestbuy and chose a gateway...after an initial problem with the fan sounding like it had bad bearings and then exchanging it for another which had a dead pixel (stuck actually), I returned it and went for another brand. Wouldnt give gateway another chance let along 10 more chances. Companies need to sort this crap out before it gets to the consumer. I can understand this was a huge change for Apple and it happened so fast but still....there is a limit.

On a side note. My laptop now is an ASUS and I'm not that satisfied with it. Fan noise is too loud...sound familiar

LOL. Its a Centrino 1.6Ghz and I'm forced to use a utility to clock it down to 400Mhz to have peace and quiet. 99% of the time I dont do anything intensive so this is ok but when I need a little power, I have to bump it up to full speed and live with the leaf blower.

Of all the laptops I've ever used, I think IBM thinkpads have been the best followed by some Toshiba models I've tried (not the consumer stuff but the business lines)

NY152 · May 25, 2006, 05:54 AM

Originally Posted by Dave Hagan

Just curious who here's opting for the glossy screen on their MacBook Pro...

Just ordered a new 15" Macbook Pro yesterday. Along with the larger HD I chose the glossy screen. Will let you know what I think when it arrives.

Dave Hagan · May 25, 2006, 10:50 AM

Yeah, I don't really care about the glossy screen issue any more. It may look great. But until Apple sorts out it QC with these MacBook Pros it's probably best to stay as far away from as possible. It seems as though the only reliable Intel Macs sold at this point are the iMacs.

Bryanmc · May 25, 2006, 11:08 AM

Love my MBP! Works great.

Sorry about your trouble Dave, but not all MBPs are bad.

MisterRogers · May 25, 2006, 11:22 AM

Well, I know this issue is polarizing alot of users, but just to give a counterpoint...

This will be my third MBP. My first two have been great. Yep, they get a little hot. Well within op. temps, and somewhat to be expected (IMHO) for a dual core book that's 3+x faster than the last PB 17 I've owned. Screens have all been good, fit/finish has been good. No keyboard problems, some noise at times but again, I'm a professional developer and swap hardware often - no more/less on average then others.

I keep getting more speed/functionality each year, and keep paying roughly the same price. By and large, the quality control has been good, and I think you have to factor in how aggressive Apple is with redesign/integrating new tecnology. Constant change insures a constant challenge to build quality. Just when a builder finally tunes the process, the design changes. Considering the tradeoffs, I'm cool.

Now I know that stuff is all subjective, and that's really my point. Many, many users have had very good experiences with the MBP. Some have not. Early adoption always has risks - each has to ask is it worth it? For those of you who are on your third MBP One, all, or some of the following are true:

1. Just bad Karma.
2. Risk of new design flaw.
3. Unrealistic expectations.

Anyway, not doggin ya Dave :-) just a counterpoint to maybe give you/others hope. Understand, I'd send a defective MBP back in a heartbeat, but I'm not sure some of the issues (whine, etc.) are truly defects. It my be something that is unacceptable to you (sensitive to noise, etc.), but for myself and many others, the MBP has allowed me to sell my G5 without missing it. It drives my 30in wonderfully, is't fast, connects, and has been stable. I use my hard two; probably have it on18-20 hours a day.

Bottom line: All if mine have been very reliable. I wish your experience was similar.

Mike

24klogos · May 28, 2006, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by Bryanmc

From the MacBook Pro product page:

I do graphic work on my MacBook Pro, it's my living, so I have to have something that's going to show me accurate color. I've seen the glossy and it really does make things richer and the saturation looks much stronger, but I've got to have accuracy.

So I didn't go with glossy on my MBP. Whatever you do, check it out before picking.

Even without a glossy screen color won't be acurate, it obviously depends on your output, but you cannot judge any LCD for acuracy - you need a calibration device that will make your glossy, or non glossy as close as possible with a color gamma standard that then u will compensate for wether you're doing print or web. I have actually found the glossy to be a little luckier when it comes to matching a PMS color, specially the coated series,

bernt · May 30, 2006, 05:32 AM

Originally Posted by porieux

Glossy screens are really horrible, it's a shame that Apple had to make this concession to the pathetic PC laptop market. If you calibrate your 'matte' display properly it will not look 'washed out'.

And how do you do that? Tips, hints?

amazing · May 30, 2006, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by bernt

And how do you do that? Tips, hints?

Open the Display System Pref and click on "color" tab, then "calibrate."

Or, shortcutting, just select one of the sRGB settings.