Glossy Screen Owners - do you still like your screen?

I read somewhere that owners of glossy screens love them at first due to the extra contrast, etc... but sometimes get tired of them (or annoyed with them?) after a while, due to glare, etc.

I was hoping to hear comments on this topic from "real" owners of glossy screened Macs, to see if this was true or not.

Thanks!

Well, I can give you the converse comment. Some days, it is beautiful outside. And I drag my iMac to my back deck. With wireless, it's not too hard. I put the keyboard and mouse on the platform that holds up the monitor. With my other hand I carry the surge protector. So there I am, on a sunny day under a patio umbrella, coding away. Which would be entirely impossible with a glossy screen!

It amazes me that a portable computer have a glossy screen. In an office or bedroom you can control your environment so you dont get too much gloss or reflections. But if you're mobile, you're at the mercy of your ever changing yet unchangeable-by-you surroundings.

I have a MacBook but I'll answer anyway. I use it almost exclusively indoors, which presents no problems at all. For the most part the screen is white, or at least light-coloured, anyway, but even darker areas don't present much of a reflection or glare problems. I can use it with the sunlight coming in the window directly on the screen with no problem. The contrast is much better with a glossy screen and pictures look better.

But - I've only used it once outdoors, in indirect sunlight, and it was only really readable with the brightness full up, and then only barely. You'd need a good deal of shade for it to be practical outdoors in sunlight. I've never used a non-glossy screen outdoors so I can't compare, however.

So if you're mainly an indoors user then it's fine, but outdoors is a problem.

i have glossy and it is great, i have never had a glare problem indoors or out, but some I have heard do, but if you are not into photography or professional imaging then you should get a glossy, the images just pop...

-nks

I've had mine for a little over a month now and I don't regret it at all. I love getting that extra "pop" (as already said above). The most frequent comment I get about the computer is how incredible the screen looks. I mostly use mine indoors as well. I do sit by windows a lot and I don't find that to be a problem because if you just move the computer a little to the left or a little to the right you can usually get rid of glare completely. To sum up... if I could do it over again I would stick with the same choice... glossy.

ok for my first post....

i have been using my macbook pro C2D for around 5 months now.

I absolutely love my glossy screen, i think it fantastic.

Most of the work that i do, infact all of it is inside. I do a lot of photography in theaters in relation to student drama productions.

So having to contend with glare etc doesnt really matter to me.

I forgot to mention that i "switched" from a windows, a 14 year user! I love my MBP C2D so much, i really could not live with out it now. And i love the fact that no matter were i go people allways say, thats a cool lookin laptop.

Nice forum guys, keep her lit! (Northern Irish user here!)

Thanks, guys... I appreciate the comments.

giulio said:

Some days, it is beautiful outside. And I drag my iMac to my back deck... So there I am, on a sunny day under a patio umbrella, coding away. Which would be entirely impossible with a glossy screen!

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Hmmm... I glad you mentioned this. I will absolutely be taking my laptop outside on occasion, on the patio (covered) in the backyard.

Just get matte...truer colors.

Yep, that's what I decided on. Thanks.

No Problem man, good choice!

SoundsGood said:

Yep, that's what I decided on. Thanks.

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Congrats to you!
Post some pictures when you get it!

Ill post some pictures of the matte screen when it comes, i have my MCP right now with glossy, but im sending it back because of faulty disk drive and i requested the matte

I'm very happy with my glossy screen and won't go back to a matte. Mostly use it indoors but have never found glare to be a problem outdoors. The matte screens on my previous PowerBooks were totally unusable in daylight.

I really don't get the "more accurate colours" argument - a matte screen diffuses the image so how can that make the colours better? Someone please enlighten me!

i'm thinking the reflective nature of the glossy screen could potentially reflect ambient light in addition to the light coming off the screen, resulting in possible color inaccuracies, whereas the matte screen wouldn't reflect as much of the ambient light, giving a truer representation of the colors.

this is all speculation, btw.

Has anyone ever tried getting one of those static "privacy" screen overlays for the glossy screen problem outdoors? My buddy at work uses one and says he just slaps it on over the glossy screen on the rare occasion there are any glare problems outdoors or wherever. He showed me and it seemed to work fine from what I could tell. Am I missing something?
-Dave

Matte is usually preferred among designers because the colours are easier to see in their "real" form and how they may look when printed.

I'm a designer and I love the prettier colours from my glossy screen on my Macbook. In the future I may have a matte screen if I'm more serious about my design work or really need it, but I've had it before and I prefer the glossy. This is primarily because I never use my laptop outside.

I have an old Acer lappy and a more recent Toshiba, but on getting my MacBook 5 months ago dont use the other two now, both the older ones were imposible to use outside but the MacBook is quite usable with the screen on full brightness.

i really just think its all personal pref + some designer, truer color blah stuff I had a glossy MBP, and the dvd broke so i sent it back to apple and i got matte instead. PLEASE dont ask me why i guess i was just...-sigh- i made a mistake didnt i.?

matte ftw. i do the whole graphics thing...so i need the truer colors. unless everyone in the world decideds to switch to glossy at the exact same second, i am not going to get glossy. i need to see what my users/clients see .

I have no problems with my glossy. The only time I've even SEEN a glare in the month i've had it, was when I was in my bedroom with the lights off, and had the screen facing the TV. Even then, it was barely noticeable. I've taken it outside, and while it will show you every single piece of dust on the screen, it was still completely readable. After using it in multiple enviroments with diverse lighting situations, I have never had a problem, and would recommend it.