Beware the allure of Apple's Retina Displays
Apple's Retina Displays are drop-dead gorgeous. But be careful what you wish for. Like many, I got the third-generation iPad because of the 2,048-by-1,536-pixel-density Retina Display. And, like many, I didn't see a huge difference at first.That was then.Now it's painful to pick up my Dell laptop with its 1,366x768-pixel 13.3-inch display and Windows 7 fonts (note: font-smoothing utilities go just so far). And while my 11.6-inch MacBook Air fares better than the Dell (it packs the same number of pixels but into a smaller area giving it a higher PPI or pixels per inch), I'm suddenly questioning my preference for portability (the Air is under 2.4 pounds) and wondering if I should go with a 4.5-pound 2,880-by-1,800 MacBook Pro Retina instead.In short, I have become a pompous pixel ass. Thanks to Apple. And it's not so much images and graphics that grate -- they're usually fine by comparison on Dell's display -- but text.It's become hard to tolerate the choppy, jagged text on Dell's display.But I shouldn't single Dell out. I just happen to have a Dell laptop.This could apply equally to any Windows machine with a 13.3- or 14-inch 1,366x768 display.Related storiesCNET's review of the Apple MacBook Pro with Retina DisplayChange is coming, though. In addition to existing very-high-resolution laptops like Sony's Vaio Z, newcomers like Vizio are touting machines with breathtaking high-pixel-density displays.For instance, I would have no problem staring at the 15.6-inch Vizio Thin+Light laptop's screen every day. And Microsoft's Windows 8 Pro (Intel-based) Surface tablet is expected to have a Retina-like display.As I'm sure others will. Wait, did someone mention a 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina?
