Looking for a laptop: How important is the screen with regards to matte/glossy?

[7ZUSTY]

I am looking for a laptop since my desktop is not very practical for obvious reasons. It seems that most laptops have glossy screens these days. Is there any advice anyone can give on this since I was under the impression a glossy screen might obstruct the view of what's on screen in some venues? I have seen a few good laptops with glossy finish, but I'm having second thoughts before parting with the cash.

[Ed Paris]

i djed in a lot of different clubs and never had any kind of problems with my glossy screen. i´d say it´s safe to get one

[MrPopinjay]

While I don't believe it would cause any real problems a glossy screen just isn't as enjoyable to use as a matte screen in the majority of situations. Well worth getting matte if you can.

[Scaper7]

Have to agree about matte screens. Much easier on the eye. I don't get the fashion of glossy screens ... just adds unwanted reflections and fingerprints. I'd pay extra for matte if I had to.

[mostapha]

If I had a choice, I'd get matte in a fucking heartbeat. glossy screens suck, and statistics show that users prefer matte screens.

Unfortunately, apple's marketing skewed the purchasing statistics. The only matte screens they had available (when they last had them available) were on the 15"+ Macbook Pros. The Macbooks only had glossy screens, and they cost a lot less. When the Macbook became one of the best selling laptops on the market at the time, it skewed the results so badly that everyone thought that despite users expressing a preference for matte, that glossy screens sold better.

So, uhh……if you're on Apple, you don't have a choice. And I think OS X is worth dealing with screens I don't like. But if I were still on PCs (or when I get a crappy linux/pc netbook to carry around all the time) there would be no fucking way in hell I'd get a glossy screen if I had a choice. Glossy screens just plain look worse. They fatigue your eyes faster, screw with contrast, and can't make real black. They're less precise with colors and anti-aliasing. Text looks worse. And because of how dark I have to run them to keep my eyes from hurting, it doesn't make anything close to white either.

There's nothing good about them.

My calibrated matte 21" screen at home is a dream. Unfortunately, I drank the Apple kool aid and don't have a choice in the matter.

[binary]

My vote for matte as well, do it right.

[7ZUSTY]

I agree. It is frustrating to walk into your local electrical store to find that virtually all the laptops have glossy screens. It just makes it a whole lot harder to choose a good laptop that will cope with Traktor and Ableton on a budget. If you guy have any suggestions, excluding apple since I'm on a budget and to avoid a thread from getting heated. Before I offend any apple users I have no doubt that I will probably get one in the future, just not now - and I need a laptop ASAP, hence the requirement for a budget laptop in the meantime.

[7ZUSTY]

my budget is roughly 500 quid tops. i am looking for a 15"6 matte screen, good battery performance, good keyboard. not sure if there is a massive difference between i3 and i5 in terms of DJ/production. i might be able to scrape an i5, but i imagine most laptops in that range will be i3 with about 4gb ram. i have also been looking at dell and toshiba, and noticed that some people had problems running some software on the toshiba's (??).

[MaxOne]

I got a brand new MBP with a high res matte screen. I got a refurb so saved a bit of coin on it.

I despise glossy screens personally but it's obviously not that big a deal for most peeps...

[Fango Jett]

If you can keep your screen clear i would go for a glossy one, if not choose the matte screen. If a glossy screen is dirty, you won't like that