# How many ppi is good enough for a 15in screen?



## sunnyVan (Nov 8, 2016)

I've been using imac for about 4-5 years. Absolutely love the OS. It never crashed. However, when considering upgrading to a faster computer I've reached the conclusion that I'd be better off with a PC with good specs. I don't like bringing extra adapters and SD card reader. 

I think Macbook Pro has a gorgeous screen at 220ppi. I'm planning to get Dell xps 15 at 140ppi. There's a 4k version with touch screen but I don't think I need 4k on a small 15in screen and touch screen is not a priority to me. Is 140ppi good enough for photo editing? There's a $400 difference between the 4k vs non touch version. I figure if I want 4k I might as well get a large external monitor. What do you all think? Or should I just pay extra grand and get Macbook Pro?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 8, 2016)

The color gamut and accuracy are more important than ppi. A IPS screen is going to be important as well.

The Dell page provides no specifications for the screen, no mention of IPS or Adobe color Gamut. 

So, check out this link.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebookcheck-s-Top-10-Multimedia-Notebooks.98608.0.html

You are paying dearly for the $200 SSD. I think the high end version way overpriced. Can you get it for less?


The base model is $823.17 thru my employer. I'd buy my own 1 or 2 TB SSD, and max out the memory after I got it, depending on the type of SSD. I'm not sure what type of SSD it uses. Dell adds about twice the value of the ssd and memory in their high end versions.


After reading thru the notebook test web site, it does seem that the i5 version with 4K screen is the way to go. Multiple display issues with the lower resolution screen go away. I get a $300 discount off that price, but sales tax puts a lot of it back.


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## tcmatthews (Nov 8, 2016)

I would go with nothing less than 1900x 1080. Windows has become a resolution hog and I find it just plain unusable at less. The real issue is that Windows just does not scale to low resolutions screens. I would just spring for the 4K anyway.


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## Lurker (Nov 9, 2016)

Watch out for touch screens. If I understand, touch screens use high gloss glass which will have glare/reflection issues not to mention finger prints. I recently picked up an Acer Black Edition on closeout and love the 4k non-touch screen it has. It covers 100+% of Adobe color space. I almost bought a Dell but something went wrong with my CC and I was saved. I really didn't like the combinations of features and pricing they had.

MS/Windows really seems to be pushing the touch screen but I don't think they're very good for photo edits. I ended up looking more toward low/mid range gaming machines. They don't mess with touch but have nice screens and are pretty juiced right out of the box, I hate upgrading. Acer and ASUS were my final 2 choices. I wanted Dell for the simplicity and security but they just didn't have a compelling package.

There are some issue with font/Windows sizes on 4k but not too many and not the major applications.


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## sunnyVan (Nov 9, 2016)

I've heard good things about Dell xps screen. The color is accurate. The gamut is 98% sRGB. 

The specs I have for my order is 16GB ram, 500GB SSD. The 4K version has exactly the same specs internally. The only thing different is the 4K screen which is 100% adobe RGB. I don't think I need such wide color space. I'm not a graphic designer. 

Let me look into getting a base model and adding memory and see what's the price difference is. It's a neat idea. 



Mt Spokane Photography said:


> The color gamut and accuracy are more important than ppi. A IPS screen is going to be important as well.
> 
> The Dell page provides no specifications for the screen, no mention of IPS or Adobe color Gamut.
> 
> ...


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## sunnyVan (Nov 9, 2016)

I currently have another dell touch screen laptop. The touch function is nice to have sometimes but not a must. 

I keep hearing that dell screens have more accurate color. I did look into Asus zenbook. Some people complain about the screen being too green. 



Lurker said:


> Watch out for touch screens. If I understand, touch screens use high gloss glass which will have glare/reflection issues not to mention finger prints. I recently picked up an Acer Black Edition on closeout and love the 4k non-touch screen it has. It covers 100+% of Adobe color space. I almost bought a Dell but something went wrong with my CC and I was saved. I really didn't like the combinations of features and pricing they had.
> 
> MS/Windows really seems to be pushing the touch screen but I don't think they're very good for photo edits. I ended up looking more toward low/mid range gaming machines. They don't mess with touch but have nice screens and are pretty juiced right out of the box, I hate upgrading. Acer and ASUS were my final 2 choices. I wanted Dell for the simplicity and security but they just didn't have a compelling package.
> 
> There are some issue with font/Windows sizes on 4k but not too many and not the major applications.


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## LDS (Nov 11, 2016)

sunnyVan said:


> The only thing different is the 4K screen which is 100% adobe RGB. I don't think I need such wide color space. I'm not a graphic designer.



IMHO a photographer often may need larger color space coverage than a graphic designer (who may have greater control on what colors it uses, and may be more worried about things like Pantone spot colors matching). But between 98% and 100% unless you have very critical needs the difference may be little.

You need to calibrate and profile the monitor to get the required performance, though.


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## sunnyVan (Nov 11, 2016)

You're absolutely right about calibration. I am ordering a calibration kit now. 

As for the screen, I am sticking with my decision of getting a matte FHD instead of 4k glossy screen. I think sRGB is plenty good enough as that's what the Internet uses, and when I order prints at adorama they use sRGB. It seems to me adobe RGB is only useful in a few scenarios. Anyhow, I may need an external monitor at some point. That's when 4k and a choice of color space actually matters.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 11, 2016)

sunnyVan said:


> I've heard good things about Dell xps screen. The color is accurate. The gamut is 98% sRGB.
> 
> The specs I have for my order is 16GB ram, 500GB SSD. The 4K version has exactly the same specs internally. The only thing different is the 4K screen which is 100% adobe RGB. I don't think I need such wide color space. I'm not a graphic designer.



Its good that you do not need 100% Adobe RGB, because the 4K version has 100% Abobe SRGB which is different. It does have 89% Adobe RGB, which is exceptional for a laptop.


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## LDS (Nov 11, 2016)

sunnyVan said:


> It seems to me adobe RGB is only useful in a few scenarios.



Any decent photo printer can easily deliver images that go beyond sRGB. Even most common CYMK color spaces may have colors outside sRGB, although they can't deliver all sRGB colors, but usually they are within Adobe RGB. Thereby Adobe RGB support allows for proofing with enough confidence.

But of course for many uses sRGB can (still?) be enough - depending on the original image and output requirements.


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## kaihp (Nov 11, 2016)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> The color gamut and accuracy are more important than ppi. A IPS screen is going to be important as well.
> 
> http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebookcheck-s-Top-10-Multimedia-Notebooks.98608.0.html
> 
> ...



+1 from here. WHen I bought my laptop (Lenovo Thinkpad x230) I went for the model with the right processor and display, but lowest specs on everything else.

I then decked it out with max memory, WLAN, WWAN, Bluetooth, webcam etc through Taobao (I lived in China at the time). This was significantly cheaper than buying it directly from Lenovo. I have a background in the electronics industry so I was comfortable with taking the laptop apart and installing everything myself.


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## sunnyVan (Nov 19, 2016)

Just a little follow-up. 

I ended up getting a 2015 model macbook pro. I made my decision based on my 30 mins at Bestbuy. The 2016 model was not available at the time. The 2015 model on the other hand is getting heavily discounted some place else. 

I also tried Dell xps 15 4k. Gorgeous screen! 4K seems like an overkill. The font looks small. Keyboard is not very comfortable to type. All of these I could live with, given the much bettter specs and price than macbook pro.

In the end, the macbook pro simply gave me more confidence. The user experience is far better. The trackpad, the keyboard, the retina display. But I think two most important things that convinced me was the operating system and customer service. 

Customer service from Dell does not impress at all. When I in the beginning ordered from Dell, it would have taken a whole week to build a pc. That's so slow in 2016. When I had billing issue, it took 5 transfers on the phone and it was still unresolved. I don't mind speaking to a respresentative in a foreign country, but the line was breaking and I couldn't hear clearly what the guy with heavy accent was saying. I began to imagine if one day I had an issue with my dell PC, would I be getting this poor level of customer service? I cancelled my order the next day.


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