h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm looking at getting a macbook pro to replace my powerbook. Is there an issue with glare on the macbook screens? I gather then charge extra for an anti-glare screen. Anyone know what the deal is with that? I'll probably be buying online so can't check it out for myself.

I would need to know two things before I made this sort of decision...

First, what their definition of "Anti-Glare" is. I would assume that anti-glare = non-reflective, but I once saw a laptop described as having an "anti-glare mirrored coating" so you can't always be sure.

Second, assuming they *do* mean "non-reflective", then how much extra are you talking about? Non-reflective coatings are a bit of a pain to clean, as you have to avoid "scrubbing" them, but otherwise they tend to make the screen *much* easier on the eyes, so if it's only something like £5 - £10 extra then I think it's well worth it.

It depends as well on where you use it. We bought a MacBook recently and the screen is described as glossy. So far we have not had a problem with glare from the screen.

For what it's worth the MacBook is better value than the Pro with a similar spec on the whole. In addition it's always worth checking whether what you want is on Apple's Refurbished Store - you may be surprised. We have always bought Refurbished and so far have not had a problem.

t.

Don't think you can get a macbook 15". I'd be happy with the macbook myself, but need the larger screen.

Re the glare... it's something to do with apple putting glossy screens on their macbooks and then offering the anti-glare option because the glossy was so reflective. My powerbook is fine, but I've seen photos of the glossy ones and they do seem to bounce back a lot of shine.

Turvy, where do you use yours?

The anti-glare upgrade is something like $NZ300

Hi kea

We use the Macbook in the kitchen and sitting room mostly. Light in the kitchen is bright enough to get a tan! I have also used it outside on a sunny day (yes, really...in Wales!). The biggest issue was battery life in this setting due to the screen having to be at it's brightest setting.

In terms of glare the answer is position. The laptop has the advantage of flexibility - where you sit in relation to the lighting, natural or otherwise. You can angle the screen to avoid incident light being reflected into your eyes. In general the screen brightness is rarely higher than 50%. Only in sunlight is it higher.

If you need a 15" screen then you are limited to the Pro. You could try a Hackintosh if you want to save a few hundred bucks! http://www.reghardware.com/2011/04/28/feature_hackintosh_on_sandy_bridge/

t.

hmmm, maybe I'll wait until I can look at one and try it out. I'm sure there must be some around somewhere.


Hackintosh... yeah if I really want to give myself some grief

I have a Hackintosh* and the only grief comes during OS upgrades - everything else works perfectly. So it might be a viable option if you are one of those people who leaves the OS alone and doesn't obsessively upgrade with every version.

(*Not a laptop; a tower with a quad-core 3GHz Intel CPU... )

I don't know if you found the following, kea. It's from Apple's store, regarding anti-glare screens:

>>>Choose the glossy widescreen display to make your graphics, photos, and videos appear with richer colours and deeper blacks — great for watching DVD movies. If you prefer a display with antiglare coating for a matte rather than glossy viewing experience, choose the antiglare widescreen display.<<

That suggests to me that things like pictures and videos won't appear at their best with the anti-glare.

Thanks hd. I'm trying to find someone locally with one of the new glossy screens so I can see what the fuss is about.