I had a question (more of an "annoyance") bugging me that maybe someone
can help me answer. Why do widescreen laptops ship with screen
resolutions such as 800x600 or any resolution that doesn't meet the
left/right and top/bottom ratio of 1.6 (Math ---> 800/600=1.3 good for
a 4:3 display) Why not just ship the laptop, using my previous example,
with a resolution of 960x600 (960/600=1.6). This way visually impaired
folks can utilize the entire screen, yet maintain their desired
resolution (without the dead space "bars" when you force the graphics
card to maintain the aspect ratio or tweak the os). Thanks

tomwesnick******.com wrote:
> I had a question (more of an "annoyance") bugging me that maybe someone
> can help me answer. Why do widescreen laptops ship with screen
> resolutions such as 800x600 or any resolution that doesn't meet the
> left/right and top/bottom ratio of 1.6 (Math ---> 800/600=1.3 good for

Laptops are designed and intended to operate at the screen physical
resolution, which will be say 1280x800 for a WXGA unit.

Other resolutions are made available solely in order to allow operation
with software that NEEDS a 4:3 (or similar) aspect ratio, and for the
situation where you have an external 4:3 or 5:4 monitor connected and
want to mirror external display contents on the internal LCD.

In other words, the intended use patterns do not include running the
internal LCD at an unusual nonstandard resolution.

The real question is - why the hell do laptop manufacturers all make
wide short screens when most content (other than movies) is tall and
narrow? I wish someone made the exact opposite of a widescreen laptop -
i.e. a tall, thin machine with approximately the same aspect ratio as
an A4 or letter page.

Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
loathe.

zwsdotcom******.com wrote:
..
>
> The real question is - why the hell do laptop manufacturers all make
> wide short screens when most content (other than movies) is tall and
> narrow? I wish someone made the exact opposite of a widescreen laptop -
> i.e. a tall, thin machine with approximately the same aspect ratio as
> an A4 or letter page.
>
> Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
> loathe.

There is more demand for those things that you loathe....

> zwsdotcom******.com wrote:
> .
>>
>> The real question is - why the hell do laptop manufacturers all make
>> wide short screens when most content (other than movies) is tall and
>> narrow? I wish someone made the exact opposite of a widescreen laptop -
>> i.e. a tall, thin machine with approximately the same aspect ratio as
>> an A4 or letter page.
>>
>> Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
>> loathe.

And how would you fit a keyboard on a laptop that opened up that way?

Some desktop LCD displays can be rotatated for a vertical alignment. Tablet
PCs can rotate the display orientation as well.

Agreed, the shiny displays are not particularly good for people that
actually work on their laptop.

No one forces you to use the trackpad - plug in a rodent and away you go.
Admitedly, in some instances the laptop maker does not give you an easy way
to disable the trackpad, especially if it's not a Synaptics model. (My 6
year old Omnibook XE3 has a button above the trakpad to disable it at will -
why do so many good ideas fall off the face of the earth?)

Val

Val wrote:

> >> Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
> >> loathe.
>
> And how would you fit a keyboard on a laptop that opened up that way?

Take a look at the short measurement of a 17" widescreen LCD. Compare
it to the width of a "thin'n'light" style notebook keyboard. Seems
eminently possible.

> No one forces you to use the trackpad - plug in a rodent and away you go.

That doesn't help me when I'm using the machine portable, though. I
like the TrackPoint-style device, particularly the last generation,
which was tappable. Trackpads wear poorly and get very confused by damp
hands.

> to disable the trackpad, especially if it's not a Synaptics model. (My 6
> year old Omnibook XE3 has a button above the trakpad to disable it at will -
> why do so many good ideas fall off the face of the earth?)

My younger (~2 years) ZE4805US has the same thing. And a blue LED
indicating when it's on :)

Val wrote:

> >> Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
> >> loathe.
>
> And how would you fit a keyboard on a laptop that opened up that way?

PS: Even standard 4:3 is better than widescreen. But it is fading away
because of the way individual panels fit onto a standard sheet of
glass...

<zwsdotcom******.com> wrote in message
news:1165371820.758992.167290@l12g2000cwl.googlegr oups.com...
> The real question is - why the hell do laptop manufacturers all make
> wide short screens when most content (other than movies) is tall and
> narrow?

Because:

1) Movies are widescreen
2) A widescreen works well for placing two documents side by side.

Both of these are very popular "usage patterns," as you say.

> I wish someone made the exact opposite of a widescreen laptop -
> i.e. a tall, thin machine with approximately the same aspect ratio as
> an A4 or letter page.

To my knowledge, most tablet PCs will let you use the screen in such an
orientation (portrait mode).

---Joel Kolstad

<zwsdotcom******.com> wrote in message
news:1165371820.758992.167290@l12g2000cwl.googlegr oups.com...

>
> Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
> loathe


And you are definitely in the minority. Most people want the wide screen
for watching movies, hence the wide format. Putting any kind of anti-glare
or anti-reflective technology on a screen involves creating a surface that
scatters light (thus not a glossy screen); problem is that a non-glossy
screen also scatters the light transmitted through it, so it degrades the
quality of the image on the screen. That is why I will always take a glossy
screen over a non-glossy one.

Trackpads are handy and functional. External mice use power from the USB
port, shortening battery life.

Thank goodness there are not many like you....otherwise we would not have
some of the beautiful notebook screens we have now.

Honu

Hertz_Donut wrote:
>
> <zwsdotcom******.com> wrote in message
> news:1165371820.758992.167290@l12g2000cwl.googlegr oups.com...
>
> >
> > Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
> > loathe
>
> And you are definitely in the minority. Most people want the wide screen
> for watching movies, hence the wide format. Putting any kind of anti-glare
> or anti-reflective technology on a screen involves creating a surface that
> scatters light (thus not a glossy screen); problem is that a non-glossy
> screen also scatters the light transmitted through it, so it degrades the
> quality of the image on the screen. That is why I will always take a glossy
> screen over a non-glossy one.
>
> Trackpads are handy and functional. External mice use power from the USB
> port, shortening battery life.
>
> Thank goodness there are not many like you....otherwise we would not have
> some of the beautiful notebook screens we have now.

The minority? I'd love to see cites.

In my opinion, and that's all it is, there are far more laptop users that
are *not* using their laptops primarily for watching DVDs.

Notan

Hertz_Donut wrote:
> <zwsdotcom******.com> wrote in message
> news:1165371820.758992.167290@l12g2000cwl.googlegr oups.com...
>
> >
> > Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
> > loathe
>
>
> And you are definitely in the minority. Most people want the wide screen
> for watching movies, hence the wide format. Putting any kind of anti-glare

Hardly. Take a quick look around that big bad Internet. The _MINORITY_
of people prefer glossy screens. They are horrible to use in any kind
of nondiffuse (i.e. all real-world) ambient light. A few very vocal
people say they prefer glossy. I'm sure it's just the novelty.

Trackpads I'd say it's a 50/50 split on who prefers what. People who
spend significant time typing prefer non-trackpad solutions.

Widescreens, you are probably right - people seem to want them for some
reason. But the real reason we are gtting wide screens is because they
fit standard glass sizes better (that is to say, cheaper), meaning six
complete widescreen LCDs out of one pane of glass instead of four 4:3
LCDs.

> Trackpads are handy and functional. External mice use power from the USB
> port, shortening battery life.

I don't want an external mouse. I want the trackpoint eraser-tip style
controller. It keeps your hands on the home keys, where they belong.

> Thank goodness there are not many like you....otherwise we would not have
> some of the beautiful notebook screens we have now.

Look around at the real world before opening that mouth of yours.

"Hertz_Donut" <nowhere@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:epSdneUlK6vzgerYnZ2dnUVZ_v2nnZ2d@hawaiiantel. net
> ...
> Trackpads are handy and functional. External mice use power from the
> USB port, shortening battery life...

What? Mice only use less than 100ma. That probably won't effect the
battery run time more than say 5 minutes. That is nothing in the long
run.Wait lets see. My laptop has an 4800ah battery and it runs for about
2.5 hours. Running 100ma from this same battery would run the mouse for
48 hours! This is nothing to worry about Honu!

--
Bill

BillW50 wrote:

>
> What? Mice only use less than 100ma. That probably won't effect the
> battery run time more than say 5 minutes. That is nothing in the long
> run.Wait lets see. My laptop has an 4800ah battery and it runs for about
> 2.5 hours. Running 100ma from this same battery would run the mouse for
> 48 hours! This is nothing to worry about Honu!
>
And what will you do with a live mouse and CPU, Screen, Drives all
turned off. Strangle your neighbour?

Ian Singer

--


================================================== =======================
See my homepage at http://www.iansinger.com
hosted on http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=10623894
All genealogy is stored in TMG from http://www.whollygenes.com
Charts and searching using TNG from http://www.tngsitebuilding.com
I am near Toronto Canada, can I tell where you are from your reply?
================================================== =======================

Okay Thanks. I guess I'll try tweaking the display so that I can see it
better.

"Ian Singer" <iansinger@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:4tot0eF14r29qU1@mid.individual.net
> BillW50 wrote:
>
>>
>> What? Mice only use less than 100ma. That probably won't effect the
>> battery run time more than say 5 minutes. That is nothing in the long
>> run.Wait lets see. My laptop has an 4800ah battery and it runs for
>> about 2.5 hours. Running 100ma from this same battery would run the
>> mouse
>> for 48 hours! This is nothing to worry about Honu!
>>
> And what will you do with a live mouse and CPU, Screen, Drives all
> turned off. Strangle your neighbour?

No Ian... getting rid of your mice isn't the way to get more battery
time. People probably have tried dying and it doesn't do any good. Look
elsewhere like dimming your display. That works much better. ;)

--
Bill

Hertz_Donut wrote:
> <zwsdotcom******.com> wrote in message
> news:1165371820.758992.167290@l12g2000cwl.googlegr oups.com...
>
>> Wide screens, shiny unreadable screens and trackpads are three fads I
>> loathe
>
>
> And you are definitely in the minority. Most people want the wide screen
> for watching movies, hence the wide format. Putting any kind of anti-glare
> or anti-reflective technology on a screen involves creating a surface that
> scatters light (thus not a glossy screen); problem is that a non-glossy
> screen also scatters the light transmitted through it, so it degrades the
> quality of the image on the screen. That is why I will always take a glossy
> screen over a non-glossy one.
>
> Trackpads are handy and functional. External mice use power from the USB
> port, shortening battery life.
>
> Thank goodness there are not many like you....otherwise we would not have
> some of the beautiful notebook screens we have now.
>
> Honu
>
>
>
Honu,

I would not be so affirmative, one way or the other. I believe that
those shiny displays do show better in a store because of the glitz and
they give you the illusion of an enhanced contrast as some cheap
sunglasses do ... I really believe manufacturers use this type of
display because it gives an illusion of quality for the same price ...
or less probably! But, take the time to look at a reasonably good
desktop flat panel display (I have never seen any with this glaring
aspect) and to compare what you see to a laptop screen with the kind of
display you like. Compare them with text, with pictures and with movies.
Look from an angle also.

Then, you will have a more informed opinion on the subject and you will
wonder why, if this technology is any better, it is not used for desktop
displays ...

As for trackpads I suppose you mean Trackpoint ... They are most popular
with former business users who typically started computing when
touchpads did not yet exist and Thinkpads made them popular. I am under
the impression that younger users would not bother with trackpoints. I
removed the red "thing" from my Thinkpad so I do not have it looking at
me all the time, but it is a matter of habit.

Regards

--
John Doue