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Eug Wanker · Oct 25, 2005, 04:22 PM

http://news.com.com/Ready+for+a+20-i...3-5911772.html

But are consumers ready to lug around a 20-inch laptop? Shim said that displays measuring 15 inches and 17 inches on the diagonal--once considered too big to carry around--are now among the more popular versions.

Even larger screen sizes are in the pipeline. Samsung has already shown its upcoming 19-inch laptop to CNET Reviews. The product is expected to ship later this year. Dell, a major partner of Samsung, could easily adopt the large screen format for its high-end XPS laptops. And, LG Philips is also touting its 20-inch LCD displays for laptops, Shim said.

That's friggin' HUGE. Not for me though.

I'll gladly buy a 23" iMac, but I'll stick with 12-15" laptops.

ort888 · Oct 25, 2005, 04:32 PM

Different people use laptops in different ways. If it stays on a desk 95% of the time, you may want to sacrifice portability for lots of screen.

Personally, I think 17" is too big, but it works for some people, so why not.

mdc · Oct 25, 2005, 05:16 PM

i don't have an issue with carrying my 15" around, it's in my backpack right now. i don't use it all that much at work, maybe an hour or so during lunch.
i am going to buy a new 17" (selling my 15, advert in the marketplace (

). i think the 17" is the biggest i would carry around. after that the 19" and the 20" laptops sound monsterous.

what backpack is big enough to fit a 20" laptop in, and there is no way that can be marketed to be moved around, especially if it is a pc laptop. the last 17" pc laptop i saw was *a lot* thicker than the 17" powerbook.

rozwado1 · Oct 25, 2005, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

If it stays on a desk 95% of the time, you may want to sacrifice portability for lots of screen.

Isn't that why Apple made it possible to hook up and do display spanning?

Eug Wanker · Oct 25, 2005, 06:07 PM

I'm looking at my 20" iMac right now and just couldn't imagine lugging that screen around...

JoshuaZ · Oct 25, 2005, 07:24 PM

20in Laptops coming, along with acute back pains.

As much as I love a 15in, or 17in laptop... if you`re going to travel with it a lot getting a nice small and lite notebook is the way to go.

Though as said before, most people just keep it on their desk 95% of the time.

nredman · Oct 25, 2005, 07:25 PM

does that mean the 15" will go down in price so i can buy one?

Randman · Oct 25, 2005, 08:44 PM

The 17 is quite portable but a larger screen? Dunno about that.

kcmac · Oct 25, 2005, 11:27 PM

There comes a point in time when the term desktop comes to mind.

Salty · Oct 26, 2005, 12:04 AM

A 20 inch Laptop is a lil crazy. I mean I could imagine it working for some people. But... really...

exca1ibur · 12:12 AM

Originally Posted by kcmac

There comes a point in time when the term desktop comes to mind.

Yeah I agree. Seems there is no defination of what size it considered 'portable'. To me 17" is that limit. 15" is the ideal balance for me. 20 is beyond portable and considering as a 'laptop'. Some of the Windows laptops are huge at even 17" imagine 20" with all the crap they put on these machines presently. The only big thing I can see is they might start to include a keypad on these machines because there will be a LOT more space to do so.

driven · Oct 26, 2005, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by exca1ibur

Yeah I agree. Seems there is no defination of what size it considered 'portable'. To me 17" is that limit. 15" is the ideal balance for me. 20 is beyond portable and considering as a 'laptop'. Some of the Windows laptops are huge at even 17" imagine 20" with all the crap they put on these machines presently. The only big thing I can see is they might start to include a keypad on these machiens because there will be a LOT more space to do so.

Some of the Windows machines (HP, Toshiba, et al) already include the extra numeric keypad. As you have pointed out though, those machines are HUGE! I would never want to carry one around as "portable". Certainly I wouldn't want to use one of them on an airliner. Some of the Windows 15" laptops are nearly as big as the 17" Powerbook.

I'm quite happy with my Apple 15" PB. :-)

Salty · Oct 26, 2005, 10:57 PM

Correction as someone who sells both mac and windows laptops, MOST 15 inch Windows laptops are the same size as the 17 inch PowerBook.

JoshuaZ · Oct 26, 2005, 11:25 PM

Well put salty... well put. So I wonder how big the 20in Windows laptops will be? Will they come with their own cart?