Should I get laptop with 14" or 15" screen?

[Brian Elfert]

I am planning to buy a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop computer.

What size screen do folks recommend for a laptop? 14" or 15"? Am I going to be disappointed with WXGA (Not WXGA+) resolutions on a 15" screen? For work I have a 14" WXGA display and it seems okay.

Going with WXGA+ resolution pushes the price up a fair bit because it requires a more expensive configuration.

Techies would say to never get a WXGA screen at 15" so that is why I am asking here amongst some non-techies.

[Gary Click]

To me it depends on how much you travel. I average 150k airmiles a year (actual not FF Miles) and I tend to pay a lot of attention to weight.

I use a Lenovo T63 right now with a 160Gb main drive and a 80GB second drive that fits the DVD bay. The screen is 13.9" I think and the resolution is quite high. I believe it is 1440x1280.

My wife has an HP with a huge screen which is nice to work on but it weights twice what mine does.

Just my $0.02 worth, invoice to follow via snail mail.

[Neal Clayton]

i'm all for big LCDs on desktops but on those laptops it makes them exponentially heavier, i agree with gary.

i think 13-14" is the ideal size, most laptops with that size of monitor will be under 5 pounds (if not under 4). any time you get past 15" you're looking at about twice the weight. my stepsister has one of those huge Dell XPS laptops and it's literally the most annoying machine ever produced due to the weight and bulk of the thing, i can't stand it. every time i pick it up i fear for dropping it or breaking the monitor off the stupid thing.

[Benjamin Dahl]

I agree with Gary and Neal. if you travel a bunch, go for a 13" or 14" model. regarding the resolution I guess it depends on what you are using it for; primarily photo editing or dvd watching versus document work. not sure that you would notice much difference in any case.

[Tom Godley]

When I purchased my first apple laptop years ago -- I went with the 15 inch unit. I liked the size -- the 12" inch being (too small) and 17" (too big). This was a powerbook -- It came with a higher resolution display and a cool case - no 14" unit in the powerbook range. I tried them all before I went with it - they were really $$$ when they first came out.

Today we have many laptops in the family (mostly apple) - I still normally use the same 15" unit. The display is still better than almost all the non apple units I pick up.

But if I went out today to replace my 15" powerbook - I would get the 13" Macbook.

I see no benefit to the 15" display over the 13" in a laptop. The page size when reading documents is not that much larger and the 15" is not large enough for two pages to be open. I also see no real advantage when i work with pictures or video.

The size of the !3" unit is a benefit - it is amazing how easy it is to use when traveling on a plane or in car -- and the thing is a dream to pack. But the key to the Macbooks is the display -- they are fantastic. Many laptops I pick up I notice the inferior displays. That is the problem with smaller laptops - it is not the size it is the quality of the display.

I would go with the 14" laptop and the best display possible. You will never miss the small difference in screen size if the display is good.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with both the weight and purpose comments...the latter trumps all, but if it's for mobile work, weight does, umm...weigh in. And for using it at home, get a docking station and a larger monitor. That's the only thing that makes my work machine palatable to me for graphic work, including PowerPoint development. I really have trouble doing those things on the smaller screen, especially with active IM sessions and other things going on at the same time.

[Brian Elfert]

I don't travel for work these days and I have a work laptop if I do.

This laptop would be used to take to meetings, on personal trips, and other places I need a laptop. My trips are mostly in a class A motorhome so I have the space.

It sounds like everyone says to just go 14". My next concern is whether to go WXGA or WXGA+. WXGA+ is around $150 more because it requires an upgraded config. My laptop at work is 14" WXGA, but I don't have a 14" WXGA+ to compare against.

What about antiglare screen versus VibrantView? My LCD monitor at home does not have antiglare and has something similiar to VibrantView and it sucks if the sun hits it.

[Neal Clayton]

same applies for laptops. i have the antiglare screen on my sony vaio and wish i didn't, sunlight completely washes it out.

the LED lighted screens that have come out in the past year seem to fare best in the elements. check out notebookreview.com

[Brian Elfert]

same applies for laptops. i have the antiglare screen on my sony vaio and wish i didn't, sunlight completely washes it out.

the LED lighted screens that have come out in the past year seem to fare best in the elements. check out notebookreview.com

I don't have antiglare on my LCD monitor at home and the sun through the windows causes problems. I assume if I did have antiglare I would not have a problem.

Wouldn't having antiglare be better in the sun outdoors?

[Brian Elfert]

I ended up going with the 14.1 WXGA screen with VibrantView.

I went to Best Buy and looked at every single 14" and 15" laptop. Not a single one was WXGA+ even for $1,200. The 15.4" models looked HUGE so that is why I went with 14.1". It seems that every laptop at the store had the glossy screen.

The glossy screen is supposed to be better for personal use like viewing photos, watching movies, and the like.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I'm waiting for one of those roll up 36" models they all have in the science fiction movies.

[Rich Enders]

For business I need to review CAD files and the extra size if the 17 inch MacBook Pro helps. It travels well even with the extra size.

If you only need yours for personal stuff, the new PDA's should be considered.

[Doug Shepard]

I'm using an hp Pavilion with 17" screen but dont travel with it. I have too much trouble trying to see well on the smaller screens and dont need the extra eye strain.

[Karl Brogger]

For business I need to review CAD files and the extra size if the 17 inch MacBook Pro helps. It travels well even with the extra size.

If you only need yours for personal stuff, the new PDA's should be considered.

Planit Solutions who produce Cabnetware, don't support Apple. I was ready to buy a mac, but if I can't run my CAD program without loading Windows, I'm not interested. I was kinda bummed about that.

I've got a 14" screen, love it on a notebook. The glossy screens are tough in anything but low light conditions.

[Curt Harms]

on display, one of those with a 9" display and 16Gb solid state memory. It runs Linux and this one had Star Office-a close relative of Open Office-running. For simple Email, word processing and spread sheets it might do nicely and will open and save .doc & .xls files. It'd be great from an airport/airline perspective. No internal CD/DVD though. For $279 and freedom from crapware it's certainly interesting.

[Denny Rice]

I am planning to buy a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop computer.

What size screen do folks recommend for a laptop? 14" or 15"? Am I going to be disappointed with WXGA (Not WXGA+) resolutions on a 15" screen? For work I have a 14" WXGA display and it seems okay.

Going with WXGA+ resolution pushes the price up a fair bit because it requires a more expensive configuration.

Techies would say to never get a WXGA screen at 15" so that is why I am asking here amongst some non-techies.

Brian,

Before you make your decision and get a product with a very unstable product called VISTA go to www.apple.com and check out the new MacBook which comes in different flavors and prices starting at 1299.00...This is a very cool machine unlike any PC on the market it is made with "uni-body" construction made out of aluminum not plastic. Apple has done their homework on this machine. Their OS is very stable, VISTA seems to have so many problems you would think it was made in 1980 compared to my MAC. And the MacBook has a ultra-thin 13.5" LCD display and starts at 1299. A very cool machine

[Rich Enders]

We run PC applications on Windows, and Mac applications on OS 10 on the MacBook Pro. I don't know Planit Solutions or Cabnetware, but it should be fine running on Windows.

[Brian Elfert]

No way am I going with Mac as they are too darned expensive for starters. Everything I use except Office is PC specific so why would I want to run an emulator most of the time?

I agree with Vista being a non-starter so I will probably install Windows XP with an extra license I have.

I won a $400 off $700 deal for Lenovo or I wouldn't even be buying a laptop. My final cost should end up being less than $200. The laptop cost $540 after a coupon and I bought a widescreen LCD monitor to get up to $700 so I get my $400 back. I plan to sell the monitor for at least $100. IN the end a $540 laptop will cost me under $200.

[Tim Morton]

No way am I going with Mac as they are too darned expensive for starters.

nah....on second thought i will leave this alone;)

[Brian Elfert]

I will admit Apple Macbooks are better built than Windows laptops, but I would expect something better when the price starts at $1,299.

One can buy a consumer grade Windows laptop for $399 just about any day of the week and it'll work fine for the majority of home users. Yes, it has that lovely Vista OS that doesn't work the best. Right now, HP is selling a business class laptop with both XP and Vista for $425 and it has a three year warranty.

Apple's OS X may be a superior operating system, but they've priced themselves out of the market with the price of hardware. If they lowered their hardware prices or allowed the OS to run on any X86 platform they would sell a lot more copies of OS X.

I've done some work with OS X, but mostly Windows XP and I prefer XP mainly because I use it the most.

[Tim Morton]

I will admit Apple Macbooks are better built than Windows laptops, but I would expect something better when the price starts at $1,299.

One can buy a consumer grade Windows laptop for $399 just about any day of the week and it'll work fine for the majority of home users. Yes, it has that lovely Vista OS that doesn't work the best. Right now, HP is selling a business class laptop with both XP and Vista for $425 and it has a three year warranty.

Apple's OS X may be a superior operating system, but they've priced themselves out of the market with the price of hardware. If they lowered their hardware prices or allowed the OS to run on any X86 platform they would sell a lot more copies of OS X.

I've done some work with OS X, but mostly Windows XP and I prefer XP mainly because I use it the most.


nah....on second thought i will still leave this alone:cool:

[Dustin Lane]

on display, one of those with a 9" display and 16Gb solid state memory. It runs Linux and this one had Star Office-a close relative of Open Office-running. For simple Email, word processing and spread sheets it might do nicely and will open and save .doc & .xls files. It'd be great from an airport/airline perspective. No internal CD/DVD though. For $279 and freedom from crapware it's certainly interesting.

I own the asus eee 1000h. basically the 10 inch model with an 80gb hdd and winXP. I find that it is a wonderful addition to my desktop at home. portability was the number one thing i was looking for and it fit right in. the only complaint i have against it would be the same i had against any laptop.

[Rich Enders]

Come on Tim, you know you want to say it...

[Tim Morton]

Come on Tim, you know you want to say it...

Nope like Jules said in pulp fiction...

"Nobody's gonna hurt anybody. We're gonna be like three little Fonzies here. And what's Fonzie like? Come on Yolanda what's Fonzie like?"
:cool:

[Dan Johnson]

I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 17 in. with Vista and love it. I hear a lot of complaints about Vista, but I have not experienced many of the problems. Other than Vista not running some older programs and some older hardware not being compatible, I find Vista to be a very stable os.

This is nothing new however. When XP came out, I heard the same grumblings. Same with windows 98.

The few people I know of that have a mac seem to like them. But I assume the problem of running certain programs will exist with a mac also.

The main problem with my laptop is battery usage. With a 17 in. screen and a dedicated video card, it doesn't last long on the batteries. If I were to buy a laptop that I did a lot of traveling with, I would get a smaller screen for this reason.

[Rich Enders]

Let's see... If a Mac costs say a grand more than a PC, and a typical life for both is say 3 years, that amounts to one buck a day. Now, what is the cost of our time when something crashes......?

[Dan Johnson]

Let's see... If a Mac costs say a grand more than a PC, and a typical life for both is say 3 years, that amounts to one buck a day. Now, what is the cost of our time when something crashes......?

The way most families in America work, at least in recent years, you would also have to add interest from a credit card onto that $1 A DAY ;)

I am curious what you mean by crash? I am no expert with computers, but I am no rookie either. I have built at least 6 computer in the last 7 years and have been using a pc on a regular basis for the last 10 years. With the exception of one hard drive failure, I have never had a pc problem.

I do think the pc is more susceptible to viruses, but isn't that because of the market share they enjoy compared to a mac?

[Brian Elfert]

My two computers at work and my PC at home still use XP. My computers crashe so rarely that my productivity is not affected in any meaningful way.

My new laptop will have Vista and I might downgrade to XP. I couldn't stand the Vista GUI on the computers at Best Buy as Microsoft moved and renamed everything. Windows 2000 and XP are fairly similiar in comparision.