programming laptop

[abachler]

Why anyone would want to lug around a 17" widescreen is a mystery to me.

For watching movies on the road. Nothing like a transatlantic flight where all they have is 'Snakes on a plane' or sleepless in seattle for the movies. Thats when I break otu my 1TB drive with like 100 DVD's on it.

[tuurb046]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your input. Im glad i have started an interesting topic for everybody.

Cheers

Tuurbo46

[DavidP]

When I'm on an airplane with no leg room and hardly any place to put a laptop in front of me without bumping the guy next to me and knocking my food off of the tray, I definitely want a smaller laptop. I can watch a movie on an airplane using a 15" screen just fine, thank you very much, and it will probably much more comfortable than if I had watched it with a 17" widescreen given the in-flight spacial restrictions....not to mention limited battery power.

Now....if we're talking desktop computers....it's an entirely different story.

[Elysia]

I've never seen any restriction on battery power due to screen size. It's mostly the ergonomics of the laptop itself and its hardware that will shorten battery power.
And that must be one heck of a narrow airplane and absurd restrictions. Not anything that I've encountered.

[DavidP]

Well most airplanes are pretty narrow. Just go take a ride on one. If you want to use your laptop you have to take it out of your bag from under your seat....the seat in front of you is quite close up to you (not giving you much leg room), and so many times you can't even put your monitor all the way up...but if you do then your laptop is really close to you and the keyboard is in quite an uncomfortable spot. In terms of battery power, most batteries last between 2 to 4 hours. That's perfect for a normal 2 to 4 hour flight in the United States, but if you are on a 10 or 12 hour overseas flight...kiss your power goodbye....if you are hoping to use your laptop throughout the entire flight of course....and if you plan on playing a game...even less time.

And yeah planes are narrow...haven't you ever flown? The passage only has room for one person at a time and it is usually taken up by flight attendants moving back and forth serving food and drinks. This is slightly different on an overseas flight where there are 2 passages on most planes...but more people.

Maybe you don't think it's narrow because you fly first class.

[Elysia]

Don't know. But I would agree that laptops on planes just aren't so good because the battery only lasts for so long. Best bet is to find some other entertainment. Laptops are good elsewhere.

[dwks]

I personally have only used 14.1" and 15.4" laptops. I don't find the 14.1" laptops' keyboards too difficult to type on. Many 15.4" laptop keyboards have extra space on the sides anyway.

While a wide screen is nice in some ways, the crazy screen modes they use are almost not worth it . . . Anyway. For me, a greater consideration is power. A widescreen uses a lot of power, and your battery life will be significantly diminished.

Oh, and it can be difficult to find laptop cases for widescreens . . . .

[Elysia]

While a wide screen is nice in some ways, the crazy screen modes they use are almost not worth it . . . Anyway. For me, a greater consideration is power. A widescreen uses a lot of power, and your battery life will be significantly diminished.

Somehow I doubt that. It all depends on the model and how energy efficient it is. I have a widescreen myself, a 17 inch no less, where battery can last 3-4 hours.

Oh, and it can be difficult to find laptop cases for widescreens . . . .

I don't think that's the case either. You just need to be a little active and not lazy. I found one for myself, and it wasn't difficult!

[dwks]

Somehow I doubt that. It all depends on the model and how energy efficient it is. I have a widescreen myself, a 17 inch no less, where battery can last 3-4 hours.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laptop

Desktop replacement computers
Powerful laptops meant to be mainly used in a fixed location and infrequently carried out due to their weight and size; the latter provides more space for powerful components and a big screen, usually measuring 17–20 inches (43–51 cm). Desktop replacements tend to have limited battery life, rarely exceeding three hours, because the hardware is not optimized for efficient power usage. Sometimes called a luggable laptop. An example of a desktop replacement computers are gaming notebooks, which are designed to handle 3D graphic-intensive processing for gamers.

Laptop screens use a lot of power IIRC, especially for backlights. That's not to say that a widescreen automatically uses more power than a smaller screen, but a widescreen laptop was probably designed with perfomance in mind rather than battery life.

Just my opinion.

[CornedBee]

I disagree with this. My own notebook is definitely not a desktop replacement, but it has a widescreen.

There is absolutely no connection between screen format and power consumption. The only thing that matters is screen space. Thus, if you perceive widescreen to be a more efficient format (i.e. you need less absolute size to get the same comfort), it is more "power-efficient", because you have the same power consumption for more subjective space. If you prefer 4:3, it's the other way round.

[zacs7]

That's retarded, they're not replacements. It's just like you wouldn't replace your chairs in your kitchen with a beanbag because it's easier to move. If it's not designed to be moved, it's not longer a laptop? It'd be a desktop.

On the subject of laptops, I'm currently building my own
Yes... I've had a Micro Server sitting around for a while, so I've decided to turn it into a portable PC (with a TFT screen, built into a custom made perspex case) (not a laptop as such, no battery). But anyway, it doesn't eat a lot of juice, about 60W. It's not 'fast', but 1GHz is fine for watching TV and what have you. I use it for in car enterainment in my Monaro too -- Also, rather than using an inverter what'd happen if I went from the car battery 12V - computer (12V) -- with a regulator of course?

[Elysia]

I disagree with this. My own notebook is definitely not a desktop replacement, but it has a widescreen.

There is absolutely no connection between screen format and power consumption. The only thing that matters is screen space. Thus, if you perceive widescreen to be a more efficient format (i.e. you need less absolute size to get the same comfort), it is more "power-efficient", because you have the same power consumption for more subjective space. If you prefer 4:3, it's the other way round.

Indeed. I have to agree with this too. Consumption depends on size, not widescreen vs. standard.
Desktop replacement as they're called can be portable and have long life too. It all depends on whether they use portable chips or desktop chips, most notably the graphics card and processor.
Aside from screen size, the backlight of the screen is one of the biggest power consumption devices too.