[JoeS.]

My little old iBook's display is getting awfully dim and it's time for a new computer ... I use the Mac in my catamaran's very bright bridgedeck cabin, with GPSNavX always on.
Dumb question: which of the two MacBook/Pro available screens (glossy or matte) works "best" in such a bright setting? 8)
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
JoeS.

[adjuvantjfoster]

... I use the Mac in my catamaran's very bright bridgedeck cabin, with GPSNavX always on.

You might consider an alternative strategy. Wait till the next hardware revision to the Mac Mini. Install the maximum RAM it will take. Buy one of the sunlight readable screens available for the Mac.

Those screens keep getting better and cheaper.

In thinking about a sunlight readable screen, remember, if you can, the display of the original Mac portable. The brighter the sunlight, the better that gray scale display looked. Why was that? because the screen display was reflective.

Things progressed, and a good looking screen with transmissive screens became the normal display. A transmissive display depends on a fluorescent light source, more recently an LCD light source, in the back of the display to overpower the ambient light in the room around the display.

Look at the display of your newer cell phone. In the sunlight it is barely readable, the light in the screen is not powerful enough.

Your old cell phone, if you had one, might have had a transmissive display that you could easily read in the bright daylight.

Bottom line is this: You either look for a display with a very bright back light or better yet, look for the displays which combine back lighting with reflective display.

One that comes to mind is
http://argonautcomputer.com/

Anybody on the list know of any other reflective that might be better and or cheaper?

John

Things change.
Try to cope

[JoeS.]

John, thank you for your detailed reply. I appreciate your thoughts and must say that I agree with your concept, except...

When cruising, our Mac performs multiple duties, and among the many is very often being carried ashore to an Internet cafe or telephone (yes, still use an acoustic modem sometimes!) when there is no WiFi available at the boat. Dragging a Mac Mini and a separate display to shore would unfortunately get painful in a hurry (I'm from the generation that lugged the original Macintoshes everywhere for years).

I did take my 20" iMac onboard last year for our two-week shakedown cruise before setting off, and the size and brightness and viewability of the display were awesome, as was its power consumption. Charts on a display that large are incredible! Ended up not taking it with us because of its physical size and weight.

I guess I could get a great separate display in addition to the MacBook and leave it onboard, but I'm constantly trying to declutter the main saloon table which doubles as the navigation station and (only when passagemaking) already has on it the radar, VHF, SSB, Pactor Modem, AIS receiver, two GPS, SeaTalk Graphics Display, RS232/NMEA/SeaTalk converter, satellite radio, two Macs (the old WallStreet PowerBook running OS9 primarily used for weatherfaxes but also for NaviMaQ as backup for GPSNavX), and an inverter and a couple of small power supplies and a few RS232/USB converters - and all that wiring... even more cluttered than shown here: :roll:
http://www.katiekat.net/Cruise/KatieKat2...tml#110203

Nevertheless, the original question stands: "glossy" or not?

John, if I understood you correctly your vote would be for the glossy because of its greater brightness (due to the absence of the attenuating anti-reflective coating) :?: Thanks again for your input. JoeS.