What's up with 18-inch laptops?
An 18-inch Acer next to a 17-inch Gateway.
You may (or may not) have heard some buzz lately about new laptop sizes, as models with 16- and 18-inch screens join the traditional 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-, and 17-inch party (plus all those 7- and 9-inch mininotebooks).
That may seem a little like overkill, but there is at least some method to the madness when it comes to the new 18-inch screen size (and these new sizes may eventually replace more traditional 15- and 17-inch displays). Take, for example, the very first 18-inch laptop we've gotten our hands on, the 18.4-inch Acer Aspire 8920.
The new screen sizes allow for true 16:9 aspect-ratio displays, which means Blu-ray or other HD content will fit the screen better. The native resolution of our 18-inch screen was 1,920x1080-pixel resolution (you know, like Blu-ray), while a high-end 17-inch laptop is usually 1,920x1200. To fit a lower, wider panel, the Acer Aspire 8920 is about 1.5-inches wider overall than a 17-inch Gateway P-172. Even though both of these laptops were equally deep (11.9-inches), the Acer has a hinge that pivots the entire lid back, making it about .75-inch shorter when you've got the screen open at a 90-degree angle (as pictured).
The upshot is you're trading a little tabletop footprint space for a more cinematic experience in a marginally larger chassis, and we've seen some not-yet-announced 18-inch laptops that are hardly larger than their current 17-inch versions. However, we also think the laptop industry could get swamped with too many screen sizes, causing consumer confusion--so maybe we should all agree to pick a handful and stick to them. So, the question to you is: What laptop sizes should we keep, and which ones should be retired to the great wire box in the sky?
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Laptops
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Acer,
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Gateway,
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Blu-ray,
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18-inch,
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aspect ratio
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An 18" screen would be great for us who trouble shoot the software an logic that runs a machine. We need to open several windows at a time to watch what's going on so we can make changes or run down the problem. However, when the heads up large screen glasses become refined......
I agree that they're to many sizes. I think that laptops should have 3" difference in size between one size and another, so it would be: 9", 12", 15", 18".
Why in the WORLD would anybody want a laptop larger than 13 in? The ONLY reason to own a laptop (IMHO
(I must confess, I am writing this on a 15 in laptop but that is only because they are generally cheaper and I am a cheap college student.)
I guess I can conceive that it would be nice to have a gaming laptop for gaming parties. But even then, I would much prefer to just make a small tower and be able to configure and upgrade it on a regular basis and cart it (and the rest of my gear) around rather than purchasing a whole new machine every few years.
So, my question to all is: Why would you own a laptop bigger than 13 in?
Why in the WORLD would anybody want a laptop larger than 13 in? The ONLY reason to own a laptop (IMHO
(I must confess, I am writing this on a 15 in laptop but that is only because they are generally cheaper and I am a cheap college student.)
I guess I can conceive that it would be nice to have a gaming laptop for gaming parties. But even then, I would much prefer to just make a small tower and be able to configure and upgrade it on a regular basis and cart it (and the rest of my gear) around rather than purchasing a whole new machine every few years.
So, my question to all is: Why would you own a laptop bigger than 13 in?
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by only_truth
May 18, 2008 10:34 AM PDT
- I am a college student. I have a gateway tablet laptop so I can take notes in class. I chose gateway because I like them better than Toshiba, but currently they are the only two companies that make 14 inch tablets. The more screen real-estate for note-taking is really important to me, and because I'm in college it's not too difficult to tote around a 14 inch laptop along with other school supplies. So that's one reason to have a laptop bigger than 13 inches. I suppose if there were 13 inch tablets, I might have opted for that because it would be lighter, but the 12 inch tablets are just not big enough for my needs.
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