14.1 inch versus 15.4 inch + Analogue versus DVI

[Visuals]

Hi all

The Toshiba Tecra M10 has got very good specs, but the screen size is only 14.1 inch, and comes with analogue graphic card connection. http://www.geekwithlaptop.com/toshiba-notebook-laptop-tecra-m10-a10-review-and-specs/

The Macbook Pro comes with 15.4 inch, and DVI graphic card connection.

My questions are:

1. Does the difference between 14.1 inch and 15.4 inch make a significant difference?

2. When connecting to an external monitor, does the difference between analogue and DVI connection affect output quality significantly. (assuming I use analogue cable directly, not via conversion adaptor).

The price difference is very significant, and the Mac cost a lot more compared to the Toshiba. Is it worth paying so much more just for a little wider screen, and the DVI connection?

(I am not considering the Tecra A10 model, because it is not offered to students at special price.)


Your sincere advise are welcomed.

 

[luntut]

If you are displaying 1080p computer resolution (1920 x 1080 progressive at 60 Hz) on a 52 inch external monitor, or a large screen projector, yes. DVI (which is digital) is definitely better. I have seen the difference between 200inch projector digital projection and analog projection. its not a lot, but when it comes to fine text rendering, you will be very thankful that you are on digital. its much better.

If you are just displaying on a 32 inch LCD display, with a "HD ready" feature, its most probably only 1366 x 768 resolution only, and there is not quite a point to get a DVI connector. you wun be able to see the difference if you are most probably gonna use it to play movies big screen. For untrained eyes, you wun be able to see the difference. You need to look at the right places for the right things to see the differences. Takes me a while to do so on a 32inch display. Any smaller display, no point getting DVI.

To answer your questions directly, if you cannot interpret what I hve just said above,

1. 14.1inch and 15.4 inch. its not just you see liao more shiok. when you wanna bring that laptop around, its damn inconvenient. To me, 14.1 inch is just right. 15.4 inch is too big. even the keyboard looks weird. too much empty space to the left and right. i like slick looking ones.

2. Ask yourself, how big is your monitor. What are the things you want to display on the big screen. I have absolutely no problems displaying font 8 images and words on a projector using an Analog connector (VGA connector, or 15 HD). Like I have said, most untrained eyes cannot see the difference. And DVI no longer the next big thing. HDMI is. and thats for just the digital world. for the analog world, VGA is still the way to go. For a long long way to go. And sometimes, you just run into irritating like hell problems with EDID, if you are using DVI.

 

[chanxj]

The new mbp are using ddr3 rams and has dual graphic card(1 integrated, 1 extra) while the toshiba uses ddr2 and single graphic card. Futhermore, the new manufacturing method of the mbp separates them into two different classes. my macbook which is 13" is lighter than my 12" acer btw. Weight is a big consideration when choosing a laptop which u bring around. There are many factors which attributes to the difference in pricing

 

[Shin Howard]

IMO, actually I'll prefer the 15" MBP, cause you are actually able to see more pixels. Will be good for designing people or for those who does a lot of picture editing.
If you use a Mac you'll see the colors are more vibrant & acurate than normal notebooks.
The operating system are also more stable & the photo editing functions are easily & faster to use. While if you really need windows, you can even partition the HD for an windows XP platform.

 

[zhuangzhou]

I use a MacBook Pro too (the one just before this unibody with glossy screen came out).. Indeed, I find that the MacBook Pro screen seems to be more accurate in colour than most other laptop display screens.. It has the things that do matter in my opinion.. the ergonomics of it is somewhat better than most other laptops, such as its keyboard and its gigantic trackpad.. Its sound system is much better too .. at least much more audible that those small speakers that you have on certain laptop models...

However, the essential question between this Toshiba versus MBP isn't simply the specifications of the laptop .. The key is in the type of software and operating system. For me, I have always felt that the Mac is meant for graphics design work .. with its rather uncluttered desktop space, and the Expose function and stuff like that. It suits graphic design/ publishing workflow very well.. somewhat responds the same way your mind would (intuitive) in that sense.

That said, since you are a student, you may want to note that the MBP doesn't run certain programmes (particularly if you are in Science).. and so you might have to install a copy of windows on the MBP to enable access to such programmes. In addition, don't buy the glossy screen MacBook Pro if you want some better and more accurate screen.

 

[glennyong]

I use a MacBook Pro too (the one just before this unibody with glossy screen came out).. Indeed, I find that the MacBook Pro screen seems to be more accurate in colour than most other laptop display screens.. It has the things that do matter in my opinion.. the ergonomics of it is somewhat better than most other laptops, such as its keyboard and its gigantic trackpad.. Its sound system is much better too .. at least much more audible that those small speakers that you have on certain laptop models...

However, the essential question between this Toshiba versus MBP isn't simply the specifications of the laptop .. The key is in the type of software and operating system. For me, I have always felt that the Mac is meant for graphics design work .. with its rather uncluttered desktop space, and the Expose function and stuff like that. It suits graphic design/ publishing workflow very well.. somewhat responds the same way your mind would (intuitive) in that sense.

That said, since you are a student, you may want to note that the MBP doesn't run certain programmes (particularly if you are in Science).. and so you might have to install a copy of windows on the MBP to enable access to such programmes. In addition, don't buy the glossy screen MacBook Pro if you want some better and more accurate screen.

windows run natively on the mac. if i am not wrong, windows on a mbp will not perform at 100% of the mbp's specs ? i not too sure. correct me if i am wrng.

price and all. is a good point to consider. colours and all. can be calibrated. not a very big issue.

i am a mac user for a few years now. from the old ibook till the imac and now my imac and my mbp....

screen colors varies for mac u know. hahahahaa... so also ended up calibrating.

HP laptops are good too. take a look at them. as for colours.. calibrate lor..

i dun work for acer.. but i think this laptop is really good.

http://www.acer.com.sg/products/aspire6920G/

i had a short time of 2 weeks using this laptop for some graphic work. 2d and 3d work. and i must say. pretty impressed with the power packed into this piece of walking desktop. :bsmilie:

 

[chanxj]

no la, if u installl via bootcamp u should not see performace decrease. In fact, many have found macs to be the most stable in running windows

 

[zhuangzhou]

haha yah.. looking at mac products.. screen colour for me goes in this order - ACD, iMac, MBP, MB haha.. the thing about windows, whether you run it on parallel or natively through boot camp is that it's fast.. but it takes up quite a fair bit of extra space... Windows on Mac is sadly better than Windows on certain non-Mac computers.. afterall, the specs are there..
the key idea is why you are after the Mac.. (i.e. what the Mac can do for you that a Windows can't)

 

[Prince]

Is MBP's lcd calibrated?

I know that the Cinema display is actually manually factory-calibrated.

Im a 15" MBP user too!

 

[Visuals]

If I’m not wrong, the 14.1 inch Toshiba has 1440 x 900 resolution and the new MBP 15.4 inch Macbook Pro has 1440 x 900 native resolution as well. Why does SHIN HOWARD says we can see more pixels in the Macbook Pro? Read here: http://www.apple.com/sg/macbookpro/specs.html


Can we actually see a significant speed difference between DDR 2 and DDR 3 RAM?

Can users see a difference between 2.4 Ghz, 2.5 Ghz, 2.6….. How does these 0.1 difference matter to end users?

How much Hard Disk space is required for a Windows partition on a Macbook Pro? Do you think getting a model with 200G HD is sufficient?

By the way, is it necessary to create a Scratch Disk Partition on a Macbook Pro for Photoshop? Adobe does recommend using a scratch disk.
- Just imagine, creating a partition for scratch disk, a partition for Windows, a partition for Leopard OS and other programs, and a partition for file storage - is this a sound approach? (all on a single hard disk :sweat

I have heard someone mention that it's not necessary to create partitions on Mac, is this a myth or truth? That guy says you're taking a risk if you partition the disk on a Mac. (He actually works in a shop selling Mac) Sounds ridiculous to me

 

[chanxj]

u won't see much of a difference between a 2.4 and 2.5 of course neither ddr 2 or ddr3 for normal cases. But when u go into system intensive things like video rendering, 0.1 still counts alot towards it. I recommend changing the hdd to a 7200 rpm one though as now a days, the hdd is a bottleneck. Ad what are u talking abt regarding the partitioning of a disk on a mac? I don't see any risk involved if u use any native apple tools. Just partition it properly when u just buy lorz. My macbook has a 320gb hdd btw