Just exchanged my 11" for a 13" one

[crazyyankeefan]

After using a 11-in MBA for 2 weeks, I felt I was almost going blind. I have to use MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint a lot due to my work, and the screen for the 11-in one is just way TOO small, definitely not suitable for staring at it for hours.

So, just some recommendation for those who do a lot of productivity-type of work, perhaps 13-in one would be a better choice.

 

[LS1]

Doesn't the 13 have the same size text font since it's a bigger screen but with more pixels?

 

[racer1441]

Did the same. 11 inch mba to a macbook.

Just to small to get use to.

 

[crazyyankeefan]

Doesn't the 13 have the same size text font since it's a bigger screen but with more pixels?

Here's the thing. With the same font size, for some reason, the texts just look larger on the bigger screen. Maybe it's just me.

Also, there's one thing you can't change is that when you set to view your document as 100%, the bigger screen would cover more percentage of the document. For example, let's say you're viewing a PDF document. When you set to zoom in 100%, the smaller screen may show only 60-70% of the entire document, while the bigger screen may cover the whole document. This is not directly related to pixels because I have a 15" laptop with lower resolution than 11" MBA, but all the fonts and document pages show up bigger. The fonts may not be as sharp for sure.

 

[CommanderData]

Doesn't the 13 have the same size text font since it's a bigger screen but with more pixels?

Yes, they are almost identical.

13.3" screen at 1440x900 = 127.68 PPI
11.6" screen at 1366x768 = 135.09 PPI

So the difference in font size would be about 5%, the visual difference would be nearly impossible to notice.

Now, there are good arguments for the 13.3" screen if you need more vertical pixels- to see more lines of text in Word, or more rows in Excel for example. Font size is not helped, at best it would look like you bumped a 12pt font to about 12.6pt if you traded up to the larger Air.

 

[crazyyankeefan]

Yes, they are almost identical.

13.3" screen at 1440x900 = 127.68 PPI
11.6" screen at 1366x768 = 135.09 PPI

So the difference in font size would be about 5%, the visual difference would be nearly impossible to notice.

Now, there are good arguments for the 13.3" screen if you need more vertical pixels- to see more lines of text in Word, or more rows in Excel for example. Font size is not helped, at best it would look like you bumped a 12pt font to about 12.6pt if you traded up to the larger Air.

Haha. I think you actually explain better than me. That's what i mean. I need more line coverage in the document I'm editing or viewing.

 

[CommanderData]

Haha. I think you actually explain better than me. That's what i mean. I need more line coverage in the document I'm editing or viewing.

Hehe, yes, I understand exactly what you mean. It does definitely help to see more of your document or web pages on the screen. That is a big deal for lots of people

 

[crazyyankeefan]

Hehe, yes, I understand exactly what you mean. It does definitely help to see more of your document or web pages on the screen. That is a big deal for lots of people

To a point i was actually thinking about getting an huge LCD display, but i figured might be more economic to just exchange it. haha

 

[w4rmk]

The lower screen resolution of the previous generation MBA's is one of the prime reasons I decided to buy a used one instead a newer model. Comparing them side-by-side to either of the new MBA's shows a striking difference in ease of visibility. Of course the new MBA's offer the advantage of squeezing more information into the same amount of screen space, but for those without eagle vision that can also be a drawback. I use 24" LCD displays at home and the resolution is quite high so I leave my browser set to 125% magnification to make pages easier to read.

 

[Doc750]

I never have this problem, I love my 17" MBP

 

[KnightWRX]

I use 24" LCD displays at home and the resolution is quite high so I leave my browser set to 125% magnification to make pages easier to read.

Wow, get newer glasses. The 24" displays with 1920x1200 resolution have huge pixels, to the point where they look low resolution. I love high DPI screens, even my 13" MBA is currently not high enough for my taste.

 

[ClassicBean]

I have a 15" pro and an 11" Air. I have no problem transitioning between the two. But my vision is fairly decent.

 

[cognitivefun]

I have a 15" pro and an 11" Air. I have no problem transitioning between the two. But my vision is fairly decent.

I have a 24" LED Cinema display on my MBP and an 11" "Ultimate" and I have no issues with the small type or readability...

 

[robby818]

Firefox + No Squint plug-in setting at 120% text is perfect for me. Otherwise, I could never get used to the tiny fonts on the default settings.

 

[Kenrik]

1920x1080 Looks better @ 20" than 32"

1366x768 Looks Better @ 11.6" than @ 32"

funny huh?

People really DON'T understand pixel density...

1080P is actually a really sucky resolution on large TVs unless you're 6 - 10 Feet from the Screen.

Up close it looks like crap.

The 11.6 inch looks really nice up close because the density is pretty high for the size of the screen. If you want a bigger font just change the operating system settings for font size...

 

[Kenrik]

I have a 15" pro and an 11" Air. I have no problem transitioning between the two. But my vision is fairly decent.

My 15" looks blury to me now... Same way that my iPhone 3G is super blury next to my iPhone4