Opinion question

Question

So, I "took the plunge", and decided to buy my first mac. I decided on a Mac Book Pro. So I go to the apple store, and pick out the 15" MBP with the glossy screen. I take it to check out and it all looks good. They apply my $200 student discount, but they can't do the expedited checkout, because I have a miniature credit card. So they put me in the big line.
Finally, when it's my turn to check out, they guy is asking me some questions (he was ecstatic that I was a grad student in CS that decided to switch to Mac). Anyway, he stops checking me out and tells me to hold on a sec and returns from the back of the store with another box. It's a refresh. Exactly the same specs, except with the matte screen. So at first I'm ambivalent, because I've had many laptop issues with dead pixels before, and "refresh" scares me. After he re-re-re assures me that it's treated as a brand new product, and all return / warranty stuff applies, I decide to go for it. So instead of $2500, I pay $2000, $200 student discount, $300 refresh.
The laptop is in perfect condition, no dead pixels, no dents , no scratches. The question of opinion I have for you guys is the following. Do you think it's worth it to take the screen I like less to save the $300. I do like the glossy better, I think it's brighter and richer. On the other hand, it's not like I love glossy and hate matte. The matte screen is nice, and I don't at all dislike it. I know this is a very subjective question, but what do you guys think. Should I save my $$ and stick with the screen I like slightly less, or should I take it back and tell them that after thinking it over I want to pay the extra $ and go for the glossy. I have until Jan 7 to decide.
Thanks for your input,
Rob

Answer 1

I just bought a MBP last weekend. I looked at glossy, compared it to the matte, and bought the matte--and that is after reading many posts about the "grainy" effect of the matte screens. Here's what I think about that. Its all blown out of proportion. The MBP line has much brighter screens than any previous Mac laptops. So, you are going to see the matte overlay more than if it was dimmed a little bit. Dim the screen by maybe 20% and that "grainy" effect disappears. I also think the whole "grainy" thing is so "diffuse" an issue, no one really knows if there screen is a problem. A dead pixel is a dead pixel. Nothing subjective there. Banding at the bottom of the screen is banding. Not much subjectivity there (mine has it, but barely, and I don't really care). But "graininess?" I wonder how many people heard that, then looked at their mattes screen, and said to themselves, you know, now that you mention it.... I did this same thing to myself. Then I hooked up my MBP to my beautiful external 22" matte finish monitor, loaded two Pics in PS CS3, slid both around, and notices almost no difference--especially when I turned down the brightness on the MBP screen.
Now, having said all that, one of the main things I do on my Mac is digital photo editing. I would say I have a pretty picky bias against a bad screen (and have had a few--not on the MBP). This screen is so much better than the screens on my two previous iBooks, and on my son's PB 12" it isn't even funny, and that is despite having noticed that, if I wanted to think it was grainy, I could say it was. I think any matte finish LCD screen, with brightness turned way up, will end up looking grainy.
This reminds me of the argument that surfaces in D-SLRs, where camera companies have to balance good sharpening against noise. More sharp equals more noise. Less noise means softer shots. Apple decides to issue a brighter (and probably more expensive) monitor so its easier to see during the day, especially with a glossy screen competing with glare, the tradeoff being graininess at such bright levels. People notice the screens are much much brighter, but also more grainy. They take their MBPs to the genius bar, and so on. I for one am glad Apple gave me the choice: bright screen for office work during the day (who cares about graininess--I can see the screen more easily for Word, email, Safari), dimmer screen in my home office during the day and night (when detail matters, and I want the screen dimmer for more accurate color rendition, and easier to deal with when using Logic). Thanks Apple. Its about balance and choice.