Glossy screen vs Matte screen

KingL

I'm looking at buying a netbook and have noticed here that several people who have ended up with a glossy-screened machine seem to be happy about everything except the screen.

I just bumped into this forum article where someone has experimented with a stick on thingy which turns gloss to matte. It's 15USD. ("Anti-Glare Matte Screen Protectors attach directly to the surface of your LCD screen using a silicone coating and the anti-glare matte finish reduces glare and reflections caused by natural and artificial lighting"). It seems that they do ship internationally (there are some complaints about the shipping charges for domestic US delivery, but it doesn't detail the international shipping charges on the site).

Does anyone have experience with this product or something similar. What you think ?

kwikbreaks

Putting screen protectors on even small screens such as a DS is a pig of a job and often you get annoying bubbles that are the devils own job to lose. I'd say fitting a screen overlay on a laptop is going to be a frustrating job.

Whether or not a shiny screen will be a problem depends on the lighting where you intend to use it and by their nature netbooks get used in a variety of places so my advice would be avoid a shiny screened one.

fiddiwebb

KingL

What netbook are you buying?

The one I have, Samsung NC10 is a matte screen, not sure about the rest of the Samsung models so double check.

KingL

Yer, I think the NC110 is glossy. NC10 is looking favourite at the mo.

fiddiwebb

If you are thinking of going for a samsung check out the dedicated samsung netbook forum here which has lots of usefull info.

http://www.sammynetbook.com/news.php

Leopard

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Putting screen protectors on even small screens such as a DS is a pig of a job and often you get annoying bubbles that are the devils own job to lose. I'd say fitting a screen overlay on a laptop is going to be a frustrating job.

Whether or not a shiny screen will be a problem depends on the lighting where you intend to use it and by their nature netbooks get used in a variety of places so my advice would be avoid a shiny screened one.

From personal experience (albeit not of the specific product linked), I agree wholeheartedly with every word that kiwibreaks has written above.

Even applying stick-on film to something as small as the screen of a camera or a mobile 'phone is an immensely tricky job to do properly: it's virtually impossible not to end up with tiny bubbles of air that are infuriating. I'm neither cack-handed nor incompetent but I've always ended-up pulling them off and throwing them away after a few days.

An extremely thin piece of rigid plastic that stands off from the screen by a millimetre or so but still permits the lid of the laptop or netbook to be shut might offer a solution.

Some people do actually like glossy screens - and I'm happy for them if they prefer them - but the proportion of people who hate them is quite significant. Apple tried standardising glossy screens on its 15" laptops last year but such was the hostility this provoked - manifesting itself in lost sales - that recently it has relented and restored the matte ("anti-glare") option.

(Infuriatingly, Apple only did this after it had removed an ExpressCard port from the specification of its 15" laptop, making it impossible now to buy a new or refurbished 15" Apple laptop with a matte screen and an ExpressCard port :mad: . But that's another matter.)

The screen on the Samsung NC10 is less glossy than the mirror-like thing Samsung has put on the NC110 but it is still more reflective than the comfortably anti-glare one that MSi put on the 10" Wind (and the Advent 4211). Stating this evokes howls of protest, here, from Samsung-lovers but see for yourself just how reflective is the display on an NC10. (Unless the person who posted it doesn't know which Samsung netbook they've actually got!)

Marty999

I have seen reports of the NC10 having either a glossy screen, or a matt one. It appears they do both? I was looking at buying one for my wife but settled for a Dell Mini 10v instead as it was cheaper. This has a glossy screen which would annoy me but she doesn't seem to mind. I think the glossy screens are more suited for people who watch DVDs on their computers - not really applicable for a netbook of course!

fiddiwebb

Stating this evokes howls of protest, here, from Samsung-lovers but see for yourself just how reflective is the display on an NC10

Erm.....you might find that NC10 still has it's protective plastic film used in the packaging/shipping on the screen and I can assure you that when you remove the protective plastic film the NC10 has an very matte screen!

I've got one so should know! howl....howl...howl....:rolleyes: