I like big screens. The last laptop I bought, I went at it backward. I bought a nice roller bag laptop case, then went into a computer store and bought the biggest laptop that would fit in it. It's 17". I like it.

I prefer 13 to 15. I'll dock for any real document work. For meetings and mobility, I like smaller.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
I prefer 13 to 15. I'll dock for any real document work. For meetings and mobility, I like smaller.

This is my feeling as well. 14 or 15 is a good mobile size but I need a big monitor for my office so I too use a docking station. I have a 17" laptop for techs to use at my business and while the screen is much easier to see it is more of a pain in the ass to travel with.

If there were no screen to plug into I would get the 17".

Now I buy them small 12/13 in and have them plugged into my nearest TV.

If I need to travel I just take the laptop and cable and I am good to go.]]]

If its a longer trip I throw a wireless keyboard and mouse in my computer bag.

I was used to a 15.6" Chromebook but upgraded/downsized this summer to a 14" Lenovo touchscreen. I did miss the bigger screen at first but adjusted quickly and now I love it. Costco this model was $150 less this summer with Windows 10.

https://www.costco.com/lenovo-...oduct.100794678.html

Max size for me is 14”. I just don’t see the marginal utility in. 15” or 17”. If I need anything larger, which is pretty much every day, then I’m looking at two 27” monitors.

I wouldn’t get anything bigger that 15.6”. I would like to get a smaller screen but I use portable monitors with my laptop and the standard size is 15.6”.

I do like my set up. A 15.6” laptop flanked on either side by 15.6” portable monitors. If needed, I can pare down to no side monitor or just 1 side monitor. With 2, I rival any desktop configuration short of 4 monitors.

I still use an HP EliteBook 8560p which is quite ancient by computer standards (bought it from a friend about 8 years ago for $40.00). I maxed out the RAM after I bought it, and purchased a new battery, but other than that it has been flawless.

Oh, the screen size is 15.6", and I personally wouldn't want one any smaller... just my opinion of course!

 
My aging (2015) 13" MBP is perfect for me, for a laptop. I run it at the maximum resolution, 2560 x 1600. I don't travel at all, but use it on the porches and in the garage. Most of my work is on the desktop, 32" running at 3840 x 2160, powered by a Mac mini. I have special "computer" prescription glasses, which put the focus at computer viewing distance, and which makes using those resolutions perfect. There is plenty of screen real estate using those resolutions.

I would look less at screen size and more on aspect ratio. I would avoid getting a 16x9 screen on your laptop. While it's look good for Youtube, you'll be scrolling almost constantly because the resolution height isn't that tall.

All Microsoft Surface computers and more PC makers are building laptops with a 3x2 aspect ratio. You get a great amount of screen both tall and wide for work, but for video you will have some black bars either on the sides or at the top and bottom, but there's not bad. If the iPads were 3x2 instead of 4x3, I'd be far less bitchy about them because if I'm not watching TV from 25 years ago, the black bars are MASSIVE.

A compromise of the two is 16x10. You'll have the same width as most monitors, but you'll gain a little more height for doing more computer work with less scrolling. Apple builds their laptops with this aspect ratio and I wish they made iPads like this, but Apple will never give people exactly want they want intentionally.

Something else in regarding screen size on laptops are how large are the bezels around the screen? More and more laptops are being built like the Dell XPS with is known for jamming very large screens into very small form factors. Their 13" laptop has the same chassis size of an 11" laptop from 5-6 years ago, for example.

I ma not sure,

I have an ancient dell (M3500) at home that is 15" or so?? it's a brick and stays in the house

my travel/wok is a HP Elite book, with the number pad on the side, guessing it is a hair wider than the old dell, and much much lighter,

Looked at several. 14-15” would be best but there’s a wide range as to quality. The 13” Dell XPS has a nice, crisp colorful glossy display like an iPad. A lot of 15” displays in the $500-600 range were not crisp and kind of washed out, matte screens.

The XPS is tempting at 630 but I really think something a little larger would be best. Most are super thin now.

15.6" is the perfect size of good for desktop and portability. 14" and the keyboards and such start getting small.

My wife is in need of a new laptop, probably going with a 15.6 Dell. There are some decent sales, looks like $449.00 for one that will last her for years. She uses it as a desktop, never moves it, no photo processing, just some basic home stuff.

Just measured our standard issue computer for the majority of our employees.
Roughly 15.5" diagonal +/- a tenth or two (super precise tape measure ) .
My work computer is a 13" (Latitude E7440) & I dock with 3 24" monitors in the office & 2 24" monitors at home.

We used to issue 13" machine (Latitude E52xx series) because the larger computers (Latitude E64xx) were so heavy.
The newer crop of more plastic computers got the 15.5" options (with the desired 10-key) weight down to a reasonable level & that's all we order now.
We're a Dell shop, so all laptops are Latitude models with i5 processors the majority of orders are either 35xx or 55xx models, depending on availability.

We typically order with the base platter drives & swap in SSDs once they arrive. Cheaper than ordering with an SSD & we get them faster.

Currently I am deciding between two Lenovos.

One is 14" 2.2K (2240x1400) IPS 300nits (touch) screen with 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 (support data transfer, Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4) - AMD no number pad keyboard

The other is 15.6" 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS 300nits (non-touch) but it only has 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 (support data transfer, Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.2) - Intel with number pad keyboard

I run a 17" Gram, love it.