If you like glossy on unibodies, why?

[thadoggfather]

I've read lots of threads on both and one discrediting the other, but I'm not asking for that. I've had the matte and I know why I liked it, and I have the glossy right now and I know why I like it.

Time will tell which I prefer more. But if you definitively prefer the glossy, why?

Leaning towards getting a matte and repurchasing a MBP because that's what I prefer and am used to from former years. But the black bezel is definitely nice...

 

[Corbab]

I had a matte on my old white MB, and I didn't find anything in particular wrong with it. At least, until I got my MBP. My MB was dead at the time, so I couldn't compare the colors side by side, but I think the colors come across much more vibrantly on the glossy screen. I also appreciate the richer blacks, even though I know it gives up some of the high white range (I think). People complain about the glare and the reflections, but unless your working facing away from the sun or right under a lamp, it's really not that big of a deal.

 

[firesidedog]

I never had a gloss screen on any laptop until I bought my macbook pro. Even though I get an occasional glare on the screen, it is a trade off for the more vibrant colors that I get.

 

[TheGreatApple]

I never had a gloss screen on any laptop until I bought my macbook pro. Even though I get an occasional glare on the screen, it is a trade off for the more vibrant colors that I get.

I second this!

I had this long debate with myself too when getting my MBP. I decided that the colors were more important for me than the occasional glare, and if it ever got too bad I could always just put a matte film over it that does a pretty good job. I watch a good amount of movies on my mac too, and you just can't compare the difference.

The ironic thing though...my buddy has a matte screen MBP. When we're on the go, outside, or in a very well lighted area I can still see (with some glare but I can still work), and he can't . The glossy produces so much more light and is much brighter.

That being said, I do wish sometimes that I had a matte after starting at my screen for hours going through code or writing.

 

[McYukon]

+1 all of the above.

When I got my first glossy MacBook, it didn't take long before I knew every place in the house where I could sit and not have glare on my screen.
And I made sure everyone knew that I had exclusive rights to those places because I was the only one with a glossy screen.

When I'm working with my photos I absolutely love the way the colors and details appear on my screen. They seem to be alive (although I might be imagining that part) when I look at them.

After owning a mac with a glossy screen for about 1 year now, the only time it bothers me is when I am reading long articles or am typing out HTML/CSS code for extended periods of time.

 

[SweetCosmicPope]

I very much prefer the glossy screen. Both the MBP and my wife's HP have the glossy screens, and I'll never look back.

Almost any amount of light seemed to wash out my old compaq, unless I was in the dark, or had the screen tilted far forward. Up until the day it broke, my wife thought it odd that I would lay back on the recliner with the screen half-shut, hacking away at the keyboard.

That and it seems that no matter what I do, on any of my PC screens, the grooves in the matte screen seem to collect grime.

 

[osxx]

It just seems to have more pop and now I can't go back to matte.

 

[cwa107]

Having owned a number of glossy screened Windows notebooks, when I bought my first Mac (a 2006 model MacBook Pro), it came with a matte screen. I hated it. Everything looked washed out and dull. I bought my second one (a non-Unibody 2008 MBP) specifically with a glossy screen and I don't regret it. With that said, I have had the opportunity to use some of the Unibody models and the glare is MUCH more noticeable. It's like looking into a mirror at times.

 

[alexsd123]

I like the glossy, but it makes me hate working with other computers because my screen looks so beautiful.

With full brightness, glare is somewhat hard to find.

 

[Doug b]

Granted, the more saturated and vibrant colors make for a great photo or video viewing experience. However, unless your monitor is calibrated (which I'd say is true of more than 95% of the consumer based and bought lCD's) and if you do any sort of photo editing on one of these, the color, hue, tone, contrast and highlights will see a significant variation from that of an non glossy screen. It's pretty hard to get consistent results when you're trying to reach a vast audience this way.

But in the end, it's all personal preference if you're not editing anything. I still prefer matte, because I don't like the reflections, and I don't feel like anything is 'washed out' at all on a matte screen. In fact, I feel that just the opposite is true. I feel that the glossy screens represent an overly saturated and not very realistic (ie; far from neutral) rendition of the color gamut.


Oh, and @ TheGreatApple: You must have a glossy screen made out of magic pixie dust, because.. just the opposite is true with both my MBP's.

Doug