Is Macbook 13" screen better than Sony or not(or almost same)?

I asked it in other thread, but nobody answered.

Screen is so important to me, i thought mac screen is amazing before i read some stuff about it on internet=[

 

The screen is ok for a 13' but the viewing angle is not that great and i also heard that the contrast is not that good. Perhaps a macbook owner like Colton or hacquodung might be able to help you.

 

I bought a macbook recently and sold it because the display was sub par compare to my thinkpad. For a multimedia junkie like myself it was unacceptable.

 

Thinkpads have always had good screen!!

 

sony has a better screen

thinkpad x200 is only marginally better

toshiba's r500 is darker, and similar in vertical viewing angle(a little better still, but horizontal viewing angle macbook has a uppoer hand)

for notebooks at similar price, macbook's screen is almost the worst, if not the worst already...

ps. if apple decides to change their screen though, macbook do become highly recommended on my list. i like everything else but i emphasize on the safety of my eyes.

 

I watch Divx tv shows with it, is it bad quality with them? is it so much worse than sony?

I just really want to buy apple because it's strong=[
i hate plastics, they always break or crack even if you don't drop them....

I want something to work for 1-2 years without crack or anything like that. is there any laptop like apple?(strong body?)

 

Apple unibodies are made of aluminum. It won't crack, but it will dent quite a bit.
There are studier laptops out there, most are made from a magnesium alloy. The business class laptops of most companies fall into this category (Dell Latitude, Lenovo Thinkpad are some of the best)

 

Sadly the Sony Vaio's either the Z or the TT have a superior screen compared to the macbooks display.

I have compared a unibody macbook's screen to a 15" unibody mbp and it looks God awful.

Even my Samsung NC10's netbook's LED screen looks miles better.

This is why a lot of people justify the price of a Macbook Air for the superior screen.

 

What do you mean? are you saying only Z or TT series have a better screen compare to macbooks?

What about CS series? are they similar?(or almost similar) to macbooks?, because i have CS16 now, i'm so sad about macbook screen, because it's so hard to get used to it when i had a better one before.

 

And another reason i want to try macbook is i have an ipod and i really really love everything about it, it's just perfect.

I thought macbooks are perfect too lmao.

 

Vaio TT and Z are just 2 of the displays that are superior to the macbooks and I absolutely love the Vaio's display.

I do love everything about the 13" macbook except the display (only reason keeping me away from the macbook). The viewing angle, brightness level, washed outness looks horrible. But everything else I do love about it (OSX, multitouch trackpad, unibody).

I owned a 2.53Ghz 15" unibody mbp and when my friend brought over his brand new 13" unibody macbook and I took a first look at its display, I was shocked at how low quality the display was compared to the 15" mbp.

 

The Macbook has contrast of around 1:150 and poor black levels.
Sony Z has contrast over > 1:400 and good blacklevels.
Macbook Air and Macbook Pro have a display that beats the Z display.

Measurements can be found on Notebookcheck.com and Notebookjournal.de

 

Lets not forget that Sony makes their own screens while Apple gets them screen makers (like Sony, LG, Sharp...).

 

I don't believe Sony uses their own screens in their laptops.

Mostly Sony uses high quality Toshiba screens.

 

I wouldnt count that the Macbook Air and the Macbook pro beats the Vaio TT's display though.

I remember I had a last generation 15" SR mbp with the led backlighting in matte (which I think the screen quality was much better than the unibody 15" mbp's screens) and I had a sony vaio TZ at the time with the x-black display.

The x-black display from the 11" Vaio TZ was so much crisper, vivid and accurate than the calibrated 15" mbp's screen.

The x-black screen is very very impressive. I still havnt seen a notebook display out there that looks better than the TZ's display and the new TT is supposed to be improved upon the TZ's display.

I know the 15" mbp always ships with 3-4 different type of panels ranging from LG (usually washed out but no yellowing tints), Chi mei, AUO optronics, samsung (usually samsung being the best I found but has a bit of a yellow tint).

Trust me last gen 15" mbp I've exchanged 14 times from 2 apple stores near me and had matte or glossy with every type of display. It was due to the yellow tinting issue at the time.

The unibody mbp 15" 2.4GHz was my first 15" unibody then I exchanged it for another 15" due to the casing had a chip and I had a 9c85 display and a 9c84 and then finally I exchanged it a 3rd time and upgraded to a 2.53Ghz 15" unibody mbp that had a 9c85 (but compared to the 2.4GHz 9c85 my 2.53GHz model was much more vivid and black levels were better as well).

Anyway the mbp screens still doesnt compare to the Vaio TZ x-black display that I had from almost 2 years ago today.

This is one of the reasons I'm starting to look elsewhere for ultraportable notebooks due to the display quality.

I'm starting to see a thin line between osx and xp since 99% of the time I have firefox open anyway on a notebook.

I considered a MBA but it has the line issues, 13" macbooks have crappy displays, 15" unibody mbp has good displays but its a lottery pick (my 2nd unibody mbp had awful black levels and inferior viewing angles) and the 17" mbp and the 15" mbp have the low brightness flickering issue (all 3 of my 15" unibody mbp had these issues).

This is why I started to get interested only in desktop and thus my mini + 24" LED ACD combo emerged since it exhibits no problems and I'm looking into a Mac Pro desktop. But I do crave for a notebook since I dont want to be tied down to my desk (even though its a very nice desk!).

I'm using a samsung nc10 and very impressed by it especially for the price + the display is very very nice. I'm looking into a vaio TT or a z right now (probably lean more towards the z since it has a 2.5" hdd and the TT doesnt).

 

True the TT has a better display than the Z.

With Macbooks there's also usually two different panels used for every model, which makes a difference too.

Best display I've seen was on the TZ though. It was similar to TT but without the protective coating.

Exactly.

No, the protective coating takes away some of the crispness and vibrance. Also the contrast and brightness are measured to be lower. Still a very good display though, just not as good as on TZ.

 

Yea its a shame that they didnt keep the TT identical to the TZ and just swapped out for a new cpu + gpu.

I would have snagged one in an instant but now even considering looking for a cheap TZ again.

 

I'm actually looking for a second hand TZ
but they are hard to find here. It beats any netbook by a large margin.

 

Please answer this question:

should i sell my Sony CS16 and buy a macbook or sony is better?

(idc about high price in here, i just want something to use for 1-2 years without crack or..problems)

 

Sony CS has an average quality screen, nothing special. It's similar quality as the Macbook screen.

If you want serious advice as to which is better for your needs, please start a thread in the What Should I buy forum and answer the FAQ.

 

You can look on eBay for a 2nd hand TZ. You can even find one from dynamism or conics.net for $1499 for a brand new TZ.

I might buy a brand new one as to a used one since Sony had recalled them just a year ago.

 

IMO, the screen on the Vaio Z is way better than the one on the aluminum MacBook. Heck, even the screens on my Vaio SZs are better than the one on the aluminum MacBook.

 

jjahshik32, you are in luck if you're looking to buy a new TZ. Check out the following link for a great deal on the TZ & it even has a 64GB SSD:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=375325

 

If you still find your Sony laptop Ok to use, then don't buy a new one. Also.. plastic laptop doesn't crack easily. Depending on the properties of the plastic,some plastic a lot more harder than steel and some of them are soft like synthetic rubber. Unless you're applying a tremendous amount of pressure, e.g. running it over with your car, Most likely, you won't be able to crack a plastic laptop.

Also.. define what "problems" is. The word "problem" is very vague and it could be anything.

 

As a fellow Macbook owner myself, I find the screen to be acceptable, but nothing compared to a TZ or a MBA. The MBA has a crisp, deep black screen and the Macbook has a bit of a washed out look. It was looking pretty shabby, but once you just calibrate it using the Color Management Utility and up the gamma, it looks pretty decent. Just play around with the settings in the calibration profile, and you'll have it looking pretty good. I watch movies with it when I'm bored and there's no TV around, so it does the job. The viewing angles aren't that good, but I can handle it. If you have a very sharp eye, then I'd suggest you look around until Apple releases a new brand of screen.

 

In one of the other threads it is being suggested that Apple started using a new type of display recently.

 

I actually returned my unibody Macbook due to the poor screen. The viewing angles were horrible and the blacks appeared washed out and not as deep as a 3 year old $700 Toshiba. Contrast was unacceptable and the significant calibration would be needed. Then again, calibration can go only so far. In my case, it wasn't enough.

 

besides a few that cost below $500, i have not see any screen that is worse than macbook on vertical viewing angle; something i need since i don't have a fix place to locate my notebook on(but this is what they are for portable, right?)

i can't say i have seen all cheap notebook, but for the price, i don't think you can get much worse than macbook's panel.

 

I also returned my alu Macbook after three days of use. My eyes literally got tired from the screen.

 

Jeez is it that bad?
Why is it so bad and so expensive...i don't get it.

 

Keep in mind that some people are more critical than others. To me display quality is one of the most important things about a notebook.

There are many people that are fully satisfied with the display quality of the Macbook. There are even professional reviewers that think it looks good.

 

I know, i read a review on notebookcheck and it says "Very bright screen"

I just want it to be similar to Sony Cs...because it's good enough for me.

I wish one of other companies could make a laptop with Aluminum now. haha

 

I guess apple has clearly established the difference between the macbook and the macbook pro as the macbook pro diaplay quality is way better than the macbook.

 

Macbook pro is so big and expensive for me=[

 

ok. If that's the case, go for the macbook but i suggest you go in a store and try it before you buy it because apples always bring the sense of wasted money when you buy them.

 

I read this somewhere:

* the keys along the top of the keyboard are slanted
* the lid makes a slight click/crack noise when being moved

Is that true=O im so picky about those things...please answer.

 

1. it's apple
from 1, design, manufacturing technique that still wants to break even(although they sell fast enough BE become an excuse)

other parts are actually decent, apple used to have only a fast processors(before unibody), but they are now not a bad value w/ 9400mGPU


not many reviews stress on viewing angle until recently and it is not an easy value to be standardized and compared upon. they mostly care about it being "glossy" which somehow inproves contrasts(colors become more vibrant).

remember though, almost all panel are TN now, it will cripple in vertical viewing angle.

i dislike macbook almost solely because of the screen as i was spoiled by the IPS panel on the x41t...

 

they always bring a sense of wasted money? ummm.. not at all... my MBP rocks, worth every penny.

 

i see only disappointment checking macbook in store... slight tilt on screen and you will see contrast shooting way up(or down, but you will have to kneel)

 

Even the macbook pro is big, but in term of weight, it's not a big deal.
Macbook pro is not as overprice as macbook. Macbook is more expensive for what you get.

 

for a 15.4", it's likely the thinniest and smallest footprint compared to any other notebook in this category.

I do have to agree with the consensus, the 13" screen is inferior for the price paid for the Macbook which you would only expect a high end product from Apple. This isn't the case, and the viewing angle is poor compared directly with the Macbook Pro. I wonder why Apple doesn't offer a screen upgrade for $50 or something for a higher resolution etc on the custom orders. That would be a logical thing Apple would do, I hate to say it but they certainly know how to make money...

 

Of course it is "cheap" for you because you got your base unibody MBP for just $1,300. If I'm able to buy a brand new base unibody MBP for that price, I'll definitely agree that it is cheap & even say it is cheaper than the MB for much more goodies that it contains. However, it is expensive IMO if you get the same thing (the base unibody MBP) at the Apple store for $1,999 + taxes.

 

prices are different here^^, Macbook alu 2.0 is $1550....they're so expensive in here because it's rare here.

 

By the way, which country are you in right now?

 

^^^^Iran.

=]

 

Oh, I see. When you mentioned that the alu MB 2.0GHz is $1,550. Is that price in US dollars?

 

I fully agree with you on the poor viewing angle screens used in the MB.

Why do you think Apple want to put a better quality screen in the MB? Can you imagine how much more revenue they are generating if many people feel that they cannot stand the MB screens & instead of buying a MB, they decided to splash out more cash to buy a MBA or a MBP? This is definitely a good way to "force" a potential customer to pay more for a Mac product simply because of fulfilling a desire to have a better quality screen. Furthermore, by doing this, Apple is in fact killing 2 birds with 1 stone. The first is of course earning more money from consumers while the next is to have something to differentiate the product lines between the MB, MBA, & MBP.

 

I didn't say that Apple "wants" to, but I merely said that they "should".

It's not just poor viewing angle, it's also the quality of the color output. From the actual in person comparisons I've seen, the MacBook screens have a higher blue hue to them that plague most other low-end PC notebooks. The backlighting also is quite uneven when displaying complete black screens (some MBP have this too!).

If Apple does end up doing this, it'll likely be a BTO only similar to the 2.93Gz version of the 15.4".

 

My comment is not based on the price I get it.
If I am in a position of buying a macbook or macbook pro from Apple store, I will choose MBP, 200$ more and you get more features (betautiful screen, better graphic card) than a macbook.

 

Right, I do agree and that's why I purchased it.

However their is still a need for those who want a cheaper and smaller footprint notebook for the portable non-professional/gaming/power users(what am I kidding? most don't need a 9600m), so telling everyone to upgrade to the Pro isn't the solution to the problem. It's the quality of the product(for the price) that is the problem.