Questions for 18.4" laptop owner

1. How heavy is your 18.4" laptop?
2. How often do you carry it with you?
3. Does your huge notebook greatly increase your productivity? Please elaborate.
4. What are the manufacturer and model number of your laptop?

 

There are few people that can carry something like that daily. Just not practical.

 

I think you are wrong in that assumption. There are a lot of people who carry around their 18.4" laptops everyday.

 

Hendra i have an HP DV8t which i carry with me on a daily basis due to someone breaking in my house and taking my HDX18. It is not to awfully bad to tote around say between 12 & 15 lbs with all my accessories, however does get cumbersome on occasion.

As for productivity, I would say it is negligible. Yes it is great having a wider screen and all but overall i produce the same amount of work on my companies 15" laptop as i could with the DV8t. Only exception is that the DV8 can process the information faster on resource reliant software like AutoCAD or Photoshop.

 

Mine goes with me everyday back and forth to work. At work it sits on my desk, and at home it goes into a docking station. Laptops this big are portable desktops, nothing less, nothing. You won't use it on your lap, even though you technically can.

The reason I bought it was for this purpose though. It's nice having all your stuff in one place. If I want to play dragon age at work, I can. All my saves, work, everything is in one place. Having the bigger screen helps with eye strain if you use it all day.

It's heavy but I'm happy with my choice.

 

Is there that much of a difference between the 17" and 18.4" laptops ? is there a weight difference ?

 

Less eyestrain (1680x945 resolution LCD).

Much more productive (two apps side by side no problem).

10+ lbs. with adaptor (needed if wanting more than 1.5 hrs of work done 'on the road').

VAIO 18.4" notebook so I can not only edit images on the road - but also makes for an impressive display to show off finished images to clients (when I can't plug into their HDTV through HDMI).

More productive because of the keyboard size and the screen resolution and also because of the dedicated, full size number pad too.

Another bonus that might not be obvious: because of the size of the chassis the notebook stays and runs cooler too. This is important to me as there is nothing worse than trying to type on a 'heated' keyboard with sweaty hands.

Carrying this almost everyday is sometimes a bother - but not having it with me when I need to do some work and having the time to do it on the road is more frustrating.

Compared to my previous notebook (15.6" Toshiba), I would say I'm twice as productive because of the keyboard and the size/resolution of the screen (much easier to stare at for 8+ hrs). As a matter of fact, my next notebook will be at least 18.4" - 20" models (with higher res screens), are not out of the question.

Keep this in mind though about the weight: when I'm working, the extra 10 lbs. or so that the notebook and adaptor 'cost' are not too much to me. My 'real' equipment (photographer) weighs up to a hundred lbs. - so the notebook is 'light', relatively speaking.

 

Make no mistake, an 18.4" is a honking laptop. So if you're not sure about the weight and size, don't get one. For me, choosing it was a no-brainer since I had a specific use, and need the extra screen space.

On the other hand, you should keep in mind that there are a host of other people and professionals that demand they carry around items of similar and larger (not to mention heavier) size than a mere 18.4" laptop. For example, go to any college campus or even any office building and you'll see what I mean. Musicians, athletes, various artists, etc. they're all part of the " load carrying" group.

Why just the other day I noticed one lady carrying three bags plus a wheeled one each the size of my HDX carrier. After seeing that, I don't have a problem carrying it around anymore.