Back to Apple Store
Called the Biltmore Apple Store today to see if any hi-res MBP’s had been put out as floor demos — they have. Hopefully tomorrow I can see first-hand whether the hi-res display is a good choice. I hate the thought of passing on the hi-res option, even though it may be overkill for my intended uses. But then you never know. I can always change text preferences in editors to get bigger fonts, but its the basic UI features (icons, toolbars, etc) I worry might become too small. The gamble is how the upcoming resolution independence feature of Leopard will affect this as well.
In any case, the hi-res display option seems to be a build-to-order option from Apple directly, as the hi-res MBPs being offered at the store seemed pre-configured for those doing video, as they swapped the harddrive for a more performant 7200rpm unit which upped the price even more. At least I get the IBM corporate discount which pays for the tax :-(
Update: Well, I don’t think I’m much closer to a decision after playing on the hi-res MBP for 2 hours. The display is beautiful, for sure, but oh so tiny the desktop stuff is. Upping default font sizes in apps helps some. And down-rez’ing the display to 1680x1050 looks horrible, as I’d feared. My once 20-20 eyesight has gotten markedly worse the last couple years, don’t know if its directly related to staring at small fonts on a laptop 8+ hours per day or if it’s just the age thing (coming up on 55). In any case, getting a hi-res MBP might force a follow on purchase of a large secondary display (23” ACD, which runs native at 1900x1200). It’s only money :-( Hell, my first PC was the original 64k IBM PC for which I paid $3k, followed soon thereafter by a Tallgrass 10MB external harddrive with tape backup, another $3k. Gotta invest in one’s self, I say!.
