[gks]

I've not seen the display in person. But some initial take aways are this:

People kept saying that the iPad's Retina display wasn't worth it and that they couldn't see the difference. Then quickly proclaimed after a week or more of usage that they cannot fathom going back to the iPad 1 or 2 display.

I suspect the same is true of the new MBP display. While it may seem "ok" now. Give yourself time with it and you'll have a hard time going back to anything else.

[notJim]

My experience with the iPad 3 is kind of the opposite. Initially, I was floored by how great the display looked (for text, especially), but now, I hardly notice it. That being said, I haven't really spent enough time with previous iPads to compare. I strongly prefer reading on the iPad over reading on the crappy monitor I have at home, but the beauty of the text is only part of the reason for that.

[gks]

I think this is sort of similar to what I was explaining.

I was mostly talking about the detractors, but those that do like the display aren't exactly different in the end.

If I were a betting man, I'd say you would probably compare the old iPad to your crappy monitor. Perhaps not as crappy in terms of colors, but in terms of reading text.

It was reading text and technical PDF files that really made me purchase the new iPad. It's such a drastic upgrade in this department that I can't imagine ever going back to the iPad 1 that I gave to my mother.