Matte or non-widescreen laptop? Do they exist?

Question

Does anyone know of any matte-screen laptops being sold now (15.6 or 17") in the UK? All I can find is the Dell Vostro 3500/3700 range, but there is a premium of around £200 over the price of their Inspiron range (for the 17" model), and I find it hard justifying the extra cost just to have a matte screen.

I do not like glossy screens, but it seems the laptop industry has gone the way of "glossy is better - let's get rid of matte". I have read and heard from other developers that as long as there are no strong light sources to reflect off the screen, one can soon get used to a glossy screen, but I am yet to be convinced.

I would also be interested if anyone knows of any non 16:9 screen laptops. I find this ratio too wide and not high-enough for the work I do. 16:10 or lower would be better.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Alan

Answer 1

As someone who completely agrees with you on the matte screen, I find the Lenovo ThinkPad laptops (the line that Lenovo acquired from IBM) are great for their matte screen.

Some models have widescreen displays, some do not.

Use the reference here to compare models & features.

Answer 2

The 15" MacBook Pro has a matte screen option with 1680 by 1050 resolution. Not only is that 16:10 instead of 16:9, but it's an extra 150 pixels of vertical resolution over the typical 1440 by 900 displays you see everywhere. You can use Boot Camp or a VM environment if you prefer to run Windows.

Another option to consider are anti-glare/anti-reflective screen protectors. If you were already considering getting a screen protector or privacy screen for your laptop, consider getting one that's anti-glare as well.

Answer 3

The options in this category are limited. I am looking for the exact same thing...a 16:10 laptop with an antiglare screen and a discrete graphics card.

There is a version of the MacBook Pro 15" that had a 1440x900 screen and an antiglare option. As of this writing, it is $1,829 refurbished from the Apple Store. A bit out of my price range, unfortunately. Also, the newer models will be higher resolution than that.

The Dell Vostro 1720 (now discontinued I believe) has an option for a 1440x900 antiglare screen and can be purchased from the Dell Outlet store for approximately $1,000. It has an option for a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS. The case itself is shiny and prone to fingerprints which I didn't like.

The Dell Latitude E6410 has options for 1440x900 (WXGA+) or 1280x800 (WXGA), both antiglare, and has NVS3100M 512MB video.

You might have better luck if you Google the screen size. 16:10 is 1440x900, 1280x800, 1680x1050. Be wary of companies using the names WXGA/WXGA+ in the description but it actually being a 16:9 size.

Also look online for a graphic called "Vector Video Standards" which is a useful way to perceive graphic size differences.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

ThinkPads, apart from the cheap ones that Lenovo has recently introduced (SL-Series, Edge series, etc) do not have matt screens. I am a big fan of the X-series ultraportables myself, but there is the T-series for thin full size laptops.

However, I do think that any 4:3 screen ratio ThinkPads are available anymore. Widescreens are actually very useful, as you can have two windows side by side with a WSXGA+ (1440x900) screen.

I tend to be resistant to changes like that, but I am converted. Try it.

Answer 5

Since I posted my original message I have purchased the Dell 3700, and despite my reservations about the 16:9 ratio I am now used to it (the laptop is the 'extended' part of my extended desktop, so it wasn't crucial anyway).

It was definitely worth the extra money for matte - I'm so glad I didn't go for the glossy version.

Regards, Alan

Answer 6

cool nice! i was thinking of a dell vostro myself for the very same reason of the matte screen. i would prefer other laptops which can house 2 hard drives for multimedia use but they are much heavier and almost always have glossy screens.

how are you finding the vostro? weight wise and is the build quality good?