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Important question for any 6000 WSXGA+ Users...

post #1 of 21
6/8/05 at 11:26am
Thread Starter 
On a 6000 laptop, the WXGA screen is perfect for me size-wise. Unfortunately, I'm not happy with the way the WXGA screen looks (poor quality vs. my other LCD screens). I understand that the WSXGA+ screen is a better quality screen and that I'll probably like the overall look of it better... BUT I'm concerned that everything on the screen will be to small for me. I know that you can adjust the text size using Firefox, but I'm also concerned about the size of graphics & pictures on web pages, not just the text.

So here's my question:

I know that if you increase the DPI on a WSXGA+ screen it will make everything larger (which will help me) but does increasing the DPI mess anything up? Will it make text look fuzzy? Will graphics or pictures look jaggy? And if so, is there a fix for this (like "UseHR"?) or does the fix only work if the DPI is set to 96?

This is really important to me, so I appreciate your help. Thanks...
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post #2 of 21
6/8/05 at 12:11pm
I have the WSXGA+ with the X300 on the i6000, and I love it. I have the DPI set to 120 and while it looks a little crappy in Internet Explorer, Firefox looks perfect, Nothing is too small, I reallly enjoy it.

I have adjusted a few things on the laptop though to get it right. I set the display properties -> appearance -> effects -> and set the fonts to ClearType. I increased the font size by 1 (to 9 I believe). I also used Microsoft' ClearType fonts powertool. Dell has a IE Scaling Utility to fix Internet Explorer I guess, but I never use IE so it doesn't matter to me.

To sum things up. Having the WSXGA+ at max resolution and 96dpi made things too small for me, but with some tweaks, the screen looks really, really great. And ZERO dead pixels!
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post #3 of 21
6/8/05 at 12:33pm
I use my WSXGA in 1680x1050 with 96DPI (standard) and i really dont think its too small at all! I actually think the resolution, fonts and everything are perfectly sized!
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post #4 of 21
6/8/05 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonka187
I have the WSXGA+ with the X300 on the i6000, and I love it. I have the DPI set to 120 and while it looks a little crappy in Internet Explorer, Firefox looks perfect, Nothing is too small, I reallly enjoy it.

I have adjusted a few things on the laptop though to get it right. I set the display properties -> appearance -> effects -> and set the fonts to ClearType. I increased the font size by 1 (to 9 I believe). I also used Microsoft' ClearType fonts powertool. Dell has a IE Scaling Utility to fix Internet Explorer I guess, but I never use IE so it doesn't matter to me.

To sum things up. Having the WSXGA+ at max resolution and 96dpi made things too small for me, but with some tweaks, the screen looks really, really great. And ZERO dead pixels!
Ahhhh, now THIS is what I was hoping to hear! Just a few questions.comments:

>> Having the WSXGA+ at max resolution and 96dpi made things too small for me...
Exactly what I was afraid of!

>> I have the DPI set to 120 and while it looks a little crappy in Internet Explorer, Firefox looks perfect
Do the graphics & images also look ok on Firefox at 120 DPI? or just the text?

>> I increased the font size by 1 (to 9 I believe).
In Firefox? Or???

>> Dell has a IE Scaling Utility to fix Internet Explorer
Anyone know where this can be found?

Thanks again!!
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post #5 of 21
6/8/05 at 12:49pm
also, with 120dpi on, the taskbar icons get jagged! THATS THE ONLY reason i have it at 96, anyone got a fix?
Scaling utility-----

http://support.dell.com/support/down...=4984&devlib=7

GOOGLE is your friend
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post #6 of 21
6/8/05 at 12:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
Thanks for that!
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post #7 of 21
6/8/05 at 12:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
GOOGLE is your friend
Speaking of Google... I love the Google taskbar. Anyone know if the Google taskbar for Firefox has the same functionality as the one for IE? Or is it different?
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post #8 of 21
6/8/05 at 1:03pm
whats the purpose of the taskbar??? if i want to google something i just goto google.
not tryin to be mean, just i have never heard of the taskbar thingy
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post #9 of 21
6/8/05 at 1:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
whats the purpose of the taskbar??? if i want to google something i just goto google.
not tryin to be mean, just i have never heard of the taskbar thingy
save you the time type www.google.com
and it blocks out pop ups

As for wsxga+ at 96 dpi, if you have cleartype selected, text should be pretty easy to read. I dont have any problem at the resolution
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post #10 of 21
6/8/05 at 1:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jda
As for wsxga+ at 96 dpi, if you have cleartype selected, text should be pretty easy to read. I dont have any problem at the resolution
I hated ClearType on the WXGA screen. It made the text look fuzzy instead of clear. I hope it looks better on WSXGA+
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post #11 of 21
6/8/05 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
whats the purpose of the taskbar??? if i want to google something i just goto google.
not tryin to be mean, just i have never heard of the taskbar thingy
Here's one thing I *love* about the taskbar or toolbar or whatever it's called... First off, there's a search box on your screen at all times, so there's no need to go to google.com. But it gets better. Let's say you searched for "6000 WXGA"... the search results page comes up (in the same OR a new window -- your choice!) and you click on a link. Now, your search words are on the toolbar, so you can click on them and FIND the word within that web page. Very cool. Even better is the "highlight" button... it will automatically highlight your search terms within the web page. Awesome. I use these features A LOT! If the Google toolbar for Firefox has these features I'll move over to Firefox. But if not, I might have to stick with Internet Explorer.
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post #12 of 21
6/8/05 at 3:20pm
>> I have the DPI set to 120 and while it looks a little crappy in Internet Explorer, Firefox looks perfect
Do the graphics & images also look ok on Firefox at 120 DPI? or just the text?
Everything looks good in Firefox - grapics and text.

>> I increased the font size by 1 (to 9 I believe).
In Firefox? Or???
Actually I increased the font size in Display Properties -> Appearance -> Advanced -> Icon, changed the font size there. There are really a lot of options to adjust things in this menu, you just have to play around with stuff and see what you like.

>> Dell has a IE Scaling Utility to fix Internet Explorer
Anyone know where this can be found?
I think someone else already provided this, but it should be in the list of downloads for your particular comuter from Dell support drivers.

As far as the Google toolbar goes, you should realize that Google is kinda built into Firefox, there is always a small window to type stuff in on the upper right hand corner of Firefox. The stock homepage for Firefox is a google searchpage. As far as the other functionalities goes, there are open-source builds of the Google toolbar for Firefox, which you can see here:

http://googlebar.mozdev.org/

Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
also, with 120dpi on, the taskbar icons get jagged! THATS THE ONLY reason i have it at 96, anyone got a fix?
Wow, I guess the taskbar is a little jagged, but until you said something I never noticed it. I guess I just don't spend a whole lot of time looking on my taskbar because it only takes up 3% of the screen (taskbar 7mm tall - screen 210mm tall) and beyond that my taskbar is partially transparent. So, when I weigh the importance of my little itty-bitty taskbar, verus the other 97% of the computer screen - I'll stay with the 120 DPI. But thanks for pointing out this little flaw, now I'll always know it is there. hehe.

Anyone ever had a Sony Trinitron monitor, and they have those two annoying horizontal lines. You'd never know they were there until someone pointed them out to you. Not sure if Sonys are still the same way though.

Lastly, you don't have to use ClearType, I have heard that some people like it while others hate it. I think that the screen looks ok either way.
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post #13 of 21
6/8/05 at 3:29pm
Thread Starter 
>> I have the DPI set to 120 and while it looks a little crappy in Internet Explorer, Firefox looks perfect
Do the graphics & images also look ok on Firefox at 120 DPI? or just the text?
Everything looks good in Firefox - grapics and text.
Yeah!!

>> I increased the font size by 1 (to 9 I believe).
In Firefox? Or???
Actually I increased the font size in Display Properties -> Appearance -> Advanced -> Icon, changed the font size there. There are really a lot of options to adjust things in this menu, you just have to play around with stuff and see what you like.
Okay, thanks.

>> Dell has a IE Scaling Utility to fix Internet Explorer
Anyone know where this can be found?
I think someone else already provided this
Yep, got it.

>> As far as the other functionalities goes, there are open-source builds of the Google toolbar for Firefox, which you can see here:
http://googlebar.mozdev.org/
Hip-hip... hooray!! Thanks for the link!

>> Wow, I guess the taskbar is a little jagged, but until you said something I never noticed it.
Bummer. Now I'll see it too!

>> Anyone ever had a Sony Trinitron monitor, and they have those two annoying horizontal lines. You'd never know they were there until someone pointed them out to you.
My old monitor (now my wife's) is a big Sony Trinitron. I saw those damn lines all the time!!! Not that big of an issue, though, the monitor is awesome.
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post #14 of 21
6/8/05 at 3:41pm
From mozdev.org regarding the google toolbar:

While we are in no way affiliated with Google inc, our current release emulates all of the basic search functionality of the toolbar, allowing users to easily access almost all of Google's specialty searches (some of which are not yet supported by the original Google toolbar!) from one convenient toolbar.
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post #15 of 21
6/8/05 at 4:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonka187
From mozdev.org regarding the google toolbar:

While we are in no way affiliated with Google inc, our current release emulates all of the basic search functionality of the toolbar, allowing users to easily access almost all of Google's specialty searches (some of which are not yet supported by the original Google toolbar!) from one convenient toolbar.
Very cool. I've downloaded both Firefox and the Firefox Google toolbar. So far so good.

Just one thing... when I scroll using the mouse's scroll wheel in Firefox, it seems slower and jerkier than it does using Internet Explorer. Anyone know why?

Better question: anyone know how to make it as smooth as it is in IE?
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post #16 of 21
6/8/05 at 4:15pm
I just opened up this page in both IE and Firefox, and I can't tell any difference in the scrolling whatsoever.

If you're new to Firefox, you should check out the plug-ins available. For instance, in the lower right-hand corner of my Firefox is the current weather, and tomorrows forecast.

A lot of the plug-ins are great, and most of the stuff is open source, written by Firefox supporters, so there is no crappy spyware or anything when you load it. It is flawless.
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post #17 of 21
6/8/05 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
Are you using a mouse wheel-scroll?

Also, where are those plug-ins? All I can find is this: https://pfs.mozilla.org/plugins/
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post #18 of 21
6/8/05 at 7:19pm
Yes, I am using the scroll-wheel on my Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0A USB.

Go here for Firefox addons (484 extensions at this time - look at the most popular ones first):
https://addons.mozilla.org/extension...x&category=All

Go here for Firefox themes (gives your Firefox a unique look. 88 themes at this time):
https://addons.mozilla.org/themes/sh...0&category=All

Hope this helps. Enjoy Firefox.
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post #19 of 21
6/8/05 at 7:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
also, with 120dpi on, the taskbar icons get jagged! THATS THE ONLY reason i have it at 96, anyone got a fix?

Try this:

Go to display properties->appearance->advance tab and set Caption Buttons item to 24. This reduces the size of the icons but also makes them sharper. I think you can scale them double size (48) if you need larger icons.

I think this is the way to fix them, I have been searching for the fix as well and came across this on the Dell support forums. I had fixed them a while ago on my system but fiddled with something and they were fuzzy again so I was searching for the fix. Also the Active Title Bar settings affect things but didn't seem to make the icons sharp.
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post #20 of 21
6/8/05 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonka187
Go here for Firefox addons (484 extensions at this time - look at the most popular ones first):
https://addons.mozilla.org/extension...x&category=All

Hope this helps. Enjoy Firefox.
Great, thanks. So far I added Forecastfox. Nice!!
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