Quickie - Best Res for a 15.4" laptop?

ps3ud0 · 25 Jan 2006 at 23:38

Just a quick question before I order a laptop whats the best resolution for a 15.4" WS laptop?

WXGA (1280 x 800)
WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
WUXGA (1920 x 1200)

I think WUXGA is over the top - WXGA seems fine considering 17"/19" TFTs are usually only 1280x1024 usually...

Cheers

ps3ud0 :cool:

ajgoodfellow · 25 Jan 2006 at 23:43

I'd go for the WUXGA screen. As the resolution is so high on such a small screen it leads to a tiny dot pitch giving a really good display

My old Mobile P4 3Ghz laptop had a 15" UXGA screen and it really was worth it. It was the best part of the laptop!

ps3ud0 · 25 Jan 2006 at 23:50

Im getting it for my sister, who seems to prefer large icons and the like (used to use 1024x768 max. on a 17" CRT - looks so massive to me :eek:

) - so I was thinking the WUXGA would make things just way too small for them...

Im thinking the middle one might be the best compromise - good desktop size, but not too small...

P.S. They will have 1905FPs as their main monitor when at home...

ps3ud0 :cool:

ajgoodfellow · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:09

Good point. I might almost be tempted to go for the low res screen then - it looks awfully huge to me but being a TFT if you stray out of the native resolution then you will get a pretty poor image

ps3ud0 · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:15

Well I went for the middle one in the end (has better viewing angles to boot) since Im looking to borrow it from time to time and just couldnt work on WXGA - too low a res for me potientially...

Its gonna take a week to be built so in the meantime tomorrow (today

) Ill pop into a shop that sells generic laptops and see if I can compare the resolutions and make sure while I still have time to modify the order...

Using WUXGA on a 24" 2405FPW is fine, just cant see how you could squash that into such a physical small screen - need a magnifying glass...

Cheers for your help mate

ps3ud0

ajgoodfellow · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:20

Oh yeah, if I was going to use it with someone else I'd probably go for the middle one (the actual quality of the screen is usually better too!). I loved the screen on mine but my parents found the text to be too small!

ps3ud0 · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:26

Well Ive bought 2 of them - one for each of them, this weeks been trying for my flexible friend - cant wait for statement

. I think I got a very good deal, though I fell for the additional 3yr warranty as I know laptops are difficult to service and to get parts for...

Just hope they like them

Heres the thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17522669 - Post 11 has the general spec Ive just bought for about the same price, though I only got 512MB RAM, since they charge so much for extra RAM :eek:

ps3ud0

ajgoodfellow · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:28

I'm sure they will!

ps3ud0 · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:30

Better do, otherwise theyll be knocking on your door with baseball bats

ps3ud0

ajgoodfellow · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:32

Fanatic · 26 Jan 2006 at 00:53

You can make the icons bigger. Display properties - appearance - advanced.

ps3ud0 · 26 Jan 2006 at 01:01

Good point - though I dont want to adjust stuff just to negate the benefits of a higher resolution, especially when its an extra cost on top. Pretty sure 1680x1050 is probably perfect - just need it to display normal office stuff and the odd DVD...

Anyone with a 15.4" laptop still awake on the boards to confirm?

ps3ud0

St0rmer66 · 26 Jan 2006 at 01:22

My Dads' latop is a 15.4" screen and it runs 1280x800. Looks fine to me, the icon size is comparable to my 21" CRT with 1600x1200, just about right for my liking (though obviously on the laptop not as many fit on the screen!).

ps3ud0 · 26 Jan 2006 at 09:02

Cheers St0rmer66,

Id better go down my high street shop and investigate - I just want an icon size that is around the size of what you get on a 17" CRT @ 1024x768 or perhaps a little smaller or fit a word document width @ 100%-125% - Im probably being picky, but its a present at the end of the day...

Im thinking like ajgoodfellow that it might be worth not going for the base spec screen as usually there arent as good quality as the optional ones and considering the 1680x1050 one has better viewing angles Ive made the leap of faith that it should be a better screen overall...

ps3ud0 :cool:

richolmes72 · 26 Jan 2006 at 19:29

If they are used to running a 17" (15.9 equivalent) CRT at 1024*768, then 1280*800 will still make things smaller.

My GF's laptop has 1280*800 and its fine for her, although i find it a tad big when browsing. My Dad has 1440*900 and this is very good. 1680*1050 (which my housemate has) is beautiful but is starting to get a bit high for the size of screen...

I would definitely ignore the larger 1920-1200. Thats the resolution of a Dell 2405FPW on a screen half the size!

Raymond Lin · 26 Jan 2006 at 20:18

ps3ud0 said:
Good point - though I dont want to adjust stuff just to negate the benefits of a higher resolution, especially when its an extra cost on top. Pretty sure 1680x1050 is probably perfect - just need it to display normal office stuff and the odd DVD...

Anyone with a 15.4" laptop still awake on the boards to confirm?

ps3ud0

1680x1050 is PERFECT, I have that res on my Dell for 2 years now. Thought about WUXGA but it is insane res for a 15.4" screen, WSXGA is perfect for that size.

ps3ud0 · 26 Jan 2006 at 20:27

Cheers guys - appreciate the help

My order was stuffed up yesterday, so I had to cancel it today at work (just hope they havent taken the money out :/) and do it again - still mulling this over before I order...

Am I wrong to think that its best to have a higher res as it still gives you the option to change the settings to suit if things looked too small (as Fanatic said) or indeed drop the res to below native as a final option? Paying £30 for having that ability/option seems sensible in the long run...

Also you can get used to a higher res since it does have obvious benefits but when a res is just too low (like the old Windows 800x600 default when changing GFX drivers) it just is irritating...

Guess its up to her to talk me out on spending some more money then :eek:

(pinch me

)

P.S. Just thought of another reason to get a Nebula DigiTV USB2 box

ps3ud0

Gregeff · 26 Jan 2006 at 20:46

yeh go for the higher res definantly. If they really do find it too small, then you could always change windows to 120DPI

Alex_L · 26 Jan 2006 at 22:47

i've got a 15.4 laptop with a 1680*1050 screen, and in my opinion its perfect. I don't find anything too small on it, and find the extra work space it affords very useful. I've used some laptops with the same size screen and lower resolutions, but I honestly couldn't put up with them myself, as they don't give you much real estate to work with.

Increasing the font size and icon size seems to work pretty well, having just had a quick go. Running out of native, I find things look a little less sharp, and wouldn't do it long term, but it would be ok for the odd thing.

ps3ud0 · 26 Jan 2006 at 23:55

Cheers guys,

Hopefully its all ordered with the 1680x1050 res screen - find out in the morning

Lets hope they dont put a spanner in the works again...

ps3ud0 :cool: