ibook washed out lcd?

I was seriously considering purchasing an ibook just to kind of get my hands dirty in the mac-world... I looked at several, but the laptops lcd looks like shiat! all washed out, and extremely dark even though brightness is turned all the way up.

Has anyone else noticed this? Does Apple plan on revamping their laptop lcd's anytime soon?

 

this is the only reason i didnt get a ibook/powerbook

~RaNDoM

 

glad its not just me... i hope apple redoes their lcds on the laptop line...

 

Having been on Apple laptops for the last several years, I can't really say I notice the LCDs being washed out and dark. I have spent a very little time on some laptops on Bestbuy and the ones advertised with some kind of special LCD, do look glossier than the my Powerbook. But I can tell you that it's something that you can get used to.

I don't think that this is something that Apple users are going to notice right off, because there is basically no other Mac laptop choice. I've never heard any suggestion that Apple would revamp their laptop LCDs. The only thing I've seen Mac users complaining about in a laptop, is making one with a G5. Although if Apple did come out with "Brite" screens, then I'm sure it would be popular.

 

I was seriously, I mean seriously considering purchasing a 15" PowerBook, but I knew there was something in the back of my mind that had bothered me about them in the past but couldn't remember what it was until today when I went and handled one. I absolutely can't stand their screens or the way text looks on them, almost like the pixels are degraded. It reminds me of badly designed websites where people have needlessly anti-aliased all of the text in their graphics, making them appear foggy and washed out. As a result of this, I will not buy an Apple. It's a huge shame and I was terribly disappointed, but this is a deal breaker for me. [ ]

 

You aren't the first to be unhappy with font rendering.

You can change the font smoothing settings in the appearance section of the system preferences. This can change the way text is rendered at smaller point sizes typically 12pt and lower.In fact text rendering on the Mac running OSX appears to be a complex affair - having the deal with Quartz, Cocoa and legacy Quickdraw apps.

Office apps on OSX (Word, Excel ...) allow you to switch off Quartz rendering and if want more control download the FREE TinkerTool.
see: http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html

 

tomcat, again thank you!

On the TinkerTool website there is a graphic under the product details that doesn't have that (what I consider difficult to read) font smoothing, or at least it appears to have less of it. I assume this is something that has to do with the display and not so much the OS, as I've been reading up on it now this morning and it seems other people find it deeply annoying while others seem to like it because they find it easier on their eyes. But I've yet to find anything that claims it will make the gray pixels and "fuzziness" go away completely. I don't know if it's something I could get used to. On another forum, somebody said that reading Windows "sharp" text drove them crazy, but for me, I like text on the screen to remind me of text on paper, and when I'm reading a book, it's definitely clear and precise and not font smoothed. [ ]

I'm so sad about this!

 

I agree with what people are saying about Apple Screens. I hope they can resolve the washed out quality with upcoming Powerbooks using the Tiger OS. There are also rumors that Apple will release a Powerbook HD model, with high definition screen. When that happens, I will seriously consider getting one.

 

I currently have a 12 inch ibook and my biggest reservation before i finally purchased it was the fact the screen didn't seem very bright and the fact it seemed real real slooow.
I ended up getting it b/c it was the best option for size and price when i wanted to get a laptop. The screen is a lot better after I've been using it. I feel it's one of the better lcd laptop screens on the market in this size range. It doesn't have the true brite technology but at the same time it doesn't get glare easily. The font smoothing on Mac to me is a lot better than font smoothing on XP. i love using Word on Mac and Msn Messenger b/c the font seems so surreal compared to what I am used to on PC.

p.s.
i'm not a hardcore mac fan who bashes Windows. I just feel visually Mac OS X is superior compared to Windows XP.

 

one more thing, the 12 inch screen looks a lot crisper than the 14 inch. same resolution but tighter pixels on the 12 inch

 

EagleRocker,

Have you ever relised that HDTV is mainly just standard PC Monitor resolutions?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Computer.Geek

 

I had the same concerns about the ibook screen but after hearing that photographers were happy w/it I was a go! Ordered mine last week!

To tell you the truth the screen is pretty dang good. Good enough for professional photo retouch work and graphic design apps. I've been in the biz for over 9 years and can say that the color is pretty good for what it is...a portable work station. If i'm going to do serious (8 hrs a day) retouch work or an annual report i'm going w/my desktop monitor no way i'm cramming all those pallets on anything less then a 21" monitor...but on the road and general all around work the ibook kicks ass.

Also the screen was amazingly dim at the apple store and that turned me off but took the plunge anyhow. Package arrived last friday and once i turned mine on and calibrated the thing it's very bright! I actually have it set on 60-70% level most of the time...never at full on. Typography is awesome on this thing...not sure what the other post was talking about? I do kerning and set type all day and the screen is clear and I've had no probs w/it.

I have no complaints about my new ibook. It arrived last friday and have no regrets about going w/the 12". I checked out the 14 and the 15 powerbook but for the money this was the winner. I mean when teh next generation ibook comes out I'll get the next ibook with money I saved from not buying the power book. I can run all my aplicaiton...like Quark, photoshop, indesign. And if you do any serious design work Mac is the only way to go still. I hear all the time that PC are cathcing up in the design world but just talk w/any printer and they'll give you the horror stories w/files from Pcs.