i am buying my first laptop for school. i need to know about screen size, should i get 17" or smaller. i would

Question

like to hear from others about their preferences. if there is much difference in useability and portability.

Answer 1

17 inches is 43.18 centimeters
which I'm going to round down to 43,
and part of what's important here depends on other features
like whether it's TFT or CRT
so I can only speak approximately.

In length, that's like carrying a
monkey brain, babboon brain and 2 human brains
end-to-end diagonally,
OR a camel brain, 2 kangaroo, 1 cat, 1 rabbit and a squirrel brain
end-to-end diagonally.

If you'd get just a 12" instead
then you could free yourself (lengthwise) of a head
or three, so give it a whirl
(like two kitties and a squirrel).
End-to-end diagonally.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall
into your backpack.
The wider they are, the more power they need,
and they will ransack it
until the charge is expended,
and you wish you would've fended
for something less extreme
like a 12 or 14 inch screen.

Hear this sung at: http://noise.dillfrog.com/audio/aawwtf/iambuyingmyfirstlaptopforschool.mp3

Answer 2

17" monitors automatically mean several things:

1) heavier
2) they take up more space
3) keyboards are closer to the standard desktop keyboard size and layout

Apple's puts a more powerful battery in the 17" MacbookPro so that the larger machine actually lasts one hour longer than the 15"

Definitely go to the store and test drive the 17", 15" and 13" Apple laptops.

Answer 3

laptop computers can be a rather tricky buy at times, I would suggest that you look out for the cheapest and yet latest desktop on the market,

the best way to do this is on what they call warehouse sale markets some of them are online.

these warehouse owners have a service where they sell laptop computers to normal customers like you and me, however with very reduced prices due to the fact that they do not have as much costs as normal shops do, such as rent and a employees etc. as you know most online shops have rather competitive prices sometimes cutting the laptop price to a half.

one such website for laptop computers is :

http://umgarticles.atspace.com/laptop-computer.htm

Answer 4

When we bought our daughter a notebook for university, we got her a 17" widescreen so she could enjoy DVDs and streaming television for entertainment. While this proved to be useful, a 17" screen/model weighs at least 1Lb. more than a 14" screen/model and that will make you question the need to use the notebook as entertainment.

I'd buy the SMALLEST model that meets your needs.

Answer 5

17" is very good and pretty much standard. especially if you plan on playing games and doing some programming. smaller laptop screens are just for portability and will hender it usefulness. go for the 17". you'll be better off....peace

Answer 6

I would go with 4 LBS or smaller. If you're gonna be carrying that thing around all day w/ your books it going to start getting really heavy with a 17" laptop.

Answer 7

I just bought a Sony Viao with a 13" inch screen. I paid about $400 more for the small screen size.

The bigger the screen the heavier the computer (in general). Do you want to lug something heavy around campus?

...something to think about it.

Answer 8

you should get anything smaller than a 17" because it will be easier to carry around and to use. 12" or 15" is the way to go

Answer 9

As you mentioned that you are buying for school then I'll suggest that you should go for 17" or less screen as it will be more easy in carrying and cost you less.

Answer 10

My friend just bought one for his daughter. He got the recommended specs from her school and then went to Walmart.com to compare. He got a much better laptop for less money, with extra equipment, also