| disolitude said: It really isn't important and it has never been that important until Apple said so. All these 1000 dollar ultrabooks and laptops run 1366x768 on 13 inch screens and no one really complains about them. Only when it comes to tablets suddenly it matters. You need to have a good pannel, good viewing angles first and foremost. At 10.6 inches and 1366x768 the ppi of the surface is higher than a 15.6 laptop running 1080p. This is a very high end device. by laptop standards, and Surface is a trying to be a laptop as much it is a tablet. |
Many of us have been clamoring for higher pixel density monitors from the moment LCDs became the standard in computing. It may not matter to you but it certainly matters to me and all you have to do is pick up an iPad (or any other "retina" device such as the Nexus 7) to see that the difference is startling. Reading on a high resolution device is soooooo much better than a standard resolution device. Eye strain is lessened. Images are clearer. Text is MUCH clearer (MS has offset some of this with their display tech but it'd still be better with a higher resolution).
This is not to say that the Surface has a bad display; I don't believe that to be the case at all. But to claim that resolution doesn't matter is just silly, especially in tablets. The closer a device comes to your face, the higher the resolution needs to be to keep up. That's why I can deal with a 135ppi laptop monitor but put me in front of a 135ppi tablet (such as the iPad 2) and reading on the thing becomes a chore. The laptop monitor sits over a foot further away from my face. It doesn't need to be the same resolution as a tablet, just as a tablet does not need to carry the same pixel density as a phone. That doesn't mean I don't want a higher resolution laptop, though... It simply means it's not as important.
Plus, high resolution devices enter us into the world of resolution independence... A very good thing.
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