[Tfug] Laptop options

[Adrian]

On Friday 18 November 2011 20:20, Tyler Kilian wrote:
> Not trying to be contrary, but why not just embrace widescreen?   The
> boat has sailed on this one.  4:3 isn't coming back, so why not spend
> your money on a superior machine with widescreen?   I'm also curious,
> why can't you do work on a widescreen?  Millions of people are able
> to work on widescreen just fine.
>

Display a full page of text in portrait mode? Display 4 non-overlapping 110x30 
command windows on the desktop at the same time?

The widescreens common on most laptops these days are 1366x768, that is 28% 
less pixel information and 27% less vertical space in a 15" display than my 4 
year old 1400x1050 laptop. Given the difference in screen ratios, it also 
means that a given 15.4" 16:9 display is also physically approx 1" - 1-1/2" 
shorter than an equivalent 15.4" 4:3 display.

The next basic step up is 1600x900 which is still 14% less vertical resolution 
than my 4 year old laptop... I have tried one and don't care for it, the 
pixels tend to be squashed meaning you just have to upscale everything to be 
able to ready text comfortably anyways, which negates the point of having a 
higher resolution in the first place. I believe pixel resolution should be 
just below your eye resolution at a given working distance, beyond that 
additional resolution gains you nothing. Without zooming in, can you tell the 
difference between a typical 1Mpix camera shot and a 4Mpix camera shot? Sure, 
the later is a bit sharper and more defined. Can you tell the same between a 
4Mpix and a 14Mpix? No you can not...

The next step is 1920x1050 which is horribly small on a 15" display. On a 17" 
display I find it quite usable. Unfortunately, a 17" laptop (particularly a 
17" widescreen) is no longer portable. I carry around 2 laptops, several 
paper notebooks, and 40lbs of network tools and materials every day... I'm 
not putting a large (read - much more fragile) display in with all of that.


Adrian