[henriquez]

1080p at 14" really isn't bad though. The state of high-DPI in Ubuntu (on which Pop_OS is based) is _okay_ but you're not really missing out on much with the bigger pixels.

I really appreciate with System76 is doing and if I were in the market for a laptop I'd consider this. Their desktops are very cool too as they custom-build the cases themselves. They do seem to be in kind of a "no man's land" market-wise, where a lot of people who would want Linux are technically savvy enough to build their own computer or install it on an existing laptop. But I hope they keep it up and hit their stride!

[driverdan]

It's not bad but it's also not great. Once you use higher DPI screens you don't want to go back. The 13" MBP with 2560x1600 is great.

[henriquez]

There’s a lot of stuff that is aesthetically nicer about Apple machines. But a display is only one attribute of a machine. Many people would rather use software and hardware that protects their freedom, which is why a System76 machine would be a better choice for them.

I have a 2018 MacBook Air (Retina) I use for testing. The display is beautiful. I’m very familiar with running and tweaking MacOS. And honestly I don’t like it. I don’t like fighting with how Apple feels you should be allowed to use -their- hardware. I am way more productive in Linux now that I’m used to it.

[lliamander]

> 1080p at 14" really isn't bad though. The state of high-DPI in Ubuntu (on which Pop_OS is based) is _okay_ but you're not really missing out on much with the bigger pixels.

I agree. 1080p on a 27" or even a 24" is pretty bad, but on a 14" is essentially "retina" at normal working distances.

Certainly a 4K would be somewhat smoother, but at the cost of battery life, the need to fiddle with display scaling, etc. I just don't see it being worth it. 2K at most for a display of that size.

Now, a 4K at 32" would be a nice external monitor, and would give plenty of screen real estate (and yet would have a lower PPI than a 1080p at 14").

[henriquez]

I run 4K at 32" in Ubuntu and it's perfect. Gnome allows you to specify the scaling of individual apps (if you edit their launch shortcuts), so depending on the app I can run 1:1, 125% or 150%. Effectively a choice between comfort or density.

I've run 1080p at 14" on previous laptops and had no issues with 1:1 pixel scaling. Sure, things are a little squinty but I never felt the need to zoom the UI. I also never felt like things were too pixelated. So yeah, 1080p/14" really is the sweet spot.

[lliamander]

> I run 4K at 32" in Ubuntu and it's perfect.

That's actually quite exciting to hear. I run Ubuntu on a 34" 3440 x 1440, and it's been a major step-up from dual 27" 1080p displays, but it has made me wonder what is the optimal display for programming.

4K at 32" seems to be pretty close to the most pixels you can fit into a display without either a) making the display so big it becomes unwieldy, or b) making the pixels so small that you have to use display scaling to see anything.

> Gnome allows you to specify the scaling of individual apps (if you edit their launch shortcuts), so depending on the app I can run 1:1, 125% or 150%

Oh, that's a useful trick.

> So yeah, 1080p/14" really is the sweet spot.

Yep, in general (i.e. typical home office use as well as programming) I would say that displays with a density between 120-150ppi are probably ideal for desktop use, whereas a density between 140-170 is right for laptops.

[jcelerier]

> I run 4K at 32" in Ubuntu and it's perfect

huh, I have 4K 27" and I still see a bit too much pixels to my taste

[lliamander]

Interesting. Do you use 100% scaling?