Glossy vs. Anti-Glare (Inspiron 1520)

I am building an inspiron 1520 and am debating over the glossy or anti-glare screen. Does the glossy screen have overwhelming glares or would I be able to get away with it on occasions when I am outside?

Also, I have researched this some, but havent decided positively if I should spend the extra $75 and get the T7300 2.0 ghz 4mb cache processor over the T7100 1.8 ghz 2 mb cache. Does the 4mb cache have noticeable differences from the 2mb cache? Thanks for your input, I appreciate it!

 

My glossy screen does very bad outside unless overcast, My 1st was matte and was fine, unless you are used to a glossy you won't have any problem with matte and much better outside and high light environments. I would pay $75 for 4MB cache, but it will only show in very specific CPU intensive apps such as video editing. From what I have read 4MB is 10% improvement in general over 2MB all else being equal. So a little more with your 1.8Ghz. Comes down to money nothing else both good and will work fine.

 

Avoid glossy if you want to use the notebook in direct sunlight. Besides that, the glossy has better contrast and color than a matte screen.

 

thanks for your advice. i know i will be outside once in awhile but not too often. does the anti glare screen look pretty good indoors?

 

I like the glossy screen that I have. Works absolutely beautifully under low light and under brighter light the brightness the screen gives out at higher levels makes the screen look fine. But if you are outdoors a lot a matte finish might be adviseable.

 

yea its a tough decision, ill be outside sometimes but im sure mostly inside..hmm

 

What will you be doing with this notebook, most business notebooks are anti-glare. This lets people use outside and in many high light environments also for office apps I doubt gloss adds so much. Now I have read and agree DVD's look real nice on gloss, they look good on matte maybe just not quite as nice. So what are you going to be doing. Hope this helps in the end it's what you want. If you can go to a store maybe you can compare.

 

yea i think i will take a trip up to best buy, good idea. ill look at it inside then tell them, hold on for 5 minutes, ill be right back with this, and take it outside! lol, if only they would let me...

 

Well, Glossy screen are ok if the location does not have a bright light source to the back or side and you will need to look for shaded area outdoor (but all laptop screen sucks in direct sunlight). But they are do offer better colour saturation and contrast than a matte screen. I've used both and I can deal with either but if I'm going to be watching a lot of videos and such, I might just go Glossy.

P.S. seeing them in store will not show you how bad the reflection can be as they usually have them setup at a place that would show the least reflection. You need to ask them if you can move it around the store or even outdoor to see.

 

If you find reflections bother you, don't get glossy. If you don't really mind them, get glossy. In direct sunlight neither screen is usable, glossy is a little bit easier to read outside as long as the light source isn't behind you.

I use both and in my opinion glossy is best for laptop screens while matte is superior for desktop screens. Then again, if you are a professional business user some might consider a glossy screen to be gaudy or immature. They're just jealous prudes though.

EDIT: And pay no attention to those who say that matte is better for print accuracy when working with photo editing. All laptop screens are absolute crap when it comes to color accuracy be them Glossy or Matte. Even with proper calibration (using an external device) they are still WAY off the mark compared to a proper desktop screen. This is a limitation of 6-bit screens, which are used by laptops. Desktops use 8-bit screens, capable of showing many more actual colors.

 

I have an Inspiron 9400 with a glossy screen and I was also worried about the glare as I saw a friend's HP laptop and the glare was extremely bad. On my 9400, with use indoors, I find the screen excellent. When a sliver of sunshine shines through the curtains then it does become distracting but not to any extreme. Since you are not planning on using the laptop outside much, as you mentioned, then I would recommend the glossy screen.

Also, for the additional $75 I would go with the T7300 especially if you plan on encoding audio/video or gaming. See also here for a discussion on this very subject.