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Size of a laptop, for school

post #1 of 29
7/21/06 at 4:00am
Thread Starter 
Hi, I have been looking at MANY different laptops over the past couple months. Out of the many brands I have choosen a couple that I like. But there is one thing that I can not figure out, the size of the laptop. So my question is, are 17in laptops really to big and heavy to carry around, if I did not get 17in I was looking at the 15in laptops. So can someone tell me if I should go for a smaller laptop or go with a 17in? Also are there any good laptops that any of you would recomend, my prize limit is $2000. I will be useing the laptop for school, chating, surfing the web, and gameing. Thank you far any help I can get.
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post #2 of 29
7/21/06 at 4:08am
Well, my suggestion would be to go to your local Best Buy and look at the different laptops. You be the judge. The most accurate way to find out the size of something is to see it in person.
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post #3 of 29
7/21/06 at 4:21am
I agree. You should go see it yourself to be the judge.

Personally, I like the 15.4" screen for frequent travel if you need power. If you dont need power, 13-14" is fine. Thats just me though.
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post #4 of 29
7/21/06 at 4:32am
Thread Starter 
I have seen the size of a 17in so I know what it looks like, but I am going to be using the laptops for school, so I will have to carry it around with me almost every day. So I need to know if a 17in would be to large to carry on a daily basis. Also the names of any good laptops under $2000 would be helpful as well.
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post #5 of 29
7/21/06 at 4:38am
Are you comfortable carrying a large laptop around? Would they let you pick up one of the 17" ones at the store? If its ok by you to carry a large laptop around, go right ahead. As long as you're happy with your purchase

Like I said, if you need power while still saying mobile my personal opinion is go for a 15.4". But if you just need mobility, a 13-14" would probably be better.
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post #6 of 29
7/21/06 at 5:01am
Thread Starter 
I am doing a little bit of reserch on the 15.4 laptops and the graphics cards in them seem to be much weaker then all of there 17in counterparts. I do enjoy playing games now and then, so can a 15.4in laptop handle some of the newer end games, like FEAR and Oblivion. Or are they just not strong enought.
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post #7 of 29
7/21/06 at 5:32am
My last generation x700 can handle Fear and Oblivion on mediumish-highish settings with decent resolution. The new generation can handle them on high with decent resolution.
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post #8 of 29
7/21/06 at 6:05am
Take a look at this thread, you'll find some answers there

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread161561.html
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post #9 of 29
7/21/06 at 10:30am
I did my first year of college on a 15.4 incher and found even that to be too big to take to class every day. If you feel you need to game, which many college students loose interest in once they start school, I would recamend the Asus W3J or A8Jm. They pack pretty good graphics into a smaller 14.1 inch notebook. They probably have the best gaming performance of any truely mobile laptop out there. For me though I wanted smaller yet so I went with a 13.3 inch Macbook. If you want dedicated graphics in a 13.3 incher you may want to look at the Sony SZ series. Their are a couple other 13.3 inch laptops with dedicated graphics I can't think of off hand. If you want to go really small their is the Dell XPS M1210 at 12.1 inches and it can also still handle gameing.
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post #10 of 29
7/21/06 at 10:41am
I realize that the norm is widescreen these days, but for comparison sake, my 14" T43 against my 17" E1705







Personally, a 15.4" is the largest I'd get with any plans of mobility. It's a little large for sitting on a desk at school, but you can still get decent battery life out of some of the systems.
My E1705 will be a desk queen...I just bought it for taking to LANs, and using as a multimedia system at college. I feel bad for people that buy 17's and plan on taking them anywhere...hell, the entire T43's height only comes up to the palmrest on the E1705. It's f'n huge.

As mentioned above, the Asus W3J would be what I'd reccomend to anyone who cared about mobility and gaming. It's a much more well-rounded laptop than the 14" T series that I have...but I personally buy laptop systems focused on their strengths rather than being well rounded. A 14" T series for mobility (while retaining power), a 17" for mobile gaming and multimedia purposes. If you had to go with just 1 system, the W3J would get my vote.
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post #11 of 29
7/21/06 at 7:15pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you all for your advise, after seeing the pics posted, comparing the two, I can tell now that a 17in is a bit to big to carry around. I am going to look into some of the brands recamended above. So the Asus W3J is a good system to look into?
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post #12 of 29
7/21/06 at 9:48pm
The largest laptop I would take around is 15.4" but it must be fairly light too. I would say anything under 6lbs is desirable as the laptop will not be the only thing you'll be carrying around.
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post #13 of 29
7/21/06 at 11:31pm
Check out the Dell E1405 and E1505, they are 14.1" and 15.4" respectively, and you can configure them + use coupons/deals for a great price. ASUS laptops are a favorite around here, the S96j is another one you might want to research, it's in Filippo's notebook thread.
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post #14 of 29
7/22/06 at 12:09am
i have a 14" thinkpad and a 15.4" widescreen system and to move around i prefer the thinkpad, but for work, i find the 15.4" be the perfect size. my bro used his 15.4" asus in school last year and has no complaints of size.
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post #15 of 29
7/22/06 at 12:16am
I have a 15.4" and it has done well at college. I got it for a gaming/school notebook. In retrospect, I wish I had gotten a 12.1" lappy and a serious desktop. The 15.4 is a good size for decent gfx and portability. But, just like everyone has said...just gotta figure out what fits you best.
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post #16 of 29
7/22/06 at 11:47am
Personally I think some of you computer geeks need to hit the gym An 8 or 9 pound laptop isn't too heavy to carry around, it will weigh about the same as a large textbook. If you think you need the power, go for it. Don't sacrifice power that you need just because you're afraid of the size.
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post #17 of 29
7/22/06 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
I have been looking through the Asus web site and found that they seem to be very good laptops. The z96J seems like a good 15.4in laptops and there are even a couple 14in that seem good. But my one problem with the Asus brand is that they seem VERY plain. But I guess it is not always they outside that matter. As for the 17in laptops I dont really care about the weight. I am used to lugging aroung a book back filled to the brim with books. But the size of it is what I am worried about. I have not seen many, if any bags that could carry a 17in screen around. once again thatnk you all for the help. If anyone knows any other good 15.4-14in laptops please tell me.
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post #18 of 29
7/23/06 at 12:55am
How about Alienwares 5500? I just wouldn't buy any ram from them, cause thier ram is a rip off if I've ever seen one.
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post #19 of 29
7/28/06 at 12:26pm
Textbooks don't weigh 8 or 9 pounds, unless you're carrying the oxford english dictionary around with you. I'd say an average textbook probably weighs around 3.

That said, 8 or 9 pounds in a backpack is no big deal, but add a textbook or 2 and some notebooks and maybe a waterbotle and it's all of a sudden gotten pretty heavy.

I'm a student as well and I finally decided on the a8jm. 1.83ghz duo core 14" 7600go 3+ hrs battery life and weighs 5.25 pounds. Ordered it from gentech for 1489, so it's well within your budget. The w3j is a bit more flashy though.
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post #20 of 29
7/28/06 at 12:32pm
I carry my 17" around with me to work everyday, and then will be to school every day once the summer is over.

I use a samsung bag, nice size, I can put about 2 books and 3 notebooks in it along with my notebook if I needed to.
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