Is a high resolution a big improvement?

My ~15.5 inch laptop has a 1440x900 resolution currently. I'm thinking of getting a new laptop, since hardware seems cheap (I can get huge upgrades in processor and graphics card for far less than I paid for this computer originally)

However, the computer I'm looking at (Dell XPS 15) has a resolution of only 1280x720.

Will the display be a lot worse because of the lower resolution? I've never really run games higher than 1280x720, so I don't think that will be a problem, but will the lower resolution make movies and other programs look significantly worse?

Thanks for any help.

(I wasn't entirely sure of where to post this, but I figured that it would fit in this forum because the resolution is tied to the screen, which is a hardware component)

 

i wouldn't get a laptop with less than 1080p also make sure you wait for SB and ATI 6000s series. That'll be a great laptop

 

Yes. Its a matter of preference but generally lower resolution looks much worse.

 

That's a shame. They had a 1080p option at one point when I checked, but it appears to have vanished.

 

What? I thought the XPS 15 had a 1368x768 as the default...and many people believe the 1080p is out of stock or on back order thus the reason Dell removed it...though we'll see..

 

I was looking around at new laptops recently and I can not belive how few models come with 1080p. I was looking at Dell, HP and Toshiba, and the only models that seemed to have it were the Alienware, Envy and Qosmios. Even the XPS didn't have the option when building one online (but a PC World review had it equiped on a XPS 15 on a review this month).

Right now I'm using a Qosmio G45 and honestly, I dread the day when I will have to go to a 16x9 ratio screen. Thats 180 pixels less in height than my 1900x1200 WUXGA screen. Whats the deal with these cheap- screens? My previous 15" laptop from 2003 had 1600x1200 screen. Hell, a cell phone can have WVGA resolution on a 4" screen but I can't get a 1440p on a high end laptop?

 

It's the push for "disposable" cheap notebooks. Don't forget that back in the day, you couldn't get a notebook for less than $1000. Now see how often notebooks break that price point. LCDs are, quite frankly, one of the most expensive components in a notebook, and thus one of the first places that manufacturers look to cut corners to reduce prices. And don't forget marketing. 1366x768 is technically HD (720p), and so manufacturers can just slap that label on their machines and "fool" 85% of the population into thinking it's high resolution, especially for those that have never seen a "real" 1920x1200 screen.

 

Sigh I've seen people get sucked/conned with the whole HD LCD display crap. Idk if you guys have noticed but now they've started to stamp (maybe past 6 months) 1080P on the stickers and sometimes a stick on the display but don't explain that it's an output resolution not the resolution of the display. Before it would say 1080P HDMI or HDMI output 1080P. Now they just put a vague sticker saying 1080P.

I remember in college I was telling my friend about my new laptop because he wanted to get a new one, and all the sudden some random guy said his laptop was 1080P full HD because it was a HD LED display. I showed him my display, he said there was "no difference". Hopeless noob is hopeless.

 

lol thats bad. I am trying to nerdify my fiancee and man is that hard :/ I wish i could get a 16:10 screen so badly too

 

Dont get me wrong, I appreciate high resolutions, but I'm a gamer and I also appreciate framerates.

I opted for a 1600x900 res on my NP8690, when I could have gone 1080P+. Every pixel added proportionally reduces frame rate (as in 50% percent more pixels means 67% the framerate, and I hate running non-native resolutions). This led me to go with the lower resolution LCD.

 

I can tell you high resolution is important. For my Vostro 1500, they offered a 1440x900 for I believe 80 more back then. But because I was on a tight budget I went for other upgrades for college and left it at 1280x800. Years later I wish I had upgraded the screen resolution as 1280x800 is meh, I prefer higher resolution and fitting a billion windows on the same screen and viewing more space on the screen. Now thank goodness a 1680x1050 screen for my laptop is around 90-100 bucks so I will upgrade later but I think screen resolution is very important in a laptop.

 

A 1366x768 screen will be a significant downgrade compared to what you have now; it has only 80% of the space.
In my experience, a higher resolution screen allows you to be more productive. Using two windows side-by-side on a 1366x768 screen is nearly impossible. 1600x900 improves the situation slightly but is still a rather low resolution. And the vertical space is even more important than the horizontal; most applications are vertically oriented (like web browsing). 768 pixels of vertical space is borderline hopeless; 900 is better; 1080 is the best available on a new 15" notebook.

I also suggest a 1920x1080 display if you can find one. As noted, Dell is probably just out of stock of those panels for the XPS 15. Check the Dell Outlet ( http://www.dell.com/outlet) if you are really desperate for one. There are a good number of people on this forum that have an XPS 15 with the 1080p panel.
Consider the Sony VAIO EB series and ASUS N53 as alternatives -- they offer 1080p panels on a 15.5"/15.6" screen respectively.
http://www.amazon.com/N53JF-XE1-15-...C6TI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292597700&sr=8-1

 

Higher the resolution, the more crisp.

 

Agreed. And if it's important to you, reject anything less. Leave the lessor resolutions for those that don't know the difference...like the kids!

 

Iwon't assume to tell you what you like .. I tried out a bunch of friend's and coworkers laptops a while ago and came to these conclusions.

For me, using 17 and 18 inch 1080p displays were very nice, but with laptops getting so light and convenient I longed for a smaller display. Also intellectually, I like the idea that a 1080p is a standard screen, my videos dont lose anything in the conversion (anything much, in the case of blu-ray/deep color) ...

They make 15.6" 1080p's but lugging it around the 15.6" feels just slightly too big, so I figured I wanted a smaller screen. I can always ensure I have a good video card on board and drive my movies/games on an external monitor when the 1080p part is really important to me. 720p and 768*GA screens though, they are too small for things like my web browsing habits.

So for me, I want either a 15.6" 1080p (and live with the slightly bulky size), or a 900*GA screen as small as they make them

 

My slight variant of that is, I only move around in a few 'known' frequently visited locations(where I do series work). And given that the external monitors are very cheap (I had the U2311H for 230 or so which is e-IPS), I would just have one at all these locations and enjoy the 1920 pixel on a much larger display.

When I am really on the move(say in starbuck), I am more likely to be just doing casual things like browsing and those don't call for so many pixels so even 720p equivalent is good enough.

 

If you want to game on a portable (15.6 or lower) laptop - get the lower resolutions (e.g. 1366x768) unless you're willing to shell out a lot of dough.

For anything else, go with as close to 1080p as possible.

 

having a good screen has nothing to do with games. countless older games run at 1080p plus working on a desktop is soooo much better at 1080p than 720pish. I would never go below 1080p...and i even hate 1080p. If i had a choice every laptop i buy would be 1920x1200 even a 13 inche if that was possible. I will always shell out several hundred extra dollars for a better screen. These forums drive me nuts at 1080. i miss my 1600x1200 laptop.

 

for 15" or higher I would consider 1080p a necessity. However for a smaller laptop screen I would be willing to go down some.

 

I've used 17''s laptops for the past 4 years, all of them with no more than 1440x900. I used them on 1920x1080 TV's, so I thought it was ok to have low-res on the laptop display.

Thing is I just got a new 17'' full HD laptop and the difference is brutal. Every HD picture, movie and games look amazing. There's no way I'm coming back to less than 1080p.

IMO, the smaller the FullHD diplay, the awesomer/sexier it looks.

 

True, true. I guess my statement there was a bit exaggerated, as my game preference has always been ones with the best graphics ; indeed older games run fine on higher res screens. But for graphics-intensive games which came out within the last 3~4 years, a 1080p screen might cut down performance quite a bit unless the laptop has a very high-end gpu.

 

That is for sure.

 

I thin one rule is golden. Get the best screen possible no matter what. At least thats what i think

 

Sure, except 'best' is not the same for everyone

 

Yes, "best" is subjective to everyone. I personally wish every laptop offered 1680x1050 or higher, but that's me. Some people need ridiculously large icons as they are blind or near blind. Alot of business professionals need massive resolution to see multiple windows at a time. All may need certain things, others not. Not everyone needs an LED, though it is nice.

All boils down to what you need it for, and how much you can spend.

 

yes but my point was there is no reason to buy a lower res screen...unless your broke. Higher res screen is always better. If things look to small its a 30 sec adjustment in windows to increase DPI.

 

That depends on indvidual. Actually, I prefer 1280x800 on 15", 1440x900 on 17" because that is 'my' most optimal resolution in terms of font size (@ default 96dpi). My work machine has 1680 @ 15" which I cannot bear and use a 23" @ 1920 monitor instead.

Increase font DPI doesn't work in all the cases.

Go over to the Windows OS forum where there was recent post that some guy wanted to do just that (he has a 1920 @ 13" and found the font to be too smal) and encountered problems in Office, you may want to help him out.

 

The more important question is, 1280x800 or 1366x768?

 

1366x768 for sure

 

You think 1600x900 is insufficient for 15" laptops? I would have thought they would look OK.
On 17" 1920x1080 for sure, preferably 1920x1200.

BTW, the extra 120 pixel loss in going from 1920x1200 to 1920x1080 is quite noticeable I feel a bit cramped vertically on the DV8t when working on text.

 

i went from a 1600x1200 laptop to a 1920x1080....if i had a choice i would go with my 1600x1200...only advantage is that i can fit 2 word docs on same screen side by side. I wish they still made laptops with the 1920x1200 because that is the perfect screen

 

They do. You just have to pay an arm and leg for them. Mostly just high end business notebooks like the Elite book and Precision?

 

1920x1200 is the reason I've forked out to upgrade my P7805. If the g73jw-3DE was a 1920x1200 screen it would have been the perfect new system other than maybe wanting it as a 480m GTX instead of the 460m GT.

I am not a true gamer so I could have easily lived without then upgraded video but the screen resolution has taken me out of the consumer grade laptops market. The shame is we how want/need the higher than 1080P are a very small market in the consumer area so we are relegated to spending business class machine prices. The other problem there too is te selections become limited as well. There is a plethora of 1080P machines and options out there but very few 1920x1200's..........

 

There isnt a "plethora" of 1080p machines; they have been relegated to high end consumer machines.

 

very true. When i was buying my notebook HP had no 1080p laptops....i was baffled by this. Only 1080p at the time was the 18.4 inch and i needed a 15in. So HP was out from the get-go

 

An Asus N73 have 1080p. It is a 17.3" and a very balanced machine.

Review Asus N73JQ Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

Versions with i5-560 is even less expensive and almost up there with i7 -that it is in review- performance level.

 

When was this release? It would have been perfect for me, when I was looking for a laptp, a month or so back, I could not find anything that had 1080p and cost less than 1100 euros In the end I got an outdated HP DV8 for 1300 euros darnit.

 

Looks to me like there are no more 15" WUXGA laptops in any brands. Dell, HP, Lenovo - zilch.

 

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

just net your 140 loonie more.

 

Then it's up to consumers to demand better. Once the industry gets the results, there will be more of them to choose form.

 

Look it is determined by demand;

Right now consumers scream for faster, cheaper notebooks. So manufacturers pump them out, with awful 16:9 screens, cheap plastic bezel and overall lower quality. You can't have faster, cheaper and quality. Until people start screaming for higher end screens, we won't get them.

 

Yes, I think 1600x900 is a low resolution for computer screens in general, as a matter of fact. Try coding/text editing/actual work with just 900 pixels of vertical space. It's definitely better than 1366x768 but not something I would care to use for actual work.

I did shell out quite a bit to get a 1920x1200 screen on my notebook (I didn't have to spend as much as I did though). Originally I was not going to get a new laptop for some time except I saw that the last of the 16:10s were finally going the way of the dodo bird. 1080p is a decent res but losing 120 pixels as you noted is very noticeable, depending on the kind of work you do. For me, it's worth a lot of extra money.

 

For most consumers, more pixel doesn't always mean better.

If I want to watch a 720p video on a 1080p display, what can I do ? scale it up or just use part of my screen ?

Not that many people have the need to have 2 word documents putting side by side or need those extra columns/rows in a gigantic Excel spreadsheet or having a 12MP digital image to edit in photoshop.

As I mentioned before, screen pixel was once an option in Dell's consumer lineup and now have basically disappeared. The market speak.

 

Say what?

 

Graphics cards can easily and effectivly scale from 720p to 1080p, the same ratio makes it easy and look just as good as running it on a native display.

 

If you say so.

 

I've had both 19" 720P and 1080P I can agree to what Meaker has said, 720p looks just as good on a 1080P LCD as on a 720P LCD.

 

I think the fast motion and analog component (the light waves hitting the movie camera) make movies more scalable than vidio games. The traffic light or street curb in a movie dosen't know its suposed to be 18 pixels tall exactly. In a video game, the content is determined by the screen.

Unless I am close to my TV, I really can't tell the fifference between 720p scaled to my 1080p tv, from a tv displaying 720p naticly at the same size.

That said, I do see a difference on my laptop simply because i'm 18 inches away from it.

 

I know so.

You base your ideas on speculation and theory. I base mine on the experiences of myself and others with high-def content.

Infact a 1080p (1920x1080) screen is better for such content than a 1366x768 screens, these have to scale a 720p (1280x720) image somewhat or have black bars, where a 1080p screen is not only a true same ratio 1.77777777etc (16:9) so scaling is perfect, but it can display true high def ratio full screen at native (1080p)

 

will never have a laptop with less than 1920x1200 resolution. I think developers, guys running multiple VMs etc know what I'm talking about. I could go with a lot more resolution but can't find a notebook that goes higher than wuxga.