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Get Ready For The 20-inch Laptop
linumax writes "With so many DVDs featuring letterboxed or wide-screen versions of films, consumers' fascination with larger screen sizes is changing the size and shape of the laptop industry, stated an IDC report issued on Monday. The wide-screen format, found in only 39.2 percent of laptops expected to ship this year, will become dominant in mid- to late 2006. It will nearly eclipse standard screen dimensions by the end of 2009, the market research firm estimates. Samsung has already unleashed its upcoming 19-inch laptop. 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."
Give me the portability of a Tablet PC like the Toshiba Tecra anyday.. These large display systems are akin to SUVs in their power consumption, are they not?
~jennifer.k~
I like bigger screens. When I bought my laptop four years ago I got the biggest screen available at the time. The thing is a tall beast, but it's not widescreen. I don't want widescreen. Widescreen forces me to use more width, when in reality I never need more width, I only ever need more height. Never am I reading a webpage and think, "Damn, if only this computer were a little wider."
The worst part is, all the good new laptops are being made with widescreen because little Jane going off to college wants to watch DVDs. I don't want to watch DVDs on my computer, I'll do that on the TV. I want to use it as a computer, and computer need height.
I just wish some laptop companies would keep the big non-widescreen models around. It's sad.
--
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You got laptops with 20" screens now, why don't they put larger keyboards on those very same laptops? Those ittybitty chicklet keyboards kill hands for just about everyone I know that use them, save for the odd elf. They got alot of area on the laptop to place additional items like USB ports, relocating that %#$*()&! speaker jack, loads of other items can go in that blank space now.
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
. . . personally, I don't see the point of having to carry a screen, when I can carry a pair of goggles to view my applications with, and a pair of gloves (or smaller attatchments to my hands) to type on my virtual keyboard, and manipulate the programs with.
Simply put, I hope companies begin to innovate rather more than simply changing the dimensions of the screen I need to view with. I mean the things meant to be portable, not inexcusably large.
I mean really, it's just silly now.
My biggest gripe with all "big screen" laptops is that tiny keyboard stuck in the middle of the huge room of the bottom part. So instead of giving us correctly placed arrow keys, full-size enter, Ins/Del placed conveniently, just for websurfing and games on bigscreen, they stuff the remaining rum with numpad. Yeah, great for widescreen accounting and displaying several columns extra in Excel, isn't it? Oh, and yes, and since the numpad took some extra place, and the rest of horizontal space was wasted with inch-wide margins on both sides and some extra column of "custom" keys, stuff all the keys that in a normal laptop fit in a column right from enter, just below it right Control, where you rest your wrists.
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'Only' 39% of the market? That is a huge percentage of a market that exists to make portable computers. Given that the vast majority of people don't need the power offered by today's desktops, the idea of having a device that is small (er), quiet, and can be packed away and transported when necessary, is a significant advantage to most people. Does this indicate a transition from the traditional desktop form-factor to the 'luggable laptop' for the majority of consumers?
In the office where my wife works all the computer systems (I assume except the servers) are laptops. They cost about the same amount of money and people tend to take them home on the weekend.
So the laptops are being used as car-portable desktops.
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A few months ago I was advising a friend of the family on purchasing a new computer. She was adament that she NEEDED a laptop with a widescreen monitor. After going through why she needed a portable computer over a desktop she had no answer. These new monster laptops are being marketed as full fledged desktop computers with added portability.
Personally I'd like to see a step in the other direction, something akin the Apple 12 inch iBook, except smaller and less fruit.
Why would anyone want a laptop so big? The point of a laptop is that it is portable, you can take it with you places. If it's 20"+ diagonally that really doesn't fit in any bag I know. It's one thing if you are using it as a desktop replacement. And it's another thing if you are using it for something like a display in your booth at a trade show. But for a computer you use on the plane, train and other public spaces it's gotta be smaller. Right now the only things that even come close to good enough are incredibly expensive laptops from japan, the small vaios, the fujitsu lifebook p series and the 12" apples. I haven't found any other laptop even close to small enough.
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This is a direct result of better PDA technology. Devices like the Treo, Blackberry, and ultra-light tablets are allowing the normal business user avoid lugging around a normal laptop and still have access to email and office suite apps. So the pressure to make laptops more portable has been relieved by the emergence of a new market segment and devices specifically aimed at being ultra-portable.
Meanwhile, the desktop users, all but the l33test gamers, and developers are demanding more powerful transportable devices. They don't need to travel accross the country, but would like the flexibility of using their PCs from their living room or the backyard without sacrificing their big screens and better power.
The transportable desktop replacement business is naturally growing while the ultraportable segment is shrinking.
We all hope that Philips will speed the technology up.
Wider screens means also heavier batteries and bulkier carrying bags!
And also more fragile devices!
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For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
Interesting, because I feel quite the opposite. I have a 15" laptop, and I would love to have a 12" one. I think the 15"er takes up too much space and is an awkward thing to put in a backpack and carry around all day. The screen isn't MUCH smaller than a regular laptop and once you're used to the size it's not so bad; and at home I can plug it into my 19" monitor.
Different strokes, I guess. I have a feeling that we aren't going to see a massive shift in what laptops folks are selling, I'm more inclined to guess that the PC market will follow Apple's suit and have size be the primary selling point on their laptops.
I have a 19 inch monitor at home. At work, I was using a 17 inch for a while. I didn't really notice much difference. I've also used 15 inch monitors that are set to 800x600 at the university. In the end, I don't really feel like it makes that much of a difference. If I was going for a laptop, i'd get a 12 inch or 15 inch, since portability is really what you want in a laptop. The only time I found that having more screen space was an asset was with multiple monitors. I find its the only way to have more than 1 program at a usable size. 1 monitor, no matter the resolution, doesn't really work too well with multiple programs opened. Maybe its just the way the window managers are designed.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
resolution says nothing about how much you can fit on the screen. It really gets me mad, when people set their tiny monitors to some really small resolution. Either you can't see anything, or the fonts are so big, that you get no advantage of actually having a higher resolution. If you want you fonts to be x mm accross, then a bigger monitor will always be able to fit more letters on them.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I agree. While in general, I wouldn't want to haul that 19" Samsung around all day, it seems like the perfect compromise for a business person. You bring the computer part to the office, where a full-sized monitor awaits you. If you need to make a presentation with a projector, your scren can be omitted (I know PowerPoint let's you have visual cues and extra text on a second screen, but for many presentations that's irrelevant). At the end of the day, you bring home the computer, and can use it at home for gaming/browsing/yet more work, by connecting it to your monitor there. Hell, if you're lucky enough to afford a Plasma screen, hook it up to watch a DVD in your living room! I agree with the parent post-if you don't think of this as a laptop, but rather a luggable computer that happens to come with a (detachable) matching monitor, it actually is a cool form factor.
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one " -Albert Einstein
Dont know about you but i cant usually fit the code that i write on an 800x600 display. I like to see a few blocks back and forth, so i dont have to scroll around to see what my bozo coworkers added to cvs the last night and what might break my code. even 1024x768 is far too small for me :(
... (as a tabletop/desknote it would be pretty ok thou).
... so your laptop can be as small as suits your fingers (I always have issues with these mega-mini laptops that require you to use a pencil for typing on its megamini qwerty keyboard, i use an attached normal keyboard everywhere i can and luckily my laptop keyboard is about as big as the normal one, without the numpad ofcourse). Or even more the future way, have some kind of screen beamed at your eye or a contact lens covering the eye ? Any more ideas anyone ? Beamable sound would be cool too, so i could hear stuff that i want to hear as loud as i need it without wearing funny earphones and without upsetting the coworkers.
My laptop is a widescreen 15.4", quite a perfect fit for me. It fits fine on my lap and is small enough to carry around. I'm around 184cm/6feet myself, so i dont concider myself neither a small nor a big boy. But a 20" laptop on my lap would look pretty redicilous
On the other hand, what would you think about having the screen in your glasses (or sunglasses if you dont wear regular glasses) ? They could have pretty enormous resolutions and still be portable
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You mean it's what YOU want in a laptop. I want a large screen. I don't carry mine around with me constantly. It goes to work, and it goes home. I don't take it to cafe's, on trains, or to random places much. I want a big screen and dont' really care if it is 20" wide or weighs 10 lbs. Unlike you, I also have several apps open and onscreen at what I consider usable sizes. Different strokes for different folks.
It's nice that we are getting a wider selection of models available so that each person can chose one that suits them and the way they like to work. I don't think 19" and 20" models will take over in what's used. I think we will see that sales in laptop sized will be broadly distibuted, jusst like their uses.
It's really just an easily moveable computer anymore. Pack it up at home, unpack it at the hotel room and sit it on the table. Or pack it up at your primary residence, unpack at your investment residence while you spend a week there taking care of business.
:)
I know a couple people who have picked up 19"ers. The things are absolute monstrosities and weigh half a ton. But you don't see them carrying the laptops around in their backpack every day. They carry it in a laptop bag from their permanent residence to their next temp residence then to the next temp residence after that. They aren't out in the field using their laptops for diagnostics on equipment. People just want a computer they can use wherever they happen to be for that week.
Having said that, I was looking into getting a true "portable" laptop computer, and was thinking that even a 15.4"er might be kinda hefty. I am contimplating something in the 12" to 14" range because I simple want the laptop for collecting and manipulating data, and writing documents on the fly. I have no desire to watch a 2 hour movie on a screen in my laptop on a daily basis. Although, for convenience, I might watch a movie or play a game during a flight if I don't have any other work I can complete. But that's about it. I'll stick to a 110" diagonal projection screen for watching movies for real
If we're getting such a wide laptop. I hope they finally put a full sized keyboard with keypad on it. I'm tired of having to either hook up a full keyboard or a usb keypad for full keyboard functionality. My hands feel so cramped on a regular laptop keyboard and the arrow keys are attrotious.
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I'd swap my 17" Powerbook for a 12" with the same resolution anyday. The 17" is barely portable but the screen is lovely to work on.
In short, the keyboard is worst typing experience I've ever had. I'm sure some vendors place the keyboard better and make it more comfortable, but it's still going to be awkward with that much useless real estate.
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Lower power consumption. The screen is a huge sink on the battery. Decrease that by 50% or so and you can probably get a couple more hours out of your battery. Techies, admins, field engineers will buy those up in droves.