Increased Resolution Worth it?

I'm about to purchase a Sager np8660 and i'm debating if I should pay an extra $175 to upgrade my screen from a


15.4" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)

to

15.4" WUXGA "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Screen (1920x1200)

So my question is... is it worth it?

I'm going to be playing games, but will my laptop be able to perform well at such a high resolution? Can you notice the difference on a day to day basis? or is it only when you watch movies and play games with the resolution maxed out. And even if the quality is better, is it worth an extra 175?

 

for games, its better to go with a lower res. although, on a higher res display, you can turn off antialiasing etc which results in better frame rates but still a very clear picture.

for office work/normal stuff there's no question, the WUXGA is like having 2 monitors, and vista scales very well so its really a good option

check out my posts on this thread for screenshots

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=343303

 

Stinray has some great points. I will weigh in with some of my own as well.

For 15.4" screens, I feel 1680 is the highest. For 17" screens, 1920 is the ticket. A small bump in DPI and a reduction for gaming are also great tips. Each person will view the size differently. My background for these preferences, based upon time spent, are general use (50%), Adobe based design apps(25%), and gaming(25%).

My primary suggestion is to go to an electronics store and view both. Look at the screen for the sizing and not the quality as it will vary with manufacturer. This will tell you what you can view easily and still maximize the real estate. As you probably already know, you can always bump down from 1920 with some distortion...but keeping to a budget is very important as well.

Good luck!

 

One comment: a very important factor is the backlight. Some monitors have CCFL backlight, which is being replaced by LED technology, which is better. CCFL is fine, but LEDs usually deteriorate slower and draw less battery power. I chose 1440x900 over 1280x800 on my 14-inch laptop because the first was LED and the second was CCFL.

 

You might have a problem with increased resolution - I'd say go for the WSXGA+, in non-glare type if you can.

 

Well in this case, it's more than just the resolution, the SXGA is glossy, the UXGA is matte. I would go for the SXGA, but I'm not bothered by the glossiness.

 

i wouldn't go for a 1920x1200 resolution on a screen smaller than 17"... everything just become too small

 

keep the 15.4" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050).

the 1920x1200 for 15" is a too small and hard to read imo,

the problem does not only that the screen object will be too small to see it will also, reduces brightness and battery life, and it will be a lot harder for you to powered the screen with the graphic card if you play it on native as to compare it to 1680x1050 one.

 

You will not notice much of a difference running games and videos in non native lower resolutions; therefore even if you buy a 1920x1200 it doesn’t matter for games.
However, the difference is much more prominent for desktop (day-to-day) work. A native resolution of 1920x1200 is way too high for a 15.4”, you’d have to increase DPI to make text readable, but that will make everything else (buttons, icons, and most windows components) look out of proportion.

Buy the 1680x1050 screen

 

Also look at it this way, with the lower resolution you can play games at native resolution longer into the future without having to lower the resolution/settings.