OMG, there used to be 15:10 laptops!

[pianowizard]

I was Googling around for info about early Apple laptops and came across this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G4.

I had never heard of these 15:10 resolutions before! 1152x768, 1280x854, and 1440x960! Too bad this aspect ratio no longer exists. Imagine a laptop with 1920x1280!

[fasteez]

I guess audio/video editing felt easy on those

reminds me of the old sgi (or maybe intergraph) 16:10 lcd screen

[dr_st]

Imagine a laptop with 1920x1280!

I can imagine the eye doctor bills.

[pianowizard]

I can imagine the eye doctor bills.

If 1920x1280 were on the 15.2" screens Apple used, then the pixel density would be 151.81 DPI and that's just a little higher than 1920x1200 on 15.4" (147.02 DPI). On a 17" screen, 1920x1280 would be quite comfortable to view, at 135.74 DPI.

[mediasponge]

The 1600x1200 on my A31p was hard enough to read. Nobody in my house uses it at that resolution. I switch to that just long enough to go, "Wow!" and switch it back.

[Marin85]

On a 17" screen, 1920x1280 would be quite comfortable to view, at 135.74 DPI.

IMHO, that would be the perfect resolution. You get best from both worlds: wide enough while minimizing vertical scroll, more real estate and easier on eyes than the 15.4'' 1920x1200.

[ThinkRob]

I can imagine the eye doctor bills.

I can imagine a modern operating system that allows for resolution-independent fonts.

[dr_st]

Indeed, but then what do you gain? The fonts will be bigger, it means that overall you will have the same workspace are for your texts. So the only thing you really gain is sharpness. Meh.

[ThinkRob]

Indeed, but then what do you gain? The fonts will be bigger, it means that overall you will have the same workspace are for your texts. So the only thing you really gain is sharpness. Meh.

You're right. Aside from improved clarity of text, smoother fonts (due to subpixel antialiasing being even more effective), and crisper graphics, there really isn't much reason to get a high-res screen.

[Temetka]

I used to own high end versions of both the Titanium and the Aluminum Powerbooks. I had the 1GHz Ti and the 1.67GHz Albook.

Man I loved those machines to death. They handled every chore I ever gave them with aplomb.

I still say it to this day and and it still holds true. If I can't have a Thinkpad then I will have a powerbook. If I can have neither, then I will go without. Those are the only 2 series of laptops I recommend to people. Ok well I also recommend the Panasonic Toughbooks, but those are mainly for my industrial clients.

I loved the screens on my powerbooks and one day I will own either a wide screen MBP or a wide screen Thinkpad.

Either you can bet it will be running *NIX.

EDIT: Engrish.

[ThinkRob]

The TiBook was great, save for two flaws (cracking bezel/case and horrible wireless reception). It was one of my favorite machines for quite some time.

[pianowizard]

The 15.2" Powerbook was the first-ever widescreen laptop. I remember that the first time I saw one I thought "Holy cow, that's frigging wide!" Of course, all of today's 16:9 and 16:10 laptops are even wider, except for a few Panasonic Toughbooks that are still 4:3.

Aside from improved clarity of text, smoother fonts (due to subpixel antialiasing being even more effective), and crisper graphics, there really isn't much reason to get a high-res screen.

To me, these benefits are small and are outweighed by the cons: high-res screens are heavier, consume more power, and cost more. IMO, high-res screens are worthwhile only if we don't scale things up, so that we can maximize the real estate.

[pianowizard]

Imagine a laptop with 1920x1280!

I recently started looking for a replacement for my HP Touchpad tablet, which I find too heavy (1.60 lbs) and its 1024x768 resolution is simply too low for viewing journal articles with small text. So I spent half a day comparing tablets and came across the new Barnes and Noble Nook HD+, which actually has 9" 1920x1280! It beats the Amazon Kindle Fire HD in every way (price, resolution, weight, footprint dimensions). The Google Nexus 10 has 2560x1600 but is much more expensive and is less portable.

For viewing journal articles in full-screen portrait mode, 4:3 is the best aspect ratio but 15:10 is pretty good too, better than 16:10 or 16:9.

[IT_Sean]

I used to have one of those. A 17" model, to be specific. It was a fantastic machine, but i stopped using it after i got my thinkpad. I passed it onto my cousin, who is giving it a loving home.

[pianowizard]

I am now a proud owner of a 15:10 PowerBook G4! Got it last week through eBay. It's the very last 15.2" model released in October 2005, with 1440x960 resolution. It was quite cheap ($53 shipped) although I had to spend another $9 to get an AC adapter. The original hard drive was only 80GB and so I swapped it out for a 320 gigger. I also increased the RAM from 512MB to 1.5GB.

Now I own laptops with these aspect ratios:

5:4 (Dell Inspiron 7500)
4:3 (Panasonic Toughbook CF-Y7)
15:10 (Apple PowerBook G4 15")
16:10 (Gateway NX860X and Dell Latitude D810)
16:9 (Sony VPCX113KG)

The only remaining aspect ratio to collect is the Toshiba U845W's 21:9!

[Temetka]

I used to own high end versions of both the Titanium and the Aluminum Powerbooks. I had the 1GHz Ti and the 1.67GHz Albook.

Man I loved those machines to death. They handled every chore I ever gave them with aplomb.

I still say it to this day and and it still holds true. If I can't have a Thinkpad then I will have a powerbook. If I can have neither, then I will go without. Those are the only 2 series of laptops I recommend to people. Ok well I also recommend the Panasonic Toughbooks, but those are mainly for my industrial clients.

I loved the screens on my powerbooks and one day I will own either a wide screen MBP or a wide screen Thinkpad.

Either you can bet it will be running *NIX.

EDIT: Engrish.

When I orignally posted that, it was how I felt at the time. However my feelings have changed. I still love classic Thinkpads. I love to read about their history, read user stories, and even tinker with them. But after many years in Thinkpad land and feeling all smug about it, I really wanted a widescreen laptop again. I loved my 4:3 T61 that I had, it was fast, thin and powerful enough to handle my day to day chores. But the screen was dimming and the Core2Duo was beginning to slow me down. So I started looking around for a Thinkpad that would meet my requirements for speed, looks (yes, looks matter to me), longevity and being upgradeable. I was all ready to settle on a T500 until I used one my client owned that he had sent to us for service. Even with 8GB of RAM and a fresh reload of the OS it didn't feel right to me. So I decided to look at the W series.

But then fate intervened in the form of a Dell Latitude E6500 and a Precision M4500. I instantly fell in love and haven't looked back. My M4500 that I have had for 2 weeks now is a true mobile workstation class machine. It's fast, it's powerful, it's built like a tank, it's sexy and it has a back lit keyboard. Heaven. I also own the E6500 which I love as well, but when faced with the choice of a C2D or an i5, I will pick the i5 any day of the week.

So let me edit the statement I made above. If I can't have a workstation class computer, then I will cry. Once you get used to the ram power of a machine designed for work and not for play, you (I) can't go back. I expect many years out of this machine. If it starts to feel slow I can slap in an i7 CPU to from 2 dual core 4 with HT to quad core 8 with HT. I simply can't say enough about this machine.