Well I don’t actually care if it’s a touchscreen. I care that it’s matte, i.e. minimally reflective. Unless you’re really young, you’ve probably seen a laptop with a matte screen. It’s literally impossible to use it as a mirror to brush your teeth, regardless of the angle. Quite unlike basically any mobile phone out there. I’ve never heard of a matte touchscreen but what do I know.
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Sure, matte means it’s got some kind of plastic layer or similar which is prone to scratching/damage, instead of a glass layer. Glass can have pretty decent anti-glare and anti-reflective coatings these days though. e.g.
Given how infrequently I use a laptop outdoors, I don’t think I’d care either way…
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Having just received a Librem 14, I can also say that the matte finish noticeably decreases the image clarity. Colours appear more muted and if you’re not at the exact correct viewing angle (like within 5°) then the colours become washed out and it’s difficult to see any detail in a dark image.
Would much rather have a better viewing experience indoors where I (like probably most programmers) use the machine 99% of the time, than something which might work better outdoors but sacrifices image clarity and a touchscreen…
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A glossy screen reflects your face and laptop’s backlight keyboard indoors regardless of light sources, which I find very distracting while working on my projects. If you need specific colour grades/spaces, get a dedicated external monitor for that purpose.
OK, that’s not noticeable on any of my laptops… I can’t see my face unless the screen is literally off, and the keyboard is only visible when my viewing angle to the screen is well past 45° (at which point it’s difficult to see the screen anyway). As I pointed above, it can also be improved further with AR/AG coatings.
I just want to be able to view images or movies without needing to constantly adjust the screen a few degrees when it’s a dark scene…
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I have to work in complete darkness in order to prevent any ambient lighting from being reflected on glossy screens, but at the same time I also need the screen itself to be dim so that eye strain is minimized over several hours. With the Librem 14, I do not need to perform any light conditioning to achieve productive sessions. My point for a dedicated external monitor still stands, as you have the ability to choose what fits your needs best instead of hoping Purism has the resources to reliably implement your feedback.
Thanks for bringing the glass coating innovations to everyone’s attention. (As you can see, I just don’t manage to log in as often as I’d like.) I have to wonder how long it will take for them to make it into the laptop screen OEM supply chain, though. I can’t speak for L14, but my L15 is still fabulously nonglare. Yes, the matte finish can get damaged easily because it’s slightly flexible. But it would take a quantum leap in antireflectivity for touchscreens to convince me to move to OLED. But yeah maybe with your coatings. Here’s hoping!
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Also, not been mentioned so far. But, trackpad. The trackpad in the Librem 14 is the worst trackpad I have used in well over a decade. It’s awful.
If they wanted to jump ahead of the competition (instead of 15 years behind), then it looks like the Sensel trackpads are the best around right now (significantly better than Apple’s according to reviews). Apparently been used in the most recent Thinkpads: Products – Sensel | Interaction, Evolved.
(They can be used with gloves on, they can be customised, e.g. to decide how much force is needed to click the trackpad etc.)
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Sensel has a track record of discontinuing products without open-sourcing the firmware and hardware:
A lot of MPE-related hardware products have similar issues.
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Most of the first 10 posts in this thread were about alternatives to a trackpad. For some of us even the best trackpads are more trouble than they are worth.
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