How big a laptop screen?

timeOday wrote:

: Yes, "wide screen" really means "short screen." I say that because a
: 15" widescreen has less surface area than a 15" 4:3.

I've noticed that laptop manufacturers seem to be convinced that what we
really want is a portable DVD player. All the ads show the laptop computer
playing a wide screen DVD movie. Sure it might be nice if I could play a
DVD on my laptop from time to time, but that is definately NOT the prime
reason I personally buy a laptop computer. If all I want it for is to
watch movies on, I could save a boat load of money by just getting a
portable DVD.

I've also noticed that the same people seem to think that there are only
two uses for a desktop computer. Running a small business (or not so
small), or game playing that involves lots of shooting, explosions and
hyper realistic body parts virtually falling into your lap. Once again I
must be in the minority because I actually use my computer for several
computationaly intense projects such as photo editing (suprize suprize).

Randy

==========
Randy Berbaum
Champaign, IL

Randy Berbaum wrote:
timeOday wrote:

Yes, "wide screen" really means "short screen." I say that because a
15" widescreen has less surface area than a 15" 4:3.

I've noticed that laptop manufacturers seem to be convinced that what
we really want is a portable DVD player. All the ads show the laptop
computer playing a wide screen DVD movie. Sure it might be nice if I
could play a DVD on my laptop from time to time, but that is
definately NOT the prime reason I personally buy a laptop computer.
If all I want it for is to watch movies on, I could save a boat load
of money by just getting a portable DVD.

I've also noticed that the same people seem to think that there are
only two uses for a desktop computer. Running a small business (or
not so small), or game playing that involves lots of shooting,
explosions and hyper realistic body parts virtually falling into your
lap. Once again I must be in the minority because I actually use my
computer for several computationaly intense projects such as photo
editing (suprize suprize).

Randy

Exactly.
It's funny to see so many here who seem to think only about sitting on a
plane...forgetting that you also use your computer in the many days that
tend to follow those hours on the aircraft.

The laptop screens that really bug me are the wide-screen units that CLEARLY
had screen housing space to spare...that COULD have fit another inch or two,
both above and below. It's the ultimate "gotcha" by screen makers...pawning
off fewer pixels and production costs under the mask of "wide-screen."
Hasn't anyone noticed that wide-screen movies play quite well with black
space above and below?

Oh well...

--
Images (Plus Snaps & Grabs) by Mark² at:
www.pbase.com/markuson

timeOday wrote:
Mark² wrote:

Don't necessarily buy into the scam that is "wide-screen" laptop,
etc. All "wide-screen" really means is that you've got a LOT LESS
vertical area to work with...meaning documents are a pain, and so are
portrait mode pictures. I think the wide-screen thing was economic
genius on the part of manufacturers...because they got people to
believe that slicing off the top and bottom of their screens was a
good thing(!?). It isn't...except to save a bit of battery life,
perhaps.

Mark²


Yes, "wide screen" really means "short screen." I say that because a
15" widescreen has less surface area than a 15" 4:3.

Haven't measured, but would suspect that the square inch measurement for
a 17 inch widescreen would be about the same as a 15.4 4:3 screen.
Perhaps someone with a widescreen could answer this.

Randy Berbaum wrote:
timeOday wrote:

: Yes, "wide screen" really means "short screen." I say that because a
: 15" widescreen has less surface area than a 15" 4:3.

I've noticed that laptop manufacturers seem to be convinced that what we
really want is a portable DVD player. All the ads show the laptop computer
playing a wide screen DVD movie. Sure it might be nice if I could play a
DVD on my laptop from time to time, but that is definately NOT the prime
reason I personally buy a laptop computer. If all I want it for is to
watch movies on, I could save a boat load of money by just getting a
portable DVD.

I've also noticed that the same people seem to think that there are only
two uses for a desktop computer. Running a small business (or not so
small), or game playing that involves lots of shooting, explosions and
hyper realistic body parts virtually falling into your lap. Once again I
must be in the minority because I actually use my computer for several
computationaly intense projects such as photo editing (suprize suprize).

Randy

==========
Randy Berbaum
Champaign, IL

I'm with you, Randy. I play a game of Solitaire now and then, and work
jigsaw puzzles as well, but me computer spends most of its time on the
internet, or doing photo related stuff, or reading fanfiction, or
whatever else I can find to do with it. Gaming and watching DVDs rate
way low on my priority scale here.

Mark² wrote:
Randy Berbaum wrote:
timeOday wrote:

Yes, "wide screen" really means "short screen." I say that because a
15" widescreen has less surface area than a 15" 4:3.
I've noticed that laptop manufacturers seem to be convinced that what
we really want is a portable DVD player. All the ads show the laptop
computer playing a wide screen DVD movie. Sure it might be nice if I
could play a DVD on my laptop from time to time, but that is
definately NOT the prime reason I personally buy a laptop computer.
If all I want it for is to watch movies on, I could save a boat load
of money by just getting a portable DVD.

I've also noticed that the same people seem to think that there are
only two uses for a desktop computer. Running a small business (or
not so small), or game playing that involves lots of shooting,
explosions and hyper realistic body parts virtually falling into your
lap. Once again I must be in the minority because I actually use my
computer for several computationaly intense projects such as photo
editing (suprize suprize).

Randy

Exactly.
It's funny to see so many here who seem to think only about sitting on a
plane...forgetting that you also use your computer in the many days that
tend to follow those hours on the aircraft.

The laptop screens that really bug me are the wide-screen units that CLEARLY
had screen housing space to spare...that COULD have fit another inch or two,
both above and below. It's the ultimate "gotcha" by screen makers...pawning
off fewer pixels and production costs under the mask of "wide-screen."
Hasn't anyone noticed that wide-screen movies play quite well with black
space above and below?

Oh well...

I suspect that a fairly large percentage of laptop owners find travel
takes up a lot of their time. While it isn't a large component of my
computer use, flying is something I do several times a year for
pleasure, and the aforementioned problem with a laptop in coach seating
certainly is a consideration. Mostly, I fly first class, but one finds
it necessary to go on 'regional carriers' now and then, and those
aircraft aren't particularly 'roomy', to say the least. I suspect one
of the widescreens would fare better in that environment. Otherwise,
unless one often works with spreadsheets that are much wider than they
are long, the screen width isn't all that useful.

As for looking at a widescreen movie on a 4:3 laptop, BAAAAAHHHH.

Ron Hunter wrote:
Mark² wrote:
Randy Berbaum wrote:
timeOday wrote:

Yes, "wide screen" really means "short screen." I say that
because a 15" widescreen has less surface area than a 15" 4:3.
I've noticed that laptop manufacturers seem to be convinced that
what we really want is a portable DVD player. All the ads show the
laptop computer playing a wide screen DVD movie. Sure it might be
nice if I could play a DVD on my laptop from time to time, but that
is definately NOT the prime reason I personally buy a laptop
computer. If all I want it for is to watch movies on, I could save
a boat load of money by just getting a portable DVD.

I've also noticed that the same people seem to think that there are
only two uses for a desktop computer. Running a small business (or
not so small), or game playing that involves lots of shooting,
explosions and hyper realistic body parts virtually falling into
your lap. Once again I must be in the minority because I actually
use my computer for several computationaly intense projects such as
photo editing (suprize suprize).

Randy

Exactly.
It's funny to see so many here who seem to think only about sitting
on a plane...forgetting that you also use your computer in the many
days that tend to follow those hours on the aircraft.

The laptop screens that really bug me are the wide-screen units that
CLEARLY had screen housing space to spare...that COULD have fit
another inch or two, both above and below. It's the ultimate
"gotcha" by screen makers...pawning off fewer pixels and production
costs under the mask of "wide-screen." Hasn't anyone noticed that
wide-screen movies play quite well with black space above and below?

Oh well...

I suspect that a fairly large percentage of laptop owners find travel
takes up a lot of their time.

Perhaps frequent business travelers, ya. But millions of folks buy laptops
who never even fly at all....and millions more fly only occasionally. For
me, a laptop means high quality review of a day's shots...and also the
simple use of having all other computer functions while away. I'll spend
about 18 hours flying each way to and from Ukraine this summer...but that
will only constitute a small fraction of the time I'll spend on the computer
during my 6 week stay. I'm using a wide screen machine, but the housing
doesn't waste space above and below the screen. It's actually the size of
the ratio, and a very small unit over all. The ones that feel like a
rip-off to me are the units that look like they could have easily fit a 4:3,
but chopped it short anyway...

While it isn't a large component of my
computer use, flying is something I do several times a year for
pleasure, and the aforementioned problem with a laptop in coach
seating certainly is a consideration. Mostly, I fly first class, but
one finds it necessary to go on 'regional carriers' now and then, and
those aircraft aren't particularly 'roomy', to say the least. I
suspect one of the widescreens would fare better in that environment.
Otherwise, unless one often works with spreadsheets that are much
wider than they are long, the screen width isn't all that useful.

As for looking at a widescreen movie on a 4:3 laptop, BAAAAAHHHH.

Wide screen units fail to match many movie aspect ratios anyway...
--
Images (Plus Snaps & Grabs) by Mark² at:
www.pbase.com/markuson

wrote:
I've got to buy a new laptop. Forgetting for the moment whether it's
going to be a Mac or a PC, and all other things being equal (like my
software and relative competence), how big a screen size do I need to
do reasonable photo work?

The Mac Book tops out at 13 inches. The larger Mac Book Pro series is
a bit pricey for my pocketbook. The various PCs -- Toshiba, Dell,
Fujitsu -- can be had for around $1000 with a 17" screen.

I'm using a 17" flatscreen with my desktop PC. Not sure I'd want to go
much smaller. But since I'd have to haul the laptop around the
country, I don't want anything too large, either. (Size matters,
heh.)


No screen is big enough for photo editing for large prints. You have to
work USM at 100% zoom. So if the image is 3600 pixels wide (a mere 12"
print) it is not going to fit on any laptop screen and pretty much any
common monitor.

That's really another way of saying that perhaps you should not look for
the largest screen nor the smallest, but the best color and detail.

Cheers,
Alan

--
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-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

On 2007-03-09 12:47:55 -0800, said:

I've got to buy a new laptop. Forgetting for the moment whether it's
going to be a Mac or a PC, and all other things being equal (like my
software and relative competence), how big a screen size do I need to
do reasonable photo work?

The Mac Book tops out at 13 inches. The larger Mac Book Pro series is
a bit pricey for my pocketbook. The various PCs -- Toshiba, Dell,
Fujitsu -- can be had for around $1000 with a 17" screen.

I'm using a 17" flatscreen with my desktop PC. Not sure I'd want to go
much smaller. But since I'd have to haul the laptop around the
country, I don't want anything too large, either. (Size matters,
heh.)

Recommendations? Thanks.

JJ

You need as large a screen as you can afford. I use a 17" MacBook Pro.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

Randy Berbaum wrote:

I've noticed that laptop manufacturers seem to be convinced that what we
really want is a portable DVD player.

Again, I've thought exactly the same thing. It's vaguely insulting,
like I have nothing better to do than watch DVDs.

Having owned a half dozen laptops over the years, and worked on more,
here's my two cents:

About 15" seems to be the best compromise between portability and
usability; and do NOT look for a "widescreen" display. The
conventional, approximate 4:3 is better for general use.

ALSO, displays wary widely in their apparent clarity and color
rendition, despite having ostensibly identical specifications. If at
all possible, view some known images on the different units you're
considering.