Well, it seems laptop LCDs are all going from 16:10 aspect ratio to 16:9, to match the HDTV standard format. The most popular 16:9 HD resolution, 1366 x 768, has taken over the laptop market and taken away precious vertical space on almost every new laptop LCD screen! I’m sure 16:9 is really convenient for watching for movies, but I don’t watch movies, ever – especially on my laptop!
1366×768 sucks because it is too short for any useful work, and not wide enough for 2 windows side by side. I do a lot of programming and development on my laptop, so having less vertical screen space just is not practical, and means more vertical scrolling.
Thanks to the HD marketing hype, 1366 x 768 is the new standard. This is really annoying since I’d personally like more vertical space. I can’t seem to find a decent thin and portable notebook to replace my current dying one (made in 2006!) – and I refuse to settle for anthying less than 900 vertical pixels!
My current [dying] 14″ laptop… 1400 x 900 | 16:10 | 1.24 MP
Any new 15″ or less laptop… 1366 x 768 | 16:9 | 1.00 MP
I’m not the only one, nor the first one, to complain about this…
Why are we losing vertical pixels?
Vertical pixels are disappearing
Why does everyone hate 1366×768 screen? *
Obligatory xkcd
Say Goodbye to 16:10 Notebook Displays
I don’t really use Windows much, but for some perspective: this fancy “HD” resolution is barely above Windows 7’s bare minimum screen resolution of 1024×768! It’s almost like we took a monitor from ~20 years ago and stretched it wider a few hundred pixels…
Enough is enough – I want my vertical pixels back!
Update:
So I broke down and got a Macbook Pro (15″ | 1680×1050 | 16:10 | 1.764 MP = nice)…
Get a Sony Z
Thanks, “someone” who doesn’t feel man enough to use their name:
Indeed, those are nice laptops. I find them a bit pricey (even compared to the macbook I just got), but they are definitely an nice option to consider next time!
Agree 100% ! It’s actually 90’s 1024×768 resolution but a bit wider. For any valuable work or internet surfing we need more vertical not horizontal pixcels. How it’s happened that this stupid archaic entertainment resolution became standard in laptop industry??? Nowadays even high quality laptops using this rediculious resolution. My advise to anyone: Never ever purchase a laptop with 1366×768 resulution!!!