Editing 1080p on a 17 inch (1680 x 1050) screen?

[Colinlikesmovies]

What do you guys think? Apple has an optional upgrade on their MacBook Pro ($100 for a Hi-res 1920x1200 screen). Some people say you gotta go with it if you're going to be doing video editing, so you can view 1080p (aspect ratio of 16:9) footage properly.

The thing is, I'm going to be using my laptop for word processing, surfing the internet. Not JUST video editing. From what I've read, going with the Hi-res makes text smaller (and thus harder to read). I've decided not to go with the Hi-res, but I'm still curious about what 1080p looks like on a 1680 x 1050 screen.

Does it just have some really thin horizontal bars running along the top and bottom? If that's all, I couldn't care less.

Thanks for the input guys. It's much appreciated.

 

[VPTurner]

You don't need to run it at the full resolution all the time. My 24" widescreen panel is capable of 1900x1200, and this is the resolution I use when video and photo editing (and gaming). When word processing or net surfing, I set it to 1440x900. It scales the image.

 

[WideShot]

I have a Westinghouse 24" that does 1920x1200 too, and I use it at that res all the time. What can I say, I think its important to be able to see every pixel of my video, but is it necessary? No. But I also enjoy having the extra res on my primary monitor.

Anytime you downres from higher res to lower, its going to look cleaner than the original because the flaws seen at the higher res are reduced in size as the res gets smaller. So 1600 is going to appear artificially a little cleaner than seeing true 1080p. But again the detail is so minute that unless you're a perfectionist you probably are not going to be missing anything.