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I am wondering if anyone with a laptop has any advice.
I'm planning to buy a notebook for mostly postprocessing (am in Tassie away from my desktop) and was wondering about suggested screen resolutions. I am considering a 15.4" with SXGA screen.
Is UXGA/XGA any better? Will the pixel density make a noticable difference to the image? Will it make it difficult for reading text?
Any thoughts on a WSXGA display? I imagine the wide screen gives a bit of extra real estate for toolbars etc.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I have got 17 inches standard format display with 1280x1024 native resolution and that is perfect for me. However it seems to be difficult to buy notebook with 17 inches screen nowadays.

At work we have got Dell and Toshiba with wide-17 inche, which is in fact 15 + extra space on the side and to be honest it is not too comfortable to work with. Setting up high resolution makes thing more difficult.

That is only my opinion.

You could consider to connect external monitor.

Regards,

K.Polak

krpolak wrote:I have got 17 inches standard format display with 1280x1024 native resolution and that is perfect for me. However it seems to be difficult to buy notebook with 17 inches screen nowadays.

You still can get the Samsung M40-V4 Notebook

Spec as following:

Samsung M40-V4 Notebook - Intel Centrino Pentium Mobile 735 1.7GHz, 512MB (1 x 512MB DIMMs) DDR333, 40GB 5400rpm HDD, 17" WXGA (1440 x 900), DVD+/-RW Super Multi Drive Fixed, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (64MB), 1 x PC Card (PCMCIA) Type I/II slot, 10/100 LAN, Intel PRO Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps LAN, V.92 56Kbps Modem, Memory Stick card reader, 1 x mini (4-pin) IEEE1394, 3 x USB2.0, AC '97 Audio, 2 x 1.5W Speakers, Optical S/PDIF Out, Headphone Out, Microphone In, S-Video, 6 cells Smart Li-ion Battery, Windows XP Professional, Software included: AV Station Premium, Norton’s Anti Virus (3 Month Trial License), PowerDVD 5, Nero 6, Ulead Video Studio 7, Ulead Photo Explorer 7. 3-Year On-Site Warranty

Yes, I was thinking of a 17" screen.
I guess the same resolution at the larger size would make the actual pixel size a bit easier for viewing text etc.

joolz wrote:Yes, I was thinking of a 17" screen.
I guess the same resolution at the larger size would make the actual pixel size a bit easier for viewing text etc.

Go for that Samsung and bump up the memory.

But this notebook has wide 17 inches, hasnt it? As most of notebooks now. And wide 17 inches in practice mean standard size 15 inches extended roughly 50% in horizontal direction to get this 17 inches diagonally. But somehow viewing areas dont match.

I prefer standard 17 inches. One gal in my work used to use notebook with similar screen specification as you said for work, but now she uses external 21 inches CRT and doesnt look to be keen to go back. Well, I guess it really depends on preferences and needs. BTW I find 2G of RAM very usefull with editing large images. Just makes work run smoother.

Regards,

K.Polak

15.4 is relatively big as far as laptop displays go. Of course there is the monster Dill 9300 that receives high acclaim from people who IMHO really have no business buying a "notebook". 17", 1900x1200 res - that far exeeds what's offered in mainstream desktop displays.

Widescreens are nice - they give you space to put palates and tools to the side and not hinder your working space. There are two ways of looking at it - you could see a widescreen as having the top and bottom severely chopped off, or that you have 50% additional space to the side of your display. How you perceive a widescreen monitor will determine how useful you'll find it.

krpolak,
joolz is seeking a notebook for his travelling and work remotely. He can't haul the 17" CRT or 21" CRT on his back to NZ and come back everyday.

Birddog114

joolz is seeking a notebook for his travelling and work remotely. He can't haul the 17" CRT or 21" CRT on his back to NZ and come back everyday.

I didnt know. Hmm, if this is going to be notebook to traveler I am afraid that there is not to much choice above wide-17. In this case personaly I would avoid extremly high resolution. Propably ~1400x900 is optimum. Again, it only my preference

Regarding to small text it is always posible to set up higher size font or zoom in a page.

Regards,

K.Polak[/code]

I'm thinking about a notebook purchase soon but I have to say I hate those screens that are all shiny and refect the background. I'd want a matte screen but am confused about the marketing terminology that applies to screens. eg: Brightscreen, etc

Am I just being picky obout this? or ate the shiny screens really much better than the original matte screens?

Cheers

Graham

bago100 wrote:I'm thinking about a notebook purchase soon but I have to say I hate those screens that are all shiny and refect the background. I'd want a matte screen but am confused about the marketing terminology that applies to screens. eg: Brightscreen, etc

Am I just being picky obout this? or ate the shiny screens really much better than the original matte screens?

Cheers

Graham

graham,
Depend on what brand notebook, they're not all shiny and reflect the background, perhaps you don't want to look at the screen and do your make up prior to go into classroom

Yes, I am working remotely so lugging an extra desktop display is not an option. However, notebook size is not a problem as I will not be moving it about too much. So a full size 17" is not a problem, though I don't want to compromise on other factors purely for the screen size.
The Samsung looks nice and sounds light. I will have to play with that one in person. Whatever it is, I will have to upgrade to at least 1Gb.
I'm undecided about widescreen vs. normal ratio. I won't be watching that many movies.

Birddog114 wrote:
graham,
Depend on what brand notebook, they're not all shiny and reflect the background, perhaps you don't want to look at the screen and do your make up prior to go into classroom

It's not me Birdie - I'm ugly enough not to worry about makeup, but you have made a good point in that my students (especially the female ones) will use a bright screen to check their makeup, hair and looks They already preen themselves using the lift mirrors!

Cheers

Graham

I've got a 15.4" Dill with a res of 1920x1200 and I love it. So much real estate. Perfect for loads of palettes on screen.
I find it difficult to go back to anything smaller now. I would totally recommend this resolution though. Takes a bit of getting used to though.

My Asus runs 15.4 widescreen, and it's great; it certainly suits my multi-purpose needs as a developer and for PP.

One thing to be wary of with larger screen laptops is their usefulness while travelling. A 17" notebook on a plane will be a real pain in the posterior if you're flying cattle class, as you won't have enough room to open the system and use it in any comfort while airborne.

Remember too that just because a system boasts a particularly high resolution doesn't mean that that is the screen resolution that you're compelled to use: if the text appears too fine or small, change your resolution so that you're getting something more suitable for your needs.

Thanks for the replies.

gstark wrote:Remember too that just because a system boasts a particularly high resolution doesn't mean that that is the screen resolution that you're compelled to use: if the text appears too fine or small, change your resolution so that you're getting something more suitable for your needs.

My only concern regarding altering the screen resolution on the LCD is the performance and quality hit of not using the native resolution. Anyone notice a significant difference for PP.

The other concern is that in something like PSCS is the palette fonts & buttons might be a tad small in ultra high resolution screens.

joolz wrote:Thanks for the replies.

gstark wrote:Remember too that just because a system boasts a particularly high resolution doesn't mean that that is the screen resolution that you're compelled to use: if the text appears too fine or small, change your resolution so that you're getting something more suitable for your needs.

My only concern regarding altering the screen resolution on the LCD is the performance and quality hit of not using the native resolution. Anyone notice a significant difference for PP.

The other concern is that in something like PSCS is the palette fonts & buttons might be a tad small in ultra high resolution screens.

joolz,
For a notebook on the move, you have to accept its real size of screen. The screen is always with its limitation and no one ever win on this case.
Just accept what you can get and do what you can do until you backed to base and play real on your destop PC with 19" or 21"

I agree, my 17-inches notebook is quite heavy. It doesn't fit traveling idea. For me it is a desktop replacement with possibility to ocasionally carry it.

Regards,

K.Polak

Birddog114 wrote:joolz,
For a notebook on the move, you have to accept its real size of screen. The screen is always with its limitation and no one ever win on this case.
Just accept what you can get and do what you can do until you backed to base and play real on your destop PC with 19" or 21"

You're right birddog, it's always a compromise. I should stop researching and just buy one and make use of it.

15.4 wide, 1920 x 1200 wuxga...... great for PP, get lots o ram and a good vodeo card though..

Andy

To me, widescreens (at least for notebooks) are chopped top and bottom.

Offtopic a bit, how does 512Mb of RAM compare to 1Gb of RAM? This is of course image processing wise, and how much performance be gained with 2Gb of RAM?

Also, how much difference would a good video give to image processing? The laptop I'm about to get has a 9700Pro in it, so it's a very good card, and I was wondering what performance differences it would have over a onboard crappy video card...

Grev wrote:To me, widescreens (at least for notebooks) are chopped top and bottom.

That's the way lower res ones are, but the higher res ones should be thought of as a good screen with another half-screen stuck onto one end!

The laptop I'm about to get has a 9700Pro in it, so it's a very good card, and I was wondering what performance differences it would have over a onboard crappy video card...

Quite a bit.

Ok, I'll throw my 5 cents worth since I work for the largest IT company in the world.

Laptops are great but I think they are limited when it comes to upgrades. So, I'll suggest getting one with as much RAM as possible that budget can buy and ask the rep for the max ram it can handle. The next thing is the video card, make sure you have one that has it's own memory or your normal ram will eat into the video memory and thus slow your machine down. So, something with say 1gb ram and 256mb video as an example. The other thing is hard disk drive space. Get one that has a large amount of space. ie 200 or 300gig for starters cos you can never do with too much hard disk space. Otherwise, you'll end up carrying around an external hard drive. Remember the D70 can produce large Raw photos. The screens, TFT, LCD - I'll leave that up to you. It's a matter of what looks good with photos to you eye. And lastly the processor is important, get one that is an Intel Pentium. The celerons, AMD's and whatever else is around doesn't really cut it. I must admit the Apple Mac's that are also around now are very good for photographs.

I use a desktop for all my photo editoring with a 21" CRT screen which I can't part with because it's big enough to move a few pictures on the screen and have plenty of room for Palettes as well.

Good luck with your choice,
Regards,
Bill

Thanks for everyone's input.
Just an update.
In the end I bought an Asus W2V and am loving it.
It's a 17" SWXGA+ desktop replacement which will fulfill the need nicely for postprocessing away from home.
It cost 4K but with salary packaging and double dipping with depreciation on tax, it's less painful.
Thanks again for all the advice.

I have the dell 9300 - wuxga screen (1920x 1200 )
I chose this resolution as it was closest to the native resolution of my camera (ratio).

Awesome samsung screen + 256mb geforce vid card.
60gb performance drive (7200bpm)
DL dvd+rw

No-way is text too small, and what a amazing contrast range (excellent for image editing and DVD movies are fantastic.) The brightview screen 'reflections' are a little annoying but the other benefits outway it ...

Only real downside ive encountered is its weight- its more of a portable desktop that an flyweight laptop.

Worth a look.

lejazzcat wrote:I have the dell 9300 - wuxga screen (1920x 1200 )
I chose this resolution as it was closest to the native resolution of my camera (ratio).

Awesome samsung screen + 256mb geforce vid card.
60gb performance drive (7200bpm)
DL dvd+rw

No-way is text too small, and what a amazing contrast range (excellent for image editing and DVD movies are fantastic.) The brightview screen 'reflections' are a little annoying but the other benefits outway it ...

Only real downside ive encountered is its weight- its more of a portable desktop that an flyweight laptop.

Worth a look.

I have the same screen on my Dell 8600. Really, if you haven't seen this screen you haven't seen a good laptop screen.

I load my CF card straight into the laptop port and read straight from my Microdrive - very handy, but portable.. ? well, that's arguable....

Cheers

Justin

yep

The high res(1920-1200) means you can connnect to a 21-24" monitor as a second screen( have your tools on one and image on another) , and the res will fill the larger screen without having to stretch it .
Cool
Only problem is with data projectors (most are still xga native ), compression will need to be used and/or the laptop screen res be needs to dropped to 1600x 1200. DP's really need to catch up !