Stop the glossy nonsense, bring back non-glossy displays. Also, how come that available non-glossy displays have less resolution? This is unfair.

There seems to be more demand for non-glossy displays than Dell thinks. I expect the tide to turn very soon.

Yeah, ungermann, stop the glossy nonsense!

At least offer a matt option on all notebooks!

Well said ungermann! Stop the glossy madness. PC manufacturers have behaved liked lemmings with this glossy "improvement"! Dell, just give us a choice!

This idea should be merged with http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/70909/Option_of_Matte_or_Glossy_TrueLif...

The new XPS M1330 does not have a matte option. Also, the new Inspirons only offer matte screens on lowend models.

Personally i will not buy a notebook with a glossy screen. And i think many people feels like this. They do not want to buy a biz notebook like the latitute.

So Dell, offer matte screens throughout the XPS and Inspiron range.

Yes... Very true..
Latitude models are very costlier... and for school/college use, a glossy reflective screen is too annoying...
Dell should understand that, matte option is sought after by students also...
Even when gaming, a reflective screen obscures certain areas of the screen (esp the part of screen reflecting the light behind),
which becomes frustrating.
For a dark room, movie viewing, might be, a TrueLife screen looks good... but otherwise, I prefer a Matte finish.
(This applies to the white colored inspirons (1420/1520) also.... not only the screen here, but the body... which is a fingerprint magnet due to its glossy finish)

the white inspiron paint finish is designed to resist fingerprints. also, the xps 1330 LED backlit screen has a lot higher nit, so it handles the glare better than previous glossy finishes.

we offer an anti-glare finish which would do what the matt screen would do...

what about people who want a high resolution screen as well?

then you dont want the matte screen because the matte screens don't have a high screen resolution sorry about that....

is the anti glare finish available on all models?

its available on the inspirons the XPS' dont have this option yet because of the refresh changes only taking place on the inspirons and with the 1330 you do need to get a glossy screen but its because dell feels that it not only looks better as a laptop screen but also has a much much better screen resolution and clarity overall!!


hope this clears things up
thanks
KTG

I dont think you can speak for an entire company. If you (dell) felt that the glossy screen was that much better, why isnt it offered on any of the latitude series? and on a sidenote, it doesn't increase the screen resolution on the 1330 at all.

he is a dell Employee i think he probobly knows..

thanks davmcn and aggiejoe i said dell not we or us as a company as a dell employee i know why we are using the glossy screen on the inspirons and xps' it is because they are designed for multimedia usage and music fans picture editors and that general thing while latitudes are more designed for business users who really dont need the glossy screens to bring out there excel sheets there email programs etc etc etc

thanks again davmcn
KTG

Your Very Welcome
Dave

thats a better answer than saying Dell is only using the glossy screen because it "has a much much better screen resolution and clarity overall". Glossy screens benefit one type of user, matte finishes benefit another type of user, but one is no better than the other.

In my original post i wrongly assumed that "anti-glare" meant matt. So, its good that anti-glare is offered on some inspirons but ideally it should be included throughout the dell consumers range (with the possible exception of very big screens). I would like to buy a XPS M1330 but there does not seem to be an anti-glare option.

The other dell notebook i am interested in is the Inspiron 1420 - but that doesn't seem to be available in europe.

kontithegreek:
Dell seems to have anti-glare coating on only one resolution for the Inspiron 1520:

- Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800) add $0
- Anti-glare, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800) [Included in Price]
- High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1680x1050) [add $100 or $3/month1]
- High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1440x900)

Why isn't Dell giving an anti-glare option for all LCD resolutions? Dell DID sell 15.4 Inspirons with anti-glare coating 2 years ago. What happened now??? This is a serious regression. I want a 15.4" laptop with 1680x1050 resolution, but I would ABSOLUTELY NOT buy one without an anti-glare LCD. I've seen Inspirons and other laptops without anti-glare coating and I would definitely NOT use one.

Dell is still considerably limiting consumers' choices. We want more choices not fewer! Doesn't Dell get this yet? If they do, why are they REDUCING options, where they should be ADDING more?????

Regards.

Well said cornelius1.

Dell give us the choice of anti-glare. I will not buy a dell without an anti-glare option. It can be the same price as the glossy options. I'm not bothered about saving £30 by going with ant-glare.

i agree dell should offer a higher resolution with anti glare!

Have any Dell admins actually read this?

Please let us know about when (or if?) you will add an "anti-glare" option to high resolution inspiron (1520) LCDs.

Thanks!

Yes, Dell admins have read this idea and comments. This idea is being reviewed and if/when we implement the anti-glare option, we will post the details to Ideas in Action.

@Dell Admin
Thanks for listening. The PC makers who now only offer glossy screens on their consumer notebooks have imo shot themselves in the foot. Some users just hate glossy screens.

And to reaffirm - I do not mind paying the same price for an anit-glare as a glossy screen as long as the anti-glare screen is not from a cheapo manufacturer and is seen as the "lesser choice".

I know, I'm late to the party, but at least i made it. I'm a big fan of Dell PCs/laptops, but I feel like I'm being forced to look elsewhere because of your limited screen options. I'm typing on a 15.4" Dell 6000 with 1680x1050 resolution and a matte screen, but the ability to replace it is pretty much non existent.

I'm in the market for another laptop right now but you don't offer the options to put together decent machine. You deliberately hide the screen resolution on your site and I can only assume it's because most are low resolution (quality?) and you don't want people to know what they're really getting. There's no other reason for doing it. You also offer limited functionality video cards for the most part too.

It's disappointing to say the least that you've completely given into the lowest common denominator (low quality screens for the uninformed masses). Unfortunately the result is that I've counseled a few people (all photographers) to look elsewhere because of your poor screen selection. It would be nice to have Dell be the "place to go" once again, where you can build what you want/need and not be forced to buy inferior items. Your prices are way up, the quality (of options) is way down. What's wrong with this picture guys?

Hi Godzilla,

I think U R from the glamoros screens of Hollywood ;) ;)......Anyways, Godzilla I request you to have a second thought about considering Dell. Juz now U R here 2 highlight Yr need....Perhaps Dell will consider Yr ideas....
Godzilla when will you again appear on those glamoros screens of Hollywood....../?? ;) ;)

I thought I would add my frustration to the party.

Again like many others, I would buy the XPS1330 right now if the option of a matte/anti glare screen was made available. Given that it is an option on many other dell notebooks I think it is a major misjudgement by Dell to limit the screen options on the xps range.

Does anyone know any manufacturing or production issues that might stop the matte/anti glare screen from been offered as an option or is it just Dell 'presuming' that xps consumers are vane and want their notebook screens to double as a mirror?

Re the issue of matt screens and high resolutions. Stand alone hi-res monitors mostly seem to come with a matt finish. So is there a technical issue regarding matt hi-res screens for notebooks.

And is an anti-glare finish the same as a matt screen. I haven't seen a dell anti-glare screen so i could not say.

And i agree with godzilla and simonob007 - i'm just looking for a notebook manufacturer where buying and recommending is a "nobrainer". The screen and components are available at a decent price. With ubunutu as an option!

I totally agree. We need anti glare laptops, I have not found one yet. The glossy displays kill my eyes. Then, my head begins to hurt for hours.

dell does have an anti-glare laptop you can purchase and it has the matte screen and works really really really good in the outdoors!

cool, i already mentioned this a while back.

If Dell doesn't fix this and offer HIGH resolution, matte screen options for all their mid-to-upper level laptops, then I'm stomping on Tokyo. All the damage I do will be on your head Mr. Dell. I'm not responsible. I'll just say, "ooops, my bad" and point to you.

Yes, personally i hate glossy screen's so there should always be an option for all resolutions between glossy/matt

There's nothing worse than a display that mirrors the whole environment. I am a male and do not need a mirror for thousands of dollars! Even though mirroring displays are en vogue, they are not useful, except in a very dark environment. One light in the room and the fun is over!

I like big a high resolution displays on notebooks and I would have bought your 20" notebook, if only the display were anti-glare. Now I bought a HP nw9440, because it was the only notebook with hight resolution (1920x1200) at least 17" and anti-glare.

For next time, I hope I'll have the choice at your shop, I am still keen on the 20" laptop an at least in 2 years, it will be time for replacement again...

First of all: Please clearly express if the display is mirroring! It is really hard to find out in your shop! Whenever I receive a mirroring display, because it was not clearly marked, I'll send it back as defect and unusable!

Second: Please always give the customer the full choice! Please offer all resolutions also anti-glare.

Ok, so you apparently removed even the "**UNDER REVIEW**" status. Why???? Does this mean Dell won't even consider giving back our option to select an anti-glare display with resolutions higher than 1280x800 for 15.4" notebooks??

I'm saying again, I won't buy a Dell notebook that I will constantly see my reflection on, and one that comes with a mere 1280x800 resolution.

You give us no other option than not choosing Dell for future purchases. Just so you know, even Apple gives the option to choose an anti-glare display higher than 1280x800 for its 15.4" notebooks. Shame on you.

Way to go Dell, way to go.... :/

It doesn't look like they took it away to me. When a person edits their idea it takes away the tag until an admin reads it to be sure it is still applicable.

I don't think he did edit it or there would be a comment saying "Changed status to none.", and crysalidzzz hasn't been here since July when I know this was still tagged in October. it looks more like another victim of that catastrophe where all the under review ideas lost their tags. Expect a formal update from me in the next couple of days on exactly which ideas still haven't had their tags put back.

Actualy since you can edit your comments you can erase or change the "changed status to none" so it looks like it was never there. Not saying you're wrong just saying it is still a possibility.

No but I'm saying that he hasn't commented since July at all. And I know from my site that this was still tagged last month..... It's not just this idea, I'm building a list (not done yet) of all of them that had their tags trashed, and there's A LOT of them.

Hmm that is strange then.

It looks like a lot of people haven`t been around in a while.

To keep this post alive.... Dell, there is a SIGNIFICANT number of potential notebook buyers who will not touch a notebook with a glossy screen. Be like Apple with the Macbook Pro and offer a choice of matt or glossy screens.

when will the matte screen get implemented for XPS 1330? I DON'T WANT TO BUT AN XPS IF IT HAS A GLOSSY SCREEN!

Bump. What is the progress on this, Dell admins? Is it coming soon, or at all? Is it planned? Say something, anything.
And please hire more Dell admins to give us feedback(!)

Please give the option of a high resolution screen (WXGA+) on the XPS1330 (without removing the webcam). I'll buy it instantly in a heartbeat.

yes, same here.

For some time I am looking to buy a notebook with a 15,4" WXGA+ (1280x800) matte screen and a GeForce 8600M GT card.
I had an opportunity to work on a MacBook Pro 15" for some time and I just need THAT resolution and a MATTE screen for work.
A 15,4" 1280x800 Matte screen is a great thing for creatives on the move, be it web design, graphic or basic video editing, and Apple knows it!
It's just sad that the PC industry doesn't get it. Please make an Inspiron 1520 or XPS 1530 with that specifications.

Yet another user that would buy one xps1330 if has the matte finish.

Just hate my current inspiron 9300 glossy screen. That's the 'feature' almost convincing me not to buy a Dell any more.

I was thinking of getting an XPS, but since they have a glossy, I will not. I hate the glossy screens!!

PLEASE GIVE AN OPTION FOR MATTE SCREENS!!

I intend to buy a new notebook but if they can't offer a matte display I WILL NOT BUY!

...Who had the stupid idea to develop a display which is less a display than a very expensive mirror?

I have the original XPS laptop from 2004. I am comparing this side by side with the new XPS M1530 with the glossy screen. The matte screen on the old model I find is brighter and far easier to look at. As well, minute changes of viewing angle on the new glossy screen cause dramatic changes in brightness and contrast. Turning your head to look at one corner and then the other is nearly sufficient to trigger this, just move your head an inch or two.

This makes editing digital images very problematic.

As well, glare and room reflections cause major problems.

Many of us just do not want gloss, no matter how much the marketing department thinks it makes a sexier image. It's hard on the eyes, and eyestrain is a major problem for people like me. I am shocked that for my use a 4 year old display outperforms the current technology on the XPS line. My entire feeling is that this is a marketing guided decision, rather than a user centric one, to offer all these glossy options and no matte one. You go through a box store and all the PC laptops have glossy screens, and in my opinion, they all look inferior and are definitely less usable to the one MacBook that will be sitting beside them with a matte screen.

It's kind of the world being upside down when I can go to the Apple Store and the Mac product of all things, on a laptop no less, gives me a choice of glossy or matte screen, and the PC product forces a choice down my throat. Keep the glossy for people who want that, but please offer us the traditional matte display. They were invented for a reason.

@dell_admin5 : Your last comment is a half year old and nothing has happened. Is the review completed?

appearently not if they haven't posted back...

i really really detest glossy screens. they do not work unles in a dark room, if you work or play at a laptop for sustained periods glossy screens really do suck. I am sitting here with my debit card, an m1330 laptop build sitting on my screen and i really want one. but not if i cant have a matt screen. what a shame. went into pc world and there were only two laptops in the entire store with matt screens. sadly i have to pick a laptop or a macbook which is not what i want, just to get a matt screen. what a pain!!!!!!

i love the xps and am willing to spend the money to get one. but please please please give me a matt screen. arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

crysalidzzz: "Option of Matt or Glossy (TrueLife) on all Inspiron and XPS notebooks"

Why not Vostro? Why not Latitude? Why not Precision? Those are also Dell notebook lines. And why only notebooks? Why not desktop monitors too? I would like the same options (of choosing between gloosy and non-glossy screens) on desktop monitors as well.

Please DELL, please offer matt displays - i would buy the notebook XPS M1330 immediately if there is an matt display option!

I'll have to agree. I want a XPS M1330 but with a matte, non-glossy screen.
I'm simply not buying one with glossy screen.

Promoted. A few models currently have this option, but not very many. I'm glad I was able to snag a 1520 with an anti-glare screen (and discrete graphics) during one of the times it was available. The anti-glare screen was not a minor reason that I chose Dell over HP, Toshiba, and Sony.

Prologue

I just ordered a new XPS M 1530 on the first of January and just couldn’t wait to get it in my hands. It’s technical specification almost fitted my requirements (except the resolution which only was offered as 1280 x 800 px) and I was smitten by the beautiful design of this notebook.
Regarding the design I saw my expectations fully fulfilled. Unfortunately the display did not. Dell writes on their Swiss page explaining “TrueLife”: “Please pay attention to the fact that TrueLife displays will reflect more than normal displays do”. Well, I was a TrueLife newbee and thought by myself “ok, a little bit more reflective compared to the matte screens wouldn’t be an issue”. But I thought wrong. TrueLife displays will not reflect just a little bit more. I even could use it as a mirror. And that not only if the screen turned black! Even if I was running Software of any kind, I always saw my reflection in the screen. And that’s pretty disturbing if everytime you you move a little bit something on the screen “moves” aswell”.

Calling the technical support, they kept on telling me how beautiful looking TrueLife is, and that they really don’t have any other customers claiming the reflection of the screen. Thank goodness, there were some minor defects on the product so I could return my new “mirror” for getting my money back.

Talking to the selling agent I was asking her, if there would be a possibility to get this product without TrueLife, but the answer was negative.

The Idea

I know, a company like Dell has to be “en vogue”. I also admit that the discussion of glossy screens splits the consumers in two groups. And yes, I admit, if you sit in a really dark room, the colors might be shinier on a TrueLife Display. Unfortunately I seldom have the chance to work in a darken room and I am pretty sure I won’t be the only one. So why force people like me to buy something they can’t use in a normal environment? What’s the reason for not offering both, TrueLife and normal screens?

The evidence

For those of you who couldn’t imagine by my explanations what I am talking about, I put some photos in here:

Here I have an example of a truly normal working environment:

As you can see it is lighted normally.


Now, how does it look like, if you try to work on it? The following two images will give you and idea how it looked like as I was trying to work on my shiny new XPS 1530 15'' notebook with TrueLife Display:


As you can see, instead of the expected contents of the screen displayed, you only see me and my friends starring wonderingly and unbelievingly at the display.

In the last picture you see the comparison between a normal screen (right) and the XPS TrueLife screen (left) as an evidence that there is nothing special in the lighting.


Thank you for reading this through and sorry for any English mistake I made, but I am not a native speaker :-) And those of you facing the same problem: Thank you in advance for supporting this.

Ueli

P.S: I would also recommend following blog entry describing almost the same issue 2 years ago: http://www.matbennett.com/tech/dell-truelife-screen.php

Dell needs to offer a higher level of brightness (more nits) to compensate for the reflective glare. HP has a few models where you can get a dual lamp glossy screen which noticeably reduces the reflective glare.

Great post BTW!

I agree, it is a great post.

Thanks to all supporting this so far. And thanks for the hint with HPs dual lamp.

And people demoting this posting, please drop a line why you don't agree. I am really interested in the reason. Thank you.

I believe you're wrong.

This product is not for an "office-like" usage .. but more for an "at home" ... I enjoy the TrueLife experience ... DVDs and Photoshopping it's such a pleasure.

If I need to stop the "glare" effect ... I put on the 3M privacy filter I bought years ago.

It has a glossy side and a matte one ... that way you can covert your screen in the one or the other depending what you need.

More info here : http://www.amazon.com/3M-Privacy-PF15-4W-PRIVACY-FRAMELESS< the end it's all about the product you buy and inform yourself approrpriately to take an adult decision. I'm led to believe you knew your notebook had glossy LCD , you knew the glare effect would have been there ... and still you bought it. I'm not sure you've right to complain.

Higher nits I'm not sure would fix the issue. Those HP in Fry and BEst Buy just seemto have the same effect you discuss above.

I do believe Dell should offer an option to have true-life or go without it. I personally do prefer it to the traditional matte screen. I've never gone looking for solutions to the glare because I don't have major issues with it but I do hear there is a film you can put over your screen to reduct glare.

fxmulder:
Thank you for your statement. Actually there is an easy way to proove you wrong regarding your "just for at home" argument:
1. If you take a look at the business section they offer the XPS aswell as in private sector. And as you can imagine easily they don't have the option for matte screens in the business sector aswell

2. Even at home I am facing the same effects. And I personally don't know how YOU are using your Notebook at home, but I personally always had a notebook at home for "free placement anywhere" instead of sitting in front of always the same wall starring at a screen. And because this demand I am not able and not willing to justify display and notebook always in a way so minimum reflection is given.

3. If you look at the business section again, there is no chance to get higher resolutions without TrueLife. So your argument "TrueLife" for at home use only is simply wrong. Or are there different "TrueLife" Versions?

4. Of course it depends on personal preferences, but personally I don't like sitting in the dark for working on my computer in neither in the office nor at home. But of course a friend of mine had a great idea solving this problem. They had a similar problem ages ago with the first cameras ever where the photographer had to put his head beneath a black cloth. :-)

Of course you could clame that I didn't inform myself appropriately about TrueLife. And I am very sorry, that I didn't have someone nearby with such a glare screen made by Dell to compare. And the only glare screens I have seen were not as reflective as this XPS thingie. Of course I knew it had a glossy screen, but since there is neither in business nor in private sector the possibility to buy almost anything without TrueLife by Dell, I had to think that it couldn't be so bad anyway. And just by the way: As you could read above I took an adult decision and sent it right back to dell. But since I found this product was very good in performance, design and presentation, I thought it would be only fair to let Dell know that there's a problem. And if it's not a problem, there won't be any votes on this.

Thank you anyway for your hint with the privacy filter. It could be an option. But of course I am not keen on buying lots of additional stuff that was offered in series just an year ago. Or in this case an additional screen filter to make my screen matte where just an year or an year and a half ago matte screens were available. I mean even if glare screens are a cost reduction Dell won't lose, just give the people a chance to buy matte screens, even if this means matte screens are suddenly more expensive than glare screens (although it was right the other way one or two years ago)

Anyway: I know there are different tastes, and if you are happy with your TrueLife screen, that's great. Just give those who aren't the chance to raise their voice (o: And I see you didn't demote this idea just because you like TrueLife and others don't so thank you for that aswell (o:

Consumers shouldn't have to buy 'privacy filters' or such nonsense if they want a matte screen. It's perfectly reasonable for Dell to provide the option of one - it's not a new concept, in fact all screens have been matte up until recently. I agree that Dell is just trying to be cool, but if the XPS is supposed to be the 'boutique' model, then for god's sake, let us choose what we want in it!

Just give us the option back of a matte screen, which isn't a big stretch for you, and everyone will be happy.

Thankyou. :)

The other problem is is that LCD manufacturers that Dell buys screens from are moving away from matte screen production in favor of glossy. There would have to be some serious outcrys for matte in order to see them return. Higher brightness (more nits) is probably the way to go. Either with dual lamps or LED backlighting as the means to address the issue. Perhaps with the intro of Montevina, notebook manufacturers will be willing to go dual lamp since they'll have more room to wiggle on power consumption given Montevina's lowered power consumption.

I understand your point about the choice ... hence why I did not demote the idea as you correctly point out.

I think that if you look well on their web site you'll discover that Latitude and Vostro systems do not carry true life. That's because they're for people that work in places where so much light is present (as your room in the pictures).
There are people that ask Dell for glossy on latitude and vostro too - just search through ideas and you'll find them.

Inspiron and XPS carry the glossy screens, and that's because the target market is home user, you work on yours ,,,, I don't. I have a latitude provided by my corporation for that. But you have all rights to ask Dell to put matte choice .. as much as Dell to decide consciounsly not to :)

My guess ... looking at products out there ... Consumer 95% of the time want glossy. Businesses 95% of the time want matte. Hence Dell has made the math and figured that to source / stock / support / adapt /etc. a matte LCD to XPS just was not worth the pain. Why otherwise ? Glossy screens are probably more expensive due to handle & care you have to have during the manufacturing process (you don't want fingerprint of the people on the chain right ?)

Once there was a say "customer is always right" ... I guess in the today world it would apply as "the customer you want is always right". Sometime a business need to take the hard decision to care about the people that create $$ for them ... and not just for everyone ... unfortunate .. but given the little money they make on those systems I guesss it's the law of the market.

I understand you do not like to buy additional stuff, but again look at the bright side .. maybe the XPS would have costed 200$ more (engineering cost divided the little number of matte choices) ... if you buy the 3M filter (by now you know I'm a 3M employee ;) you are actually saving 150$ish ....

The good of all this story is the following:
1/ You order a product hoping it was just right for you ... you knew it may have been wrong
2/ Dell accepted to take it back (loosing money on the return and the fact now they have to sell it as used through the outlet) absorbing your "let me try" approach
3/ You now can restart the process with another company, and again hope to get the right product.

I find this a great experience, reason why I keep buying from them ...

I guess in future if you want to keep buying a Dell you have the option to go a retailer and check it there .. quicker for you , chaeper for Dell. Just check the return policy ... it will probably be different.

...unfortunately, if you look in the shop built for switzerland, you won't find any vostro with higher resolution than 1280 x 800 in 15.4'' and without TrueLife. Doublechecking the same on Latitude I found out now, that they have higher resolutions without TrueLife. Actually the Latitude Series offer dedicated nVidia Quadro NVS Chips... I'll have to checkout this chip, it could be an option for a replacement.
Regarding your argument with display diversity I think Dell is big enough in the business, so they know, how to merge and reuse parts they work with. I don't think that there are many different TFT panels with the same specification (for example 15.4'' / 1280 x 800 px, etc ) in their Stock. But that's only a guess.

Anyway. If I find a dell retailer in switzerland nearby, I will go to him first in the future. At the moment, I still wait for a reaction by Dell after having sent it back last monday. And afterwards, I will have to restart the search for a product hopfully fitting all my requirements :-) And if I am forced to buy a glare display, I think I'll give your product a try, fxmulder :-)

We use the 3-M filters at work. They have clear and tinted, with very small stick on tabs to hold the filter in place. The tabs attach to the frame of the screen. You can remove the filter and go to the tinted one very easy. We paid around $ 30.00 for it. The only thing I have found wrong with them, is they tend to attract more dust. That`s an easy remedy also, I take the filter off and wipe it with antistatic spray on a soft cloth. I highly recommend 3-M filters and I don`t work for 3-M.

APPLE gives the matte screen as the default (on Macbook Pros) with glossy screen being an option. Why can't DELL even give matte screens as an OPTION?

Don't you get it DELL? Many people do not want glossy screens on their laptops! Give us the matte screen option back, as you did 2005! Why reduce options when you should be increasing them???

I really have no idea why anyone would want this mirror-for-a-screen laptop! You are being kind to ask for an option. I would be calling for a ban on TrueLife entirely. Thankfully, my Dell D420 does not have this crappy screen. If I could promote this more, I would!

there are some options on Latitude.. the issue to me is mostly that it is hard to avoid, and sometimes in order to avoid it, you'd have to settle for a lesser resolution.. crazy that they are charging extra for this..

Thank you so much for posting this. Glossy screens are terrible for most business/work environments.

I've been waiting for Dell to offer matte screens in higher resolutions for the m1530. If this doesn't happen soon I'll just purchase a macbook pro.

Ueli, wonderful organization for your article and your responses to the comments are very true. Options are always a good thing, as long as Dell has good descriptions on their site. Some of the links for "Help me choose" are down right terrible, plus I find their website cluttered and difficult to find the information on laptop models.

I have a true life screen and in any light conditions it is like a mirror. Total darkness is what you need, but then the keyboard isn't backlit now is it. Nice post. True life should be an option.

1730 isn't bad at all. But the D600 was loads better for use under fluorescence.
Obviously the *option* would be nice. Same as I'd like the option for WSXGA+ instead of being forced into the full 1920 resolution, which renders common things like IdeaStorm awfully small.

Dismissing this idea because it's for "home use", I'm sorry this is just not very thoughtful.

Some people like glossy. Some do not. That is the truth of the matter, and I am using my XPS machine for home office use. I buy the XPS line because generally I prefer everything about them to the Inspiron line, and I end up with a machine with much more capability.

This time though, the screen is really terrible, the worst screen I've ever used with any Dell product, and I've been using them for 15 years. If you like the glossy true-life stuff, more power to you, and I hope that Dell keeps the option around forever to keep you a happy customer. Forcing the rest of us who need a uniform display, with no eye strain, who may be editing digital photographs or working in an environment or on the computer for 10+ hour blocks of time... we really need a display that is more suitable than this.

I've gone to FutureShop and looked at all of the laptops lined up... each a clone of the other, trying to out-do the previous one in glossiness and rounded corner clamshells. And then you run into the MacBook pro with its beautiful matte screen. It's the only one that actually looks bright, the rest are trying to out-do each other on contrast ratio so you get blinding whites and deep-space blacks which make a video look dramatic and quote great on your sales page but are terrible for eye strain and editing photos. Everything I make that looks normal on another LCD screen looks overblown on this XPS... I've been trying for weeks, keep going in and changing the config trying to bring the display back in line with some kind of linear response. So far, the results are middling and I know the original era XPS laptop that I gave up, with its higher resolution, brighter screen, and more uniform response both to viewing angle and image intensity just blows this machine out of the water.

It brings to mind for me the way that some speaker manufacturers go about their product. Tests show that when you give listeners a comparison of speakers, they tend to mistake the louder one for the better sounding speaker in spite of it being less accurate, unless it is a trained listener. So a lot of makers in the cheap end go for the brashest loudest sounding speaker and put them up in the box stores hoping to out-sell. At the high end things are completely different where precision and accuracy are the most important thing.

This is what I'm seeing on LCD displays now. A glossy display will produce the most dramatic effects because by definition gloss is going to give you a more saturated color. What you lose in this is the ability to work in all light conditions, and what you gain are glare, eyestrain, and lack of uniform presentation of the image. If I move my head four inches to the right, dark grey areas of my XPS screen turn black. If I'm watching a movie, I don't care. If I'm editing a photograph or running a camera taking pictures through this laptop, I care a lot. If I am standing or sitting slightly differently the image is vastly different, and that makes for a very poor tool.

Apple satisfies both kinds of customers by providing both types of display. I don't criticize anyone who wants gloss, it may be the best thing for how you use your computer. It's wrong to tell everyone else though that it is the only way they should use theirs and if they don't like it, pick another computer.

If I were to pick another computer, it would be a MacBook Pro, so in that case, the advice would lose Dell a customer. I would not go to the business line from Dell. And since this is about advising Dell to do the right thing for its customers, the only logical conclusion is to give us the screens that they used to give us, and we'll all be happy, glossy users and matte users.

I think the original article with the pictures of the true life screen in a bright environment illustrate perfectly one of the massive problems with this kind of display that many users will face. Thank you for writing it.

I wish Dell would offer TrueLife on business laptops. I can see why some people (or some environments) would work better without--but I think they look a lot nicer if you don't have the environmental issues.

I think that both TrueLife (glossy) and normal (non-glossy) screens should be offered on all notebook PCs, as well as on all desktop monitors.

darbro1 - I couldn't have said it any better and I agree with you 100% on this. I'd pull the trigger on a m1530 instantly if Dell offered a matte screen in those high resolutions.

@marvink:
I just noticed that the M6300 offers a WUXGA TrueLife.
I noticed because I wanted a new 3600M - and it is already there, yay!! (but no blu-ray supported yet?)

I truely agree with you Ueli! I wont buy a notebook with a mirror as screen. Period! If Dell gets us a matte option on this computer, and for the mather on all thier computers, I will strongly consider buying them. Otherwise I'm not remotely interesting!

If you have overhead flourescent lighting, it dosen`t matter where you move it. It`s still a mirror.

You haven`t worked in many office`s have you.

Most lap tops are multimedia capable these days. I don`t want to buy an expensive laptop and then buy a filter for thirty bucks or so. I work under florescent lights every day, but we have matte lcd`s. MY boss just bought an HP laptop, because she could get a matte screen.

@jericho Now you got my interest. Would you be so kind if you don't mind to amuse us with details about state of art lighting methods in offices and universities? (By the way: unfortunately neither my company nor my university has enough budget to change ligthing every year to state of art lighting and both were built years ago. So even if there were another breakthrough in lighting on the same level of cost as flourescent lighting the chance to get something in an existing environment is smaller than small. )
Um. As I am thinking about: We renovated our offices 4 years ago, and surprise: They mounted flourescent lighting... funny, isn't it?

For the rest of your posting, see my answer in the other thread:
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/10076657/NonGlossy_Screen_on_the_XPS_1530

flourescent lighting is more like nextgen 2010 / 2020 stuff, jeri. think about how many (residential) people are switching en masse to those high efficiency twisty bulb things. it is not at all an old technology. for heaven's sake, EDISON invented the only other real alternative.

all offices I have worked in use the usual fluorescent kitchen lights for their primary lighting. I generally bring in torchiere lamps for my office and leave the other off, though, because of how the screen refreshes (especially on CRTs) can murder your eyes after a 12 - 16 hour day.

yes, the lighting can be adjusted for TrueLife to be great. however, most of the unlucky (especially cube-dwellers) without options, will really not like the glossy screen.

Ummm, is it me or does every one of those images have a light source directly facing it so its obviously gonna show up on your faces. I'm not sure I know of any type of screen which doesn't behave in the same way. You would usually have the screen facing away from such a light source (I know I would). Not a realistic test then basically.

Also in the last image you can clearly see that the light from the flourescent tubes above are being reflected probably because of the angle the notebook is sitting at. Am I suppose to believe that it won't also show on the other notebook to some degree? Because the other notebook isn't even under the same conditions then as you havn't alligned your camera to intercept the light in the first place (unless there were lights running along the wall).

I'm not saying that the TrueLife screen doesn't exagerate the glare but in return it does give better colour contrast. I'll promote this anyway so people have the option to choose what appeals to them the most.

And I also agree that if Dell are promoting this in their business section then they should've added the matte option. Personally I use it for home use and for watching movies with the lights turned down in me bedroom :)

I was in Walmart today looking around. I found an Acer on display. This was really specked out nicely for $398.00. I moved the top every which way, but it still dosen`t matter, the reflection at any angle is bad.

q0987: Thank you for your posting, and thank you for promoting this although you don't feel bothered by the problem.

Regarding your objection:
Maybe it was close to a line of flourescent lamps. Actually, I found it even more shocking that my class mates were clearly visible as a reflection on the screen, and that's not a question of the light source. But anyway: neither I am able nor am I willing to look at ceiling first before I have a seat somwhere in a room. So in my opinion even if the lightsource is right above my head, is not an excuse for reflecting. I bought myself in the meantime a notebook from another supplier with matte screen, and there I can sit and work where ever I like without any reflection. But since the M1530 - if you don't ask for the screen - convinced me, I would change back if the M1530 it would be available with matte screen somewhen I think.

ueli, could you post a picture of the two laptops, side by side, in the same room, same lighting source for us to see? Thanks.

@sugarbear

How about looking at the last picture in his original posting. That shows exactly what you are asking for.

"OH! I think I have a blemish. Let me pull out my mirror/laptop computer."
Glossy screens can get really annoying, I would much rather have the matte type screen.

Thank you champ, I missed that picture.