VAIO Z2 order 1920x1080 or 1600x900?

I hate to say it, but two days after getting my FHD Z, I'm concluding that beaups is right here. I need the 125% text and icon sizing for the laptop LCD, and indeed, it is annoying on the external LCD. The procedure for changing (requiring log off) is very annoying. If I were ordering again, I would get the 900p.

 

I used to have two of those.
It wasn't really that portable when teamed with a 14"(IIRC) CRT monitor.

 

Is there any downside to just setting your resolution to 900p, instead of changing the DPI? I guess my question is more general .. ignoring the fact that the 900p panel seems to be brighter, is there any other reason for not getting the 1080p? That's assuming money is not an issue, and given the fact that you can always change the resolution to whatever.

 

Well... you are then trying to stretch 900 vertical pixels onto the 1080 physical pixels on the screen. The result is a bit pixelated.

 

No one has mentioned any differences in viewing angles between screens. Of course, the Seattle Sony store had no Z2s, but I was assured by the "knowledgeable" salesperson that the Z2 900p screen was the same as that of the SA on display. But to me the usable vertical viewing angle on the SA was horrendously small -- it was especially washed out viewed from slightly above (as it would be on an airplane). Said salesperson was certain he remembered the 1080p displays as being better in this respect, so that's what I ordered (Sept 9 shipping). Is there any truth at all to this???

 

Lol. Sony Z is 13.1". Sony SA is 13.3"

 

Damn Seattle STILL doesn't have any? Good thing I didn't go the other day because I wanted to just check it out.

Which guy did you talk to? The red haired guy that works at the Sony Backstage is fairly knowledgeable but some of the other guys are hit and miss.

 

Just get used to using 100% DPI all the time. I can't stand 125% blah

 

Ah this argument will last until the end of time.

Let me propose a new question. Who has owned BOTH a 900p Z and a 1080P Z? Having owned BOTH, which would you buy again?

I've owned both (actually several) and the 900P wins for me, hands down.

 

Actually just checked and it is in the store now, though it wasn't when I visited. The salesperson was not red-headed, so it seems you are right about the rest of their staff...

 

Because this is a 13 inch laptop, not a 52 inch television. I found out the hard way that it is physically impossible to browse the web with this wonderful 1080p because its insanely small. And I have perfect 20/20 vision. Facebook looks requires a microscope to read. Flipping it to 1600 makes everything windows-wise look gawdy. But web browsing looks okay.

So you end up keeping it at 1900 and putting all your browsers to "zoom" 125% .... which for guys like me who make web sites for a living ... guess what .... you're screwed. You'll never see web sites with their proper width again.

 

I have them both right here side by side. And you are correct. Crystal clear quality and ACTUALLY READABLE beats "High Definition and physically incapable of reading".

Anyone want me to take a video of the difference ? Again id like the cowboy person to try using Facebook in Firefox with zoom set to 100% and resolution set to 1900 .....

 

NotebookBurger, if you could post a video comparing the two screens, that would be huugely helpful!

 

Blah Blah Blah 1080P

 

Yeah it really does come down to personal opinion because I'm short sighted and I comfortably used Google Chrome at 100% zoom and 100% DPI on the Z1 1080p display at distances up to arms length.

 

ditto and ditto. I had one of each for a month. I wanted to prefer the 1080, but couldn't. Did "blind" comparisons, always chose the 900.

Still, it's a choice issue.

 

Heading to Boston tomorrow to see in person both screens @ Microcenter.If I already like the screen on my TZ have no idea how much better they will be.

 

if you have multiple monitor I find it more convenient to have them using the same resolution..

 

Egh, I used to have a m11xR2 (now Vaio SC) and still have U2711.

I survived As for convinience, I guess that's POV... but as a Softimage/Photoshop hobbyist, I've seen at least one co-worker using the Z1's 1080p panel for Photoshop, and I just need to find a better reason to spend 2000usd++ on a single laptop

 

It seems like it takes the Seattle store forever to set up new items. They still had P and X computers way after they were discontinued by Sony themselves.

The Signature Gold/Brown SA they have on display was set up a few weeks after it was released to the public.

Well I'm glad they finally have it in store. I'll have to check it out once I get the opportunity to get over there. Thanks!

 

I am seriously considering taking my Z2 back to get the screen replaced with a 900p. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it technically possible? I'm assuming it would cost me the better part of $1,000.

 

On the desktop, right click and choose "Personalize"
At the left hand side, towards the bottom part, choose "Display"
Choose 125% or 150%

Once you reboot, go back to the same screen and then select "Adjust ClearType text"

Does that help?

 

Nope, but thanks for the thought.

I'm using the laptop at 125% right now and it's fine, but as beaups pointed out earlier in this thread, you need switch the dpi every time you move between internal and external monitor, and this requires logging off/on again (and closing all applications.)

 

I can't wait until Apple (who else?) will start putting Retina-like displays in their laptops. Then we'll finally have both high clarity/DPI screens yet still readable font sizes. The OS needs to support scaling properly, and I don't see anyone else doing it first.

 

it should be noted, for the retina display, it's exactly 2x the resolution of previous iPod Touch/iPhone. This made DPI scaling much easier...

 

That's true. It made the transition period a non-issue since the un-updated apps would still look equally good on the new screen as the old, no compromise.

I see them doing the same with iPad and Macs eventually, when the hardware developments allow it.

 

retina display = twice the pixel density of the Z21
Z21 13.1 @ 1080 = 168 PPI
Retina Display = 329 PPI

 

Testing it for yourself makes much more sense than watching a video ... on a device with lower dpi/ppi which visually blows up the pixels again.

If you're on a Z with 900p, you can easily simulate the difference of pixel density:

Z 900p: ~ 140 ppi
Z 1080p: ~ 168 ppi

DPI Calculator / PPI Calculator

We have to reduce the font size to about 83% of the original size.
Set windows DPI to 100%, turn off Clear Type (if needed, don't know since I always have it turned off).

Launching Firefox and logging into Facebook, Firebug shows the size in the comments is 11px, so we have to scale down to 9.13px.
Hitting Ctrl+- once: 9.88px, twice: 8.8px.

There are easier and better ways to simulate (bookmarklets etc.) but it should suffice to get an idea. Please note though that many fonts don't scale well at these small sizes.

 

Have just recently tried both Z2's and the 1080p screen wins for me. If I look left to right on the 900p screen, I can see the pixels, not the case with the 1080p screen.

I might have sensitive eyes, but that was enough for me.

 

I have the Z1 with the FHD display but wish I had the 1600x900 instead.

FHD makes everything too small (and I have perfect eyesight). Changing the DPI setting in Windows sucks because:

1. Many UI elements are not scaled properly, sometimes dialog boxes don't work/look right.
2. When I dock my laptop at work with my 1920x1200 monitor I would have to change the DPI settings back.

So I end up running my display at 1600x900 which obviously isn't as sharp as a native 1600x900 display.

 

I just talked with Sony tech support about getting my display "downgraded" from 1080p to 900p. The guy I was talking to seemed seemed unsure of what to answer, but eventually said that it was impossible.

So before I escalate this, I appeal to the more technical people on the forum - is there any reason why it should be impossible to swap out a higher resolution display for a lower one, assuming one were willing to pay the exorbitant price Sony would no doubt demand?

Thanks in advance!

 

I would sell it and buy the right one. When ever you disassemble a laptop it tends to add to the problems.

 

My first Z was the Z11AFJ with the 900p screen. I loved it at thought nothing bad of it. I really felt it matched the size of the screen well and it was sharp. I ended up selling the Z11 (it had a Core i5..) for the Z14 1080p screen (Core i7...). Though it seemed sharp and all I never liked it. I could never get the right balance. I always felt that something was too small. I resized the minimize/maximize/close buttons, various windows, font sizes and icons along with 125% DPI and it still felt like something things were still too small for comfort. This never came up when using the 900p. I actually never even thought the screen needed improving.

I sold the V14 to get the Z2 and I chose the 900p. I don't want to be worrying about things being to small or anything. I'd rather have things match the screen and kind of flow with the laptop then squeeze as much space as possible on the screen. This is just how I feel.

 

I had the same problem as the OP so this topic was very helpful. In the end I've decided to go for the 900p. With 1080p I would have to set everything to 125% to make it usable for me so the only benefit would be more PPI. But when I compared the PPI of the 900p with other screens I've used and like (VAIO E 15,5" with 1080p and the iPad 2) it turned out to be about similar. So 1080p would be overkill for me not to mention the (tiny) annoyances it might bring as mentioned by some if you don't run it at 100%.

 

Ok, since this thread was brought back to life, I'll add my advice for any newbies.

Of course, resolution needs differ by user, so one needs to evaluate their own requirements. I chose 1080p because I'm a daytrader. We refer to our display as "real estate". With 1080p, you have much more real estate than 900p. This means I can fit more charts on my screen, and I need as many charts as possible to look at different markets all at once.

When I want to make one chart full screen, I can see a longer period of time on the horizontal grid. This means I don't have to condense the chart and push all the candlesticks together to view a longer term. It's really nice having 1080p for stock charts.

Also, 1080p may be helpful for some people in finance. You can see more of an Excel spreadsheet without having to scroll to the left/right. And you can always adjust the "zoom" level in Excel.

For developers/programmers, it's always nice to see more of your code on the screen. You can also test web development pages and test it under different resolutions (eventhough most pages are almost never optimized for 1080p).

If I just wanted a computer for browsing the net, e-mail, Microsoft Word, and general every day usage, I'd probably get the 900p since it's easier on the eyes.

 

basically it boils down to your eyes, If you can handle it at native DPI, then 1080p is obviously superior. If you are trading and you can't see the damn numbers it's not gonna do you any good lol.

 

Ditto. I've owned two of each, and done side by sides for over a week. After two rounds of A/B comparisons, including "blind" tests on many different images and content, I picked the 900p 100% of the time. Also of note, when Sony made the 1080p a free upgrade, only about 2/3 opted for it. 900p on a 13" screen is an insane dpi for a TN screen. 1080p is, to me, way over the top, impressive though it is on 1080p video, and on nothing else. The 900p is noticeably brighter with better contrast (measured and by eye) but their is no denying the 1080p looks slicker on 1080p video (no diff on <1080p video), and the characters are crisper, but if you are over 35, crisp but tiny is not worth the tradeoff. In measurements, see notebookcheck.net, the 1080p has about 5% wider color gamut - unseen by the naked eye, but it's another point technically in its favor.

At the end of the day, they are both awesome and peerless screens at this size; it is clearly a matter of taste - and eyesight. What makes no sense to me is increasing the text size on a 1080 p screen, so it is in effect a 900p, but dimmer.

Finally, on the used market, the 1080p will cost you $200 more (or you will sell it for $200 more) even though you only pay $100 more to have it. Small consolation, but another fact. Problem exacerbates if you are buying used and the 1080p screen adds $200 to the price for dubious advantage.

I-M-O

 

Yeah, so 900p is more practical and useful; 1080p is cool but probably reduces your overall laptop usability slightly. Get 1080p only if you're absolutely sure of what you're doing. Any doubts, and 900p is a safer bet. Look at it this way: whichever one you get, you'll probably regret not having the other, so you might as well pick the more practical choice.

 

I would love to exchange my z11 with 900p screen for a 1080p

 

The problem with the Z's 1920x1080 screen is that it's not 1920x1200.

I find 1080p easier on my eyes than 900p but that's me. Everyone needs to decide which screen is right for them -- preferably before they buy the computer.