Netbooks With High-Res Displays– Are You Sure You Really Want One?
Image courtesy Liliputing
A prevalent sentiment often heard in discussions about the lowly netbook is the desire for a higher resolution display. For many, that measly 1024×600 display just doesn’t show enough on the screen at one time. The problem is that most netbooks are physically pretty darn small, and the little screens can get a bit strained when too much appears. I have used a lot of mobile devices with small screens, and I can tell you that using a small display with a high resolution screen can get tedious after a while.
Several netbook makers are offering high resolution displays as options for their products. These are typically 10-inch screens that display 1366×768, a very high resolution for such a small screen. Brad Linder of Liliputing has compared a couple of netbooks to demonstrate how much extra information appears on the higher resolution screen. He also admits that he has a problem using the high resolution display for extended periods, due to the small text on the 10-inch screen.
The first and foremost is that the text is so sharp that it’s hard for me to read from the netbook for more than 20 or 30 minutes without getting a headache. I’ve tried adjusting the dpi from 96 to 125 and that helps a bit, as does using large fonts and adjusting the zoom level in Firefox and other web browsers. But these changes are often inconsistent throughout the user interface and just result in making the experience of using the T1028X even more disorienting.
This affect is fairly common, so it’s a good idea to try a high-res netbook out if possible to make sure you can live with it. Be careful wishing for a higher resolution screen on your standard netbook; you just might get what you ask for.
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High resolution screens can take some getting used to when they are less than 10″. I got quite used to a small high res monitor on my P1610 but everyone else who ever saw it said they couldn’t use it.
Having said that, the dpi settings in Windows 7 are much more powerful than anything that XP (or even Vista) had to offer and should make this a non-issue on netbooks. Icons and other UI elements scale much better to the adjusted dpi and you can set a custom dpi quickly and easily. You don’t even have to restart your PC after changing the dpi any more, you just need to log off and back in again.
How old is brad?
I definitely prefer hi-rez, but if 10″ is too small for some people the 11.6″ netbooks are quite small also (at least the Acer is) as they make more efficient use of the bezel.
How old is brad??
I definitely prefer hi-rez, but if 10″ is too small for some people the 11.6″ netbooks are quite small also (at least the Acer is) as they make more efficient use of the bezel.
I’m having no trouble with hi-res on the 11.6″ acer and the overall dimensions are pretty close to many of the 10″ netbooks due to a smaller bezel. Also, this thing is incredibly thin compared to say the 8.9″ acers.
I have a Fujitsu u810 with a 4.5″ screen at 1024 X 600.
The 600 cuts off some of the programs I run and either requires scrolling or the program will simply not run because to the short 600 instead of at least 768.
At least with a higher res screen you have an option to reset the screen to a lower res, whereas a lower screen you cannot set to higher.
I’m waiting for a high res, active digitizer tablet PC…
Oops.
10″ high res, active digitizer screen tablet PC
A lot of noise here as usual on this subject.
Obviously in theory the higher the res the better. You can keep actual size constant and just have everything resolve more preciesly.
Unfortunately in some legacy OSes this doesn’t happen because adjusting the so-called dpi setting gives inconsistent results. XP for example is inconsistent.
However with modern OSes (Vista, Win 7) this is no problem except on some badly written minor applications. Browsers also often don’t respect the dpi setting (incorrectly), but you can fix this by adjusting the zoom setting. Basically setting a higher dpi at the OS level and a zoom for the browser if necessary is all you need to do.
Between Ctrl-+ in Safari and Win 7′s superior (to XP) DPI controls I find my Vaio P and Acer Aspire One 751 to be useable.
*Pauses for a moment, then goes back to filtering through Google Reader on the Fujitsu U2010′s 1280×800 5.6″ screen.
If you love low-resolution displays, you are in for a world of fun. Buy a QVGA phone and save. Downgrade from 1024 pixels to 800.
But personally… hi res, please. The higher the better. I’ll start reconsidering when we get 9-inch screens at 1920×1200 pixels… maybe.
Love my high-res hp 2140
looking forward to that res in a tablet/touch in 2010
as long a w are not rust into a Depression (OH MY!)
oops typo
w should be we
rust should be thrust
Happy (mobile) computing all! and Good Night