[X4U] Slightly Off Topic Question - Screen Resolution

[Nick Scalise]

On Sep 11, 2005, at 1:51 PM, eleventhvolume wrote:

> I'm wondering if anybody can help me with this one. I've been a Mac  
> user for
> more than a decade. My job currently provides me with a 15"  
> Powerbook with
> which I'm very happy. For my sins I've also just been issued with a  
> fairly
> high-end Dell portable behemoth with a screen resolution of  
> something like
> 1920 x 1200 (I can't remember the exact dimensions, but it's a Dell
> Precision with the high spec).
>
> On booting the Dell up for the first time, I commented  
> disparagingly to my
> boss about the way the screen makes everything - particularly web  
> pages -
> look tiny, to which he took great exception. I think he's blessed with
> better eyesight than me, but he also owns the 17" Powerbook which  
> has a
> somewhat lower resolution than the Dell. I commented that I  
> believed that
> the lower Apple resolution was an active design decision rather  
> than being
> anything to do with money-saving. He argued in return that he was  
> sure that
> Apple would install a 1920x1200 screen if one was available.
>
> Is my boss right or can anybody point me to any evidence that Apple
> deliberately maintain a lower screen resolution than is possible for
> usability purposes? Thanks in advance for any help anybody can give.

Your boss's logic seems flawed. He says that apple would install a  
1900x1200 screen if one was available. Obviously, one is available  
because Dell is using one.

I think Apple rightly used a somewhat lower resolution screen on  
thier 17" PowerBook to maintain usability for the widest gamut of  
users. I have seen those 1900x1200 resolution on 17" screens also,  
and they can be dificult to view. Same goes for their 15" screens  
that use 1680x1050.

Generally Apple uses a 106 PPI resolution on their panels. It seems a  
good balance between usability and resolution

Just because one 'can' do something doesn't make that a good reason  
'to' do it.

Good luck,
--
Nick Scalise
nickscalise at cox.net