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.