Official Laptop Screensize Poll

[TeaRat]

Hi grads:

I decided to post under "research" as I am specifically interested in what insights, preferences, and prejudices you may have to offer on the laptop as a research technology.

 

I can't decide whether to get a 15 or 13 inch retina MacBook Pro. (Coming from an old non-retina 15" MBP). I'm seduced by the 13 inch's portability--my laptop has been feeling terribly heavy lately--but fear losing the 15 inch's screen size and all the potential details I might display on it simultaneously in retina.

 

In the course of writing your theses, dissertations, publications, papers, and researching for all of these, how have you balanced the portability/screen real estate tradeoff?

 

I'm especially interested in perspectives of those in the humanities in social sciences (my field straddles these two general areas) and those who are accustomed to juxtaposing and working with multiple texts and word documents as well as internet tabs at once to produce a paper.

[bumblyboo]

I was in this same predicament last month when buying a new laptop for grad school. I decided to stay with a 15in and plan on buying a sturdy bag that will help off-set the weight.

Edited May 2, 2014 by bumblyboo

[fuzzylogician]

I have a 13'' machine. I have a docking station with a large screen at home, and I have a second monitor I connect it to at the office. That way, I get the extra screen real estate when I need it, but the computer itself is light and portable. I had a 14.1'' machine before this and I didn't feel like I lost anything because the screen is now smaller, but I've never had a 15'' machine so I'm not sure how it would compare.

[kimmibeans]

Wow, everybody hear has such big computers compared to me! I have a little 11.5" and it works great for me. I have no problem reading or editing on a smaller screen (I actually prefer it) and the keyboard is just the right size. Plus, I'm a tiny person so I always feel awkward carrying large laptops, and consequently large laptop bags, with me.

[TakeruK]

I used to have a 15.4" but now I use a 13" Macbook Pro (old non-retina). When I am using my 13", the screen seems huge to me though. I just switch between desktops to have more than one thing going on at once. I don't think I want the weight of anything bigger than 13" again but I think 11" might be too small for me. My hands are large and already crowd up most of the horizontal space on the 13" so I can't imagine typing comfortably on the 11". But I have never tried for a long period of time so I don't really know for sure!

 

At work, I have a 30" monitor though. I don't do a ton of work on my laptop (except for writing papers/presentations) so I never feel the need for additional screen real estate with my laptop. 

[ss2player]

Wow, everybody hear has such big computers compared to me! I have a little 11.5" and it works great for me. I have no problem reading or editing on a smaller screen (I actually prefer it) and the keyboard is just the right size. Plus, I'm a tiny person so I always feel awkward carrying large laptops, and consequently large laptop bags, with me.

 

On the flip side of this, I'm a large person (6'2", 220 lbs with big hands) so a tiny computer would make me feel like Gulliver in Lilliput! I have a 15.4" now, it's old and slow, but works for me. If I was buying again I'd go 13" and get an external 23"+ monitor for home like Fuzzy has.

[danieleWrites]

I do literature and sociology (sociology of literature, specifically). I have a 17" laptop that I very occasionally carry to school when I need the big screen. I have a tablet with a keyboard that I bring to school for regular use. Some days, I just use my smartphone and keyboard. I've used my tablet to conference with students about their lengthy essays and doing research through library databases. I don't find the tablet useful for spreadsheets. However, my department has a computer lab for TAs and the campus is covered with general computer labs.

I dislike laptops in class because they don't leave much room on the desk for anything, like the text we might be working with. Also, I'm short so the screen gets in the way. The tablet doesn't.

But this is me, and my research is all qualitative, so applications that need a big screen aren't necessary for me in school. When I work with things that do need a big screen, and can't do it at home, I use school computers.

Frankly, carrying a heavy computer and books really sucks. This place is like the frickin' Andes. Everything is uphill.

[toasterazzi]

I currently have a 13 inch macbook pro, and I had a 13 inch powerbook prior to this computer. I've never really had issues with the screen size. There are times when a bigger screen could be somewhat useful, but it's not on a regular basis or anything like that.

[gellert]

I'm using a 13" macbook air and it's been perfect in terms of screen size and portability.  Maybe it'd be nice to have a larger screen, but really I'm not all that bothered, since as I've never had anything larger than 13" I don't know what I'm missing.

[asdfx3]

Like fuzzylogician I prefer 13 (or even 11) inch for laptops because portability is #1 and for a single window 13" is more than enough (two windows are usually ok depending on the app). If I need a larger screen I either use a desktop or have the laptop hooked up to a monitor and keyboard/mouse.

[Lisa44201]

I don't miss much on the 19". It is kinda heavy, though. 

[themmases]

My laptop is 15-ish inches and I feel like I could have gone smaller. (I always use my laptop on my lap because I don't like to sit at a desk, so the 15-ish" situation is my all the time monitor.) Although the screen measurement is similar, the dimensions of my current laptop are noticeably wider than my last computer in that size range. However, it was very important to me to have a keyboard with a number pad and that's easier to find in larger computers. My last computer didn't have a separate number pad, and it was annoying even for some pretty general work in Excel.

 

Personally, if I were docking my laptop or using a desktop frequently, I'd try to get the smallest computer that met my needs. Since I will be looking at it and typing on it all the time, I set a weight limit and then got the biggest thing I was comfortable carrying. Look into the relative weights of both sizes-- with charger-- and see how your bag will feel every day with each. That should clarify things.

[GeoDUDE!]

If I didn't need tons of power, I would get the smallest laptop possible; maxed out 11 inch air, and make sure at home I had a large screen to hook it up to. IMO, always go as small as possible. I wish I could get by without a desecrate graphics card/ quad core, but 3-D modeling requires a bit too much power for the 13 inch. 

[Eigen]

11" Air. And then 24" monitor at home, and dual 20" monitors at my desk in my office. 

 

But then, I also have a supercomputer core I can use for heavy modeling and a desktop in the office for lighter work, so I don't need the power on my laptop- just portability. 

[reinhard]

Anything over 15inch no longer qualifies as a "laptop". The point of a laptop is portability and convenience. I own a 13in Mac

[victorydance]

Anything over 15inch no longer qualifies as a "laptop". The point of a laptop is portability and convenience. I own a 13in Mac

 

Not anymore. Laptops are now just as powerful as desktop computers.

 

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Personally I don't care about portability. I have a backpack, therefore carrying around my 15.6 (and I always have it) laptop doesn't matter to me. 

[juilletmercredi]

I'm in the social sciences.  I have a 13" screen but I have a 24" monitor I use at home.  99% of the time if I am at home my laptop is hooked up to the monitor and that's what I work on.  My dissertation was primarily written facing that.

When I travel, though, my 13" laptop is absolutely fine for pretty much everything I want to do.  The only things I wish I had more screen real estate for are doing side by side comparisons of documents and writing results of statistical analyses.  I wouldn't get any laptop larger than 13", though, because the portability is definitely worth the extra screen space.  I have a bad lower back so any weight I can cut off (even if I am toting it in my backpack) is a good deal for me.

Honestly, if I could do it over again and had the money, I'd go with a Mac mini and a 13" or even 11" MacBook Air.  (I have a 13" MacBook non-Retina Pro).

[GeoDUDE!]

Not anymore. Laptops are now just as powerful as desktop computers.

 

-----

 

Personally I don't care about portability. I have a backpack, therefore carrying around my 15.6 (and I always have it) laptop doesn't matter to me. 

 

 

That is wrong. Desktop computers are significantly more powerful than laptops. Dye sizes of the CPU are bigger, they are better thermally, and the firmware is more efficient. There are laptops with desktop CPUs, but those are 3-4 inchs thick, and cost 3-4k. 

 

Furthermore, we are just talking about consumer grade products. Once you get into industry grade componets, it is no question. Haswell consumer simply cannot compete with the Haswell Xeon architecture. 

 

What you probably mean is that laptops are powerful enough to handle what was once thought to be demanding tasks. That is true, you can even do some light video editing on a 11inch macbook air. IT will still take a while, but the edits will resolve. But never ever delude yourself that desktops arent 2-3x more powerful with stock cooling. Better cooling systems (mineral oil, water, industrial fans) can net you much higher clock speeds than standard CPUs as well, something not achievable in laptops because of the thermal constraints. 

 

If processor A and B are both 2.5 ghz, it does not mean that processor A and B are equal. Think of processors like wheels of a bike; some bikes have bigger wheels, so when they go through 1 cycle, they travel further than smaller wheels.  

[victorydance]

That is wrong. Desktop computers are significantly more powerful than laptops. Dye sizes of the CPU are bigger, they are better thermally, and the firmware is more efficient. There are laptops with desktop CPUs, but those are 3-4 inchs thick, and cost 3-4k. 

 

Furthermore, we are just talking about consumer grade products. Once you get into industry grade componets, it is no question. Haswell consumer simply cannot compete with the Haswell Xeon architecture. 

 

What you probably mean is that laptops are powerful enough to handle what was once thought to be demanding tasks. That is true, you can even do some light video editing on a 11inch macbook air. IT will still take a while, but the edits will resolve. But never ever delude yourself that desktops arent 2-3x more powerful with stock cooling. Better cooling systems (mineral oil, water, industrial fans) can net you much higher clock speeds than standard CPUs as well, something not achievable in laptops because of the thermal constraints. 

 

If processor A and B are both 2.5 ghz, it does not mean that processor A and B are equal. Think of processors like wheels of a bike; some bikes have bigger wheels, so when they go through 1 cycle, they travel further than smaller wheels.  

 

I think you took my comment out of context. It was in reference to the argument that 'convenience' was the utmost utility of a laptop. This type of thinking is antiquated. 

 

I am not saying that laptops are always just as powerful as desktops, obviously desktops have a much higher ceiling than laptops for a multitude of reasons. However, for the average consumer, there is really no difference between buying a run of the mill laptop and a run of the mill desktop these days, they both are able to run the same applications and have similar spec capabilities.

 

Not that long ago laptops were only used for their portability and convenience and desktops were significantly better machines. However since then, laptops in the consumer market have caught up to desktops. Presently, there is no real reason to have a desktop unless you need it for specific purposes as a laptop will cover most applications the average person needs as long as they buy a decent quality one; with the additional benefit of being able to bring it around with you.

 

That's all I mean. 

Edited June 9, 2014 by victorydance

[FlyingDutchman]

For me, the smaller the screen, the better. I currently use a Google Chromebook. I will admit that its small screen size sometimes makes it difficult to have two windows open at once. In this case, a 13" screen size is preferable. But overall, I value having a light and portable laptop above all else. 

[NavyMom]

I have the Yoga 13 and I love it.  Although I am a fairly small person.  I hook it up to my 24 inch monitor when I am home so I have a better viewing area, but on the go, the 13 inch screen works okay for me.  It's lighter and easier to cart around, too.