[Kiwi_nl]

Hey ppl

If you have read my previous post in this forum you will know that I'm in the 'almost switched' phase of my mac life. I have a question for those of you who may have an opinion -

I plan on spending a lot of time typing on my new laptop - Im a grad student and will be typing up my thesis on this machine, and in addition, will spend lots of time writing essays on it. How comfortable is the 12.1" screen for this? is the screen (and perhaps keyboard) too small for the hours I will be spending staring at it? Is the text too small?

Thanks in advance.
Kiwi

[jon l. dawson]

I have a 12" and it's fine for using for extended periods. It seems to me that its resolution (which both models share), 1024 x 768 is perfectly suited for the 12" screen. I'd only get the 14" if I wasn't moving it around much or if I was looking at the screen from farther away, like on a desk, most of the time.

[nbn22385]

Once again we were in the same position less than a month ago. I was debating between the 12 and 14. The portability of the 12" far outweighed the power advantages of the 14". Plus, if i'm not mistaken, the keyboard is the same anyway. The space around the keyboard on the 14" seems like a waste to me. i'm not saying to pick the 12", but as jon l. dawson said, the resolutions are the same and the pixel density is superior on the 12" (for viewing pictures/video).

[sine -''-..-]

the 14" gives no extra usability or power - unless being able to sit a bit further back from the screen is a needed feature. the resolution is the same - so if anything it just makes the machine bigger with little gain for the extra size.

I've got a 12" and its the perfect size in my opinion. And chicks dig it.

[MARINEOSX]

You get more battery life with the 14" as well. I like to play a few games on mine war craft, 3 simcity 4 and I do a lot of typing too. The reason I got the 14" is the battery-life and the BIGGER screen. It just feels like my eyes don't have to squint. Don't get me wrong I love the 12", but I like the bigger everything. I have a case that it goes in, It is very portable and I have taken it to iraq and everything. Portability has never been an issue and when I am out with lots of people traveling or doing ops, everyone can see the movies on it. Also because of the bigger case it does not get as hot as the 12" There is also a super drive option on the 14" and I wish I would have gotten it. I love the 12" and sold one to my friend last night it was her first Mac and she loves it. Play with both of them and see what you think. Just make sure you get what you want and what will fit your needs.

[brickcam]

I'm surprised no-one has lauded the 14", so I will: I recently sold my 12" and bought a (newer) 14". Yes, it has the same resolution, but I was frustrated by the 12's small size. It's much easier on my eyes to work now, and I don't need to bump the font size in various apps. My vision is fine, this is just an issue of eyestrain; and with the kind of hours I spent in from of the box, it's a serious one.

[brettcamp]

It depends on how important portability is to you. If you're going to be carrying it around a lot, to class, library etc., smaller is better. I used my 12" iBook for 2 years as my only computer. I didn't want the weight of the 14" and I thought the 12" screen's sharpness and brightness outweighed the larger (but fuzzier) images on the 14".

It really helped to augment it with an iCurve (or another good laptop stand) and an external keyboard -- much better for your eyes, wrists, posture. And of course you can always boost the text size by setting your Safari, Mail, word processor etc preferences and views to require larger minimum font sizes, often using the ?-+ command to boost text size, increasing viewing percentage in Word or Acrobat to 125% or 150%, etc.

Nevertheless, I finally decided that I wanted a bigger screen, and got a 17" external LCD monitor. Now I have the best of both worlds -- portability when needed AND big screen for most of my daily work, which consists of hours writing, surfing, emailing. My eyes are so grateful. So you can consider that option as an alternative to a larger screen on your laptop.

[afireinside]

I got a 12" for christmas. I was shocked by how small it was when I saw it at the apple store and I was a bit scared it would be to small but now that I'm used to it its the perfect size. Everything is crisp and clear and I havent had any issues seeing anything. I can even play WoW in windowed mode alright. My 19" CRT seems huge now

[brickcam]

Originally posted by brettcamp:
It depends on how important portability is to you. If you're going to be carrying it around a lot, to class, library etc., smaller is better. I used my 12" iBook for 2 years as my only computer. I didn't want the weight of the 14" and I thought the 12" screen's sharpness and brightness outweighed the larger (but fuzzier) images on the 14".

It really helped to augment it with an iCurve (or another good laptop stand) and an external keyboard -- much better for your eyes, wrists, posture. And of course you can always boost the text size by setting your Safari, Mail, word processor etc preferences and views to require larger minimum font sizes, often using the ?-+ command to boost text size, increasing viewing percentage in Word or Acrobat to 125% or 150%, etc.

Nevertheless, I finally decided that I wanted a bigger screen, and got a 17" external LCD monitor. Now I have the best of both worlds -- portability when needed AND big screen for most of my daily work, which consists of hours writing, surfing, emailing. My eyes are so grateful. So you can consider that option as an alternative to a larger screen on your laptop.

FYI the screen spanning hack is wonderful; now I have the functionality you describe PLUS the screen space on my ibook. Little did I know that ibooks could monitor span, before I came to Macnn....