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If the Macbook Pro 17" Goes to LED...

S

Sean_Reid

Guest
...then please post. I'm watching for that news and I imagine others might be interested. Heck, I'd even appreciate a PM on the topic.

Cheers,

Sean
 
M

Mitch Alland

Guest
Sean:

What is the advantage of LEDs: is it that the viewing angles can be greater without the character of the image on the monitor changing? As you know, I bought the 17" high resolution MacBook Pro without LEDs with which I'm quite happy.

—Mitch/Bangkok
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I have the 15" with the led screen. There is still some off-angle falloff, but the big advantage IMO is extended battery life --- my daughter gets about 90 minutes of battery on her 1 year old 15" MBP while I get over 3 hours on mine and they use the exact same batteries.
 

Lars

Active member
Another - huge - advantage of LED lighting is consistent light level over time. Most CCFL lights dim considerably over the lifespan of a display (laptop or desktop), in the range of 20-50% over the first 1-2 years. LEDs (are expected to) dim only marginally over time.

Also, LED brightness is less affected by temperature than CCFLs. Not something to recommend trying, but if you stuck your CCFL-based laptop in the fridge for a while then it would be pretty dark. This temperature dependency in turn makes it difficult to get consistent color reproduction. LEDs are better in this aspect as well.

LED lighting does not change the basic characteristics of the LCD display technology, so don't expect viewing angles to be any different just becouse of the light source. If there is a difference it is due to LCD manufacture.

Jack - no point in comparing battery life between a new and a one year old battery. Lithium-Ion batteries have a lifespan of perhaps three years from the time of manufacture, regardless if they are used or not. You have to compare using the same actual battery.
 
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S

Sean_Reid

Guest
Sean:

What is the advantage of LEDs: is it that the viewing angles can be greater without the character of the image on the monitor changing? As you know, I bought the 17" high resolution MacBook Pro without LEDs with which I'm quite happy.

—Mitch/Bangkok
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
Hi Mitch,

I was persuaded by Rob's comments here:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-8741-9027

I've also looked myself and the viewing angles do seem to be improved with the MB Pro LED. I like the other advantages as well but the calibration issue interests me most.

Cheers,

Sean
 

Daniel

New member
has anyone been to a Sony shop to see its prototyp OLED screen? i came across it by chance. the screen is only about 5mm, the the overall color is rich, the blacks are deep with details, the highlights are bright and detailed, and viewing angle is VERY wide. i didn't notice any shifting even when i viewed the screen sharply off to the side. i was impressed.

according to the store sales, the production screens will be out in late 2008.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I wonder, Jack, because I get 3-1/2 to 4 hours on my 17" MacBook Pro.

—Mitch/Bangkok
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
The 17" also has a much larger battery to begin with, so not sure how much difference that makes...

As re Rob and the new machines having better angle o view, let's read what he wrote:

"The inescapable conclusion is this: calibrated and profiled as described above, the screens in the older 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros don't quite cut it, but the new MacBook Pro 15 inch model with LED backlighting displays colour that's pleasingly close to the mark. And while the new laptop has the same tight viewing angle as the older models, it's less of a problem in reality because of the aforementioned near-elimination of colour oversaturation problems."

This is more in line with what I saw comparing mine to my daughter's, IOW not a huge difference in view angle, but very good color on my new one.

Cheers,
 

Terry

New member
has anyone been to a Sony shop to see its prototyp OLED screen? i came across it by chance. the screen is only about 5mm, the the overall color is rich, the blacks are deep with details, the highlights are bright and detailed, and viewing angle is VERY wide. i didn't notice any shifting even when i viewed the screen sharply off to the side. i was impressed.

according to the store sales, the production screens will be out in late 2008.
What I didn't understand in the pictures of the unit was the box at the bottom. They tout the thing as being really thin but that makes no difference how thick/thin it is if the footprint is limited by the box size. Did I miss something?
 

Daniel

New member
What I didn't understand in the pictures of the unit was the box at the bottom. They tout the thing as being really thin but that makes no difference how thick/thin it is if the footprint is limited by the box size. Did I miss something?
probably not. if i'm remembering correctly, the base of the screen is about 1" thick and 3" deep. most likely the base houses the components that run the OLED screen.

now i remember why i mentioned the OLED screen. i was wondering if apple was holding off updating the screen for the 17" because they're waiting for the OLED to become available.
 
S

Sean_Reid

Guest
The 17" also has a much larger battery to begin with, so not sure how much difference that makes...

As re Rob and the new machines having better angle o view, let's read what he wrote:

"The inescapable conclusion is this: calibrated and profiled as described above, the screens in the older 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros don't quite cut it, but the new MacBook Pro 15 inch model with LED backlighting displays colour that's pleasingly close to the mark. And while the new laptop has the same tight viewing angle as the older models, it's less of a problem in reality because of the aforementioned near-elimination of colour oversaturation problems."
Hi Jack,

I saw that too when I was re-reading it. Maybe there was something else in the way the computers were located at the Mac dealer that made them seem different in that respect. Very curious to hear tomorrow's news.

Cheers,

Sean
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
My take is that while they still show brightness falloff after a fairly narrow angle --- say 15 or 20 degrees off center --- the colors and saturation don't change like they did on the older screens, so the net effect isn't as noticeable or offensive...
 
S

Sean_Reid

Guest
Followed the news for an hour out of busy day but, alas, there was no new MB Pro announced. I was hoping for a 17" LED with Penryn and literally was sitting with my credit card near the monitor.

I've only been able to compare the 15" LED and the 17" in Mac stores. I'd be happy to hear from anyone who has owned both or used both extensively. It's the monitor that I really care about.

Thanks,

Sean
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I like the new LED display on the 15 inch. Sean look at it this way also , great for travel than the BIGGY here is you can still run a 30 in. display from it in the office. I run a 30 on the desktop and a 23 on the laptop but it will and does do a great job running a 30 inch. The DVI out is a huge feature here plus 4gbs of ram and you have something to work with. Personally i would not go 17 inch too big for travel.

My bad news for today is my desktop and 30 inch display were on a truck actually two trucks today coming back to Phoenix and not only are my wife and I missing our two garment boxes full of our nice cloths but my 30 inch seems to be lost somewhere between LA and Phoenix . Not a happy moment and replacing my wife's cloths is not a cheap adventure. Hopefully it will show up and there is plenty of insurance to go around to cover it all but still.
 
S

Sean_Reid

Guest
Hi Guy,

Thanks for the thoughts and sorry to hear that some of your stuff seems to have been stolen. I need the MBP mostly for times when I'm going to be away from my studio for days at a time. For example, about 6 weeks in late February and then periodically spending a few days at a time with a friend who has been very ill. So, its not so much a day to day machine that I would have to carry, more like my portable workstation. Although...the 15" would be a bit less size and weight to carry in the trunk of my motorcycle.

Did you have a 17" MBP before this, Guy? Happy to hear also from anyone else who has owned both. I'm also going to e-mail Rob G. whom I know a bit since we're in the same lines of work.

Thanks, great and versatile web site you've got here.

S
 
S

Sean_Reid

Guest
I briefly owned a (1440 ppi) Sony 17" which was a good machine but it just couldn't render B&W pictures very well. I still have the case though and discovered, today, that the case fits in my M/C trunk so I can carry a 17" widescreen on the bike.

I'm sure you are all very relieved to know this....<G>

Cheers,

Sean
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
No never owned the 17in although have tried it many times . I had a 17 inch PC at one time. 10 lbs, it was a truck.

Oh found our cloths but looks like my monitor is missing in action.
 

cam

Active member
Sean -- go for the 17" definitely! since you have the case and all, your eyes will thank you. six weeks is an awful long time working on a 15" monitor... (the 17" wasn't nearly as bad to lug around as i expected and i've got one arm that is still in rehab.)
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Sean:

I suspect they may have a backlog of current version components they want to thin out before officially announcing the new processors. It may be a while, like June before they have anything new available...
 
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