WXGA+ or WUXGA resoultion for 17"

[DivideByZer0]

I've pretty much figured out everything I'm going to fit my 9300 with, except for the screen. I have a choice between a WUXGA resolution with TrueLife (glossy screen which doesn't really make a difference either way to me) (1920X1200) or a WXGA+ resolution (1440 x 900). I do a bit of video editing, Flash animation, and other media editing, so the greater resolution of WUXGA would be good for that. I also do gaming, and am buying this laptop for college and expecting it to last the whole time, and though it'll be able to run recent games at native resolution at first, I'll inevitably have to run at non-native resolution in the future (at least with WUXGA). People tell me that this doesn't make that much of a difference with games at least, but that with Windows it does. Can anybody give me their opinion on using these resolutions (or their non-widescreen equivalent) on a laptop? I know the text will be a bit sharper than on a CRT, but I don't want to have to end up running at non-native resolution for Windows usage.

 

[Mike01]

A WUXGA screen at native resolution in windows is hard to use. The icons and fonts are very small (although ou can enlarge most of the fonts).

You gain a little bit of screen space, but you're dead on about the games. As good as scaled resolution can look, native always looks better.

Ultimately, it's a matter of preference. You really should try to see one for yourself. My preference is the lower resolution, because I have no need for the higher and am not willing to put up with the problems that come with it.

Glossy is nice, however.

 

[miniMUNCH]

I am in a similar situation...

I have 15" powerbook which I really like but necessity is forcing me back to windows with some Linux on the side.

I'm looking at a variety of the 15.4" WS centrino laptops, or maybe a 17" WS laptop like the sony A290 or dell 9300.

To be honest...if i could get the same screen (1280 x 800) that's on my powerbook I'll be happy...it works well for me at native resolution.

I believe 1440 x 900 is the 17" analog of a 15.4" 1280 x 800 resolution so I'd tend to lean in that direction.

Does anyone know what screen dell uses for their 1440 x 900 and 1900 x 1200 lcd's...it would not suprise me if it was the same as the 17" screens from sony...I really like the sony laptop screens.

 

[blinky8225]

Dell uses LG and Samsung panels for either screen at random.

 

[Hikari]

I'd say WUXGA. If you do graphics work you'll appreciate the higher resolution. WXGA+ is quite low for a 17" screen in my opinion (the 14" display in my 1 year old HP laptop has WXGA+...)

I'd prefer WSXGA+, personally, but you don't have that option it appears.

 

[railer]

I have both screens. 1920 x 1200 is way too high for me on a 17" screen. I'm running it at 1440x900. If I had to choose, I'd take the WXGA. But.....don't be concerned about running your display at a non-native resolution. For games, it's a non-issue completely. D3 doesn't even officially support 1920 x 1200....you have to manually add that res. I've played D3 and HL2 and both the native and non-native res....and honestly cannot tell the difference. Text to me is slightly clearer at the native res of my xga, vs the forced res of my uga. That said, I'm running right now at the non-native res on my uxga and text looks superb; it's only when I have both laptops side by side that I notice a slight difference. If you want a screenie of text on both let me know....

 

[SuperToilet]

Originally posted by: railer
I have both screens. 1920 x 1200 is way too high for me on a 17" screen. I'm running it at 1440x900. If I had to choose, I'd take the WXGA. But.....don't be concerned about running your display at a non-native resolution. For games, it's a non-issue completely. D3 doesn't even officially support 1920 x 1200....you have to manually add that res. I've played D3 and HL2 and both the native and non-native res....and honestly cannot tell the difference. Text to me is slightly clearer at the native res of my xga, vs the forced res of my uga. That said, I'm running right now at the non-native res on my uxga and text looks superb; it's only when I have both laptops side by side that I notice a slight difference. If you want a screenie of text on both let me know....

COuld you please provide a side by side comparison?
I'm on hold with Dell, and I really want to finish the order tonight. And is the TruLife feature worth having to upscale things not running at native res?

 

[6000SUX]

WXGA+. It's easier to use for most tasks, and your graphics card will power it better (thinking about the future).

 

[SuperToilet]

Originally posted by: 6000SUX
WXGA+. It's easier to use for most tasks, and your graphics card will power it better (thinking about the future).

Is TruLife worth having or not? Is it worth having to deal with upscaling for games in the near future for a glossy or anti-glare or WTF its called screen?

 

[railer]

Toilet it's personal preference. They're both good. I personally don't think the UGA is worth the extra money. I say save your cash and get the regular XGA.

 

[SuperToilet]

Originally posted by: railer
Toilet it's personal preference. They're both good. I personally don't think the UGA is worth the extra money. I say save your cash and get the regular XGA.

Thanks, if you could show a side by side pic, mainly to compare the benefits of TruLife VS. normal, with complete disregard to resolution. I'm going to Sam's Club tomorrow to buy a laptop bag anyways, so I'm gonna check out various competitors model's with the same type of coating (XBrite, BriteView, bbqlol, whatever) and see if there's any significant difference.

As far as the WUXGA, normal UXGA is 1600x1200, right? Can't it scale and run a 4:3 signal in the middle of the screen, as I know alot of nVIDIA cards can do that right from the driver, regardless of monitor, as I've seen friends with large LCDs (and large native res) run for example, a 1280x1024 signal in the middle of a say 1600x1200 screen.

 

[SuperToilet]

Agh! Dell put me on hold for quite some time, and I ended up getting connected to the wrong people! Thankfully, the woman I was talking to earlier offered me a coupon code in return for being on the phone for 2 hrs + before getting a straight answer.
I think I'm going to add a poll to my original thread