Laptops with high pixel density displays?
January 4, 2013 4:24 PM Subscribe
What PC laptops today have high pixel density (similar to Apple's retina displays) IPS or PLS displays?
Newegg product search: laptops / resolutions 2880x1800 or 2560x1600
posted by glibhamdreck at 6:02 PM on January 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by glibhamdreck at 6:02 PM on January 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Sadly, I think the answer is none.
I put a 2048x1536 screen in my beloved Thinkpad R50p (2005ish vintage). The laptop was $200 (used, but loaded) years ago and the screen was $100 on ebay. I think the screens are still around. They are 15 inch.
The task is not for the faint-hearted, but I think it's the most pixels you can or could get on a PC laptop, ever. By today's standards, it's not particularly fast, but I wouldn't trade it for any other machine.
posted by fritley at 6:43 PM on January 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
I put a 2048x1536 screen in my beloved Thinkpad R50p (2005ish vintage). The laptop was $200 (used, but loaded) years ago and the screen was $100 on ebay. I think the screens are still around. They are 15 inch.
The task is not for the faint-hearted, but I think it's the most pixels you can or could get on a PC laptop, ever. By today's standards, it's not particularly fast, but I wouldn't trade it for any other machine.
posted by fritley at 6:43 PM on January 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Dell XPS 12 has a 12.5" display with 1920x1080 resolution, which works out to 176 ppi. It looks like retina on Apple laptops is usually 220ish. That's about the most pixel-dense display I've heard of on a factory PC laptop.
Part of the problem is that Windows doesn't scale up very well to take advantage of extra pixels, so instead of everything looking normal-sized and beautifully sharp, everything looks tiny. There might be a good reason to do that in some specialized applications, but it isn't ideal for the mass market.
posted by zjacreman at 7:44 PM on January 4, 2013
Part of the problem is that Windows doesn't scale up very well to take advantage of extra pixels, so instead of everything looking normal-sized and beautifully sharp, everything looks tiny. There might be a good reason to do that in some specialized applications, but it isn't ideal for the mass market.
posted by zjacreman at 7:44 PM on January 4, 2013
Part of the problem is that Windows doesn't scale up very well to take advantage of extra pixels, so instead of everything looking normal-sized and beautifully sharp, everything looks tiny.
Apple added the Retina (HiDPI) capability to OS X a year before they sold MacBooks with Retina displays. I wouldn't be surprised if it is still quite some time before PCs can duplicate the same functionality with interface elements doubling in resolution instead of just seeming tiny.
posted by stopgap at 8:23 PM on January 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Apple added the Retina (HiDPI) capability to OS X a year before they sold MacBooks with Retina displays. I wouldn't be surprised if it is still quite some time before PCs can duplicate the same functionality with interface elements doubling in resolution instead of just seeming tiny.
posted by stopgap at 8:23 PM on January 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
What PC laptops today have high pixel density (similar to Apple's retina displays) IPS or PLS displays?
If the goal is to run Windows (also known to some as equivalent to the term "PC"), you can do that on an Apple through Boot Camp.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:33 PM on January 4, 2013
If the goal is to run Windows (also known to some as equivalent to the term "PC"), you can do that on an Apple through Boot Camp.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:33 PM on January 4, 2013
Apple's retina concept is based around doubling the resolution of a display - and then allowing specially designed programs to access the full high resolution, while legacy applications see the screen at it's old lower resolution (with each virtual pixel actually represented by four retina pixels). For this reason, retina as a concept hinges on software support, not just hardware - which is why you shouldn't expect a truly retina-like display on any windows laptop in the very near future, and also why running windows on a retina macbook is likely to be disappointing (i'm sure you can search around the internet for people's experience - but I'm confident few people would enjoy running windows at the full retina resolution for very long.
That being said, there are definitely laptops out there that have quite high pixel densities. 1080p (1920x1080) is popular these days, and on a relatively small display will look very sharp. So, for instance, the surface pro, or some of the Asus Zenbook series (such as this one).
posted by kickingtheground at 10:16 AM on January 5, 2013
That being said, there are definitely laptops out there that have quite high pixel densities. 1080p (1920x1080) is popular these days, and on a relatively small display will look very sharp. So, for instance, the surface pro, or some of the Asus Zenbook series (such as this one).
posted by kickingtheground at 10:16 AM on January 5, 2013
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posted by panmunjom at 5:35 PM on January 4, 2013