Weekend Open Forum: What's your ideal laptop size?

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97

When shopping for a new laptop one of the main factors to consider is size. Whether you want a gaming powerhouse that will only move from your desk occasionally, something that hits the sweet spot between performance and portability, or simply the thinnest and lightest you can find regardless of the compromise in power and disk space.

Your preference will likely vary depending if it's going to be your primary machine or not. For example, a 11-inch netbook might be all you need for occasionally going online and taking on short trips, knowing that a powerful desktop and large monitor await at your desk when it's time for more serious computing tasks. For me 13-inch has turned out to be the sweet spot, as it gives me enough screen real estate to get some work done but it's still easy to carry around.

What about you: What's the ideal laptop size? You can cast your vote on the poll below but we'd also like to read your thoughts in the comments. Is portability more important than power for you when it comes to laptops? By the way, that monster up there is the Maingear Titan 17 we're currently testing next to the ThinkPad X1 we reviewed last month.

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17' is my favorite, any smaller size and you should just buy a tablet. 17' inch laptops normally have the better hardware, and the big screen is really nice for gaming or browsing alike. It fit's in a standard bookbag, so it's portable. It's not the lightest, but it's not heavy either. Bigger speakers built in as-well, so better for listening to music...mine even has a small bass subwoofer on the bottom.
 
I have a hp dv2000t (14 in) and a hp dv7t-4100 (17 in) by which both were listed as "entertainment" or "high performance" at their time. Personally, I like the 17 in better because it is not only newer with the better hardware, but the extra 3 in. diag fufills my need for organization in my job.
 
My laptops have been getting progressively smaller - first was a 15", then 13.3", and now I have a 11.6". I have tried a netbook 10" but the keyboards are annoyingly small. The keyboard on the 11.6" is perfectly useable and the screen res is good so I think this is ideal now, plus it is light at 1.4Kgs and battery life is excellent too. I don't miss an optical drive so I don't ever see myself going back to a bigger laptop.
 
It really depends for me. If I'm going to be on the go a lot without staying in any particular place for long, I'll take a smaller screen, 11", to minimize weight.

If I'm going to be moving around but getting comfy for longer periods, I'll take something bigger, 17" if possible (although I've never owned one to date).
 
I'm anywhere between 11-14. Bigger than a netbook, but still small enough to carry around. The sucky part is that when I find a laptop in that size range with the specs I want, it ends up being more expensive than another laptop with similar specs but with a larger screen size :-(
 
12"-14" for portability. Since I don't game on a laptop but on a PC the screen size is not an issue for me.
 
I prefer 15.x size screens over 14", because the difference is not significant enough to influence portability related issues too much. IMO if someone really is concerned about portability they should stick with 11/13" segment.
 
I'm kinda thinkin' that "size doesn't matter", as much as the panel technology.

I have a 15.6" Toshiba Satellite, ($300.00), and the TN panel just plain sucks. My experience has been, the smaller you make a TN panel, the more acute the viewing angle issue becomes. That said, I suppose 15.6 is my ideal size, since the viewing angle issue is bad, and could get worse if I picked a smaller lappy.

The one thing I always say nice about Apple, (and it is absolutely the ONLY thing I say nice about Apple), is that they use IPS panels in everything.

But, when I realized that the insurance policy on a Macbook Pro, would be as much as I paid for my Toshiba, I decided to tough out the TN issue.

I actually don't need a laptop anyway, so it's all good. :)
 
9 inches.

Oh wait you're talking about laptops: 11" Inches

In no preferred order.
 
I would say 15-16 inch for portibilty as well as any any below gaming requirements. While 15 to 17 for gaming would be fine.

IMO netbooks ruined the market. 1 gig memory with weak processors while running windows is asking for trouble. Haven't had any personal hands on experiance with netbooks but windows 7 running on those specs is a underpowered PC. Beyond that, introducing net books only allowed the market to be even more confusing and costly for the end user.
11,12,13,14 inch laptops became far more common while costing the end user vastly larger sums of cash. Its not uncommon to see laptops of all sizes with vastly different price tags. Price tags that generally don't add up to the specs of the Laptop.
 
9 inches.

Oh wait you're talking about laptops: 11" Inches

In no preferred order.
Is this a question of disseminating too much information, or a "hope springs eternal" delusion.

Perhaps you should have just skipped Techspot, and logged into a porn site. Look up "shtick", maybe you'll get the pun, or not.
 
For a desktop replacement type machine, the ideal size is 15 inches. But if portability is a concern, then a 13.3" ultraportable is best. Anything smaller than that and I start having issues with the size of the keyboard and the text on screen.
 
I had a work laptop a while back, but I never got around to buying one myself because by the time I found specs that I would be cool with, and priced it, I always concluded that I'd rather spend all that money on something else, such as hardware for my desktop.

But I'm going to need some kind of portable computer for school, but I'm probably going to get a tablet to double as an e-reader.

I dunno, I like to upgrade my computers, and you can't upgrade a laptop, so that's always been a big reason I never got one.
 
7" - 9". I'm comfortable enough with small keyboards and prefer them over an on-screen touch keyboard. I care a lot about size and weight. However I also want a high enough resolution and decent processing power and graphics. The latter is the main problem. Something like the processing power fo an AMD E-350 will be enough, I think.
 
I have a 15.6" ASUS G51J

Serious gaming laptop, but it's showing a bit of age with the latest games though.
 
I prefer 15-16" since they tend to be a bit lighter and they travel better. 17+ laptops are more luggables but are understandably more powerful. My current laptop is a 16" and super light and allows a bit of gaming as well as photoshop work on the road so I am happy. Walking through airports with luggables takes its tolls after awhile.
 
Due to my age, at least 17 inch and no need for 1920 res, a plus being the second hard drive on some configurations.
 
i voted for 15-16.. because it is more practical.. but i only buy gaming laptops, and prefer the biggest screen possible. i don't like carrying around the bulky 17" laptops but i only ever buy them.
 
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