Why are notebooks getting heavier and larger?

I am in the market for an affordable mobile notebook, but most of the notebooks I have seen so far weighs over 5 pounds! Some are inching close to 7 or 8 pounds. I was also in my computer class where somebody bought in an acer laptop with a full screen.

I thought technology is suppose to make these things smaller and lighter.

 

It seems ur located in North America where generally speaking...bigger is better.

 

if that's all you're finding, you're not looking very hard

 

The widescreen trend.

If you were looking for a 15 inch standard screen in the past look for the 14 inch widescreen now.


15.4 inch widescreen is BIG

 

The thing is that lighter components that are durable simply cost more, looking for an affordable/budget laptop that weighs little but has a large screen is pretty impossible. However, Lenovo has a holiday sale right now and the T60 14.1" screen might be a good laptop to look at that costs about $900

 

Simple ........Because Notebooks are replacing Personal desktops completely.

I just saw a Ad for a 21 inch screen Acer notebook the other day.

and look a dells werid looking machine.

 

Maybe the notebooks aren't getting larger...maybe you're getting smaller...*gasp*

 

One pill makes you larger and...one pill makes you small...

Seriously, though, I'm just as irritated as the next guy at how big and stupid notebooks have gotten. But then, that's why I have my A8Jm. So while I see the other students hefting these massive 15.4" and 17" notebooks on campus, I'm travelling light!

 

Well ive got the same machine as you do, and its about as wide as my old 15 inch standard notebook

much lighter and it has a smaller footprint and height, but its just as wide.

The widescreen size transformation made them all bigger.


this 14.1 inch screen is wide. Could not possibly use something wider than this.

A 15.4 inch notebook like everyone has is huge compared to the 15 inch that was common 2 years ago.

 

Desktop sales are still going strong, they aren't going away anytime soon.

http://news.com.com/PC+sales+stay+strong+in+stores/2100-1003_3-6061555.html

"But desktop PCs haven't fallen totally out of favor with retail buyers, said Sam Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis. More notebooks have been sold than desktops at retail over the last few quarters, but desktop sales regained some ground to finish nearly even with notebooks during the first quarter, he said."

Desktops and notebooks will always have their place. Desktops will be a unmovable ground of power, while laptops will be a portable source of comptering. This will be the way it is all the way thru the years we start space exploration...

But this is the nature of the beast, as thing evolve they get more advanced. Its only natural for laptops to get bigger and more powerful.

 

They are making smaller and lighter notebooks, you just need to stop looking at the larger ones and focus looking at ~14" ones.
I have a 17" which is light compared to my 7 year old 15" I still have. Thinner also.

 

Absolutely! I bought a 17" toshiba that weighs about 8 lbs - this is lighter than many 15" notebooks from a few years back, and about half the weight of my 13.1" IBM thinkpad from 1997. Notebooks are absolutely getting lighter AND smaller, however the popularity of increasingly inexpensive desktop replacment models (e.g. 15 to 17" screens) may make it seem otherwise.

 

must have been a giant thinkpad, my 13.3 inch 600E from 99 only weighed around 6 lbs.

But yes, there are a lot of desktop-replacement laptops around now, and due to the screen size and hardware included they are pretty large. There certainly are small options (lots of 12" notebooks)

 

QFT, I rather have a desktop for gaming than a gaming laptop anyway.

 

Um, maybe you're looking in the wrong places.

Notebooks ARE getting lighter, they are also getting heavier, depending upon what kind of specifications you search for/through and what you want.

Basically the better the laptop (in terms of speed, graphics, hard drive, etc) the heavier it will probably be.

 

Keep in mind way back in the day they didn't have a lot of the hardware you find in notebooks nowadays, the most prominent of which is dedicated video cards. The inclusion of older hardware for compatibility alongside new hardware which have the same but superior functionality might be responsible for weight increases...we are talking about at most a couple of pounds.

 

Ick, don't remind me... my first "portable" wow... it was such a long time ago I'd forgotten about those... thanks for the reminder

 

I think you mean "luggable"

 

I once of these portables http://oldcomputers.net/osborne.html as my company computer and at the same time had an Epson PX8 http://www.jaapan.de/en/homecomputer.php?page=epson_px8 as my personal computer. I always remember the PX8 as being small, but that link says the weight is 2.3kg.

Somewhere along the way I've also had a Toshiba T4400. I'm sure the battery for that must have weighed 1kg by itself. More recently I had a Dell Inspiron 8000 which must have weighed 4kg by the time both the floppy drive and the CD writer were included. I then moved to smaller computers but my eyes started to complain, so my computers have got bigger again.

I'm now using a Samsung X60 which weighs 2.5kg / 5.5lb and has a 15.4" display. I would like a smaller computer for better portability, but I like the size of the display

John

 

If you think notebooks are getting bigger, you have not done very much looking around. Notebooks have just gitten more everything--they are bigger and smaller and heavier and lighter and etc. As notebooks have become more and more mainstrean (and cheaper), the variety increases. Yes, notebooks have become bigger and heavier, but they have also become smaller and lighter.

 

Panasonic Y5 14" (3.37lbs) + Fujitsu S Series 13.3" or 14.1" (4.1lbs or 4.5lbs) + Sony SZ series 13.3" (about 4lbs) + many Asus laptops are quite light too.

So nope notebooks are not getting heavier...

 

Umm...bigger? Not all of them:


http://www.oqo.com

 

They are getting bigger and powerful because there is a market for it, the desktop market, and since the price of notebooks have fallen so much compared to the old times, manufacturer would automatically grasp this opportunity. That's the one and only reason.

 

What do you consider "small"? Is a Fujitsu LifeBook P1610 not small enough for you? It's so small, you can hold it with one hand.