17" vs 15" vs... 17"?

My very first laptop after years of staunch desktopping was the 17" Gateway 7811FX. It has served me well and has completely replaced my desire to ever sit at a desk again. I lay in bed with it on my stomach, or sit up, or somewhere in between those two positions.

With the definite purchase of one of the new Clevos in my near future, I am still really going between 15" or 17". Sometimes I feel rather sick of how big this thing is - one major gripe is that it's hard to travel with. I do enjoy putting it at a distance though to watch movies...

I know it's ultimately me who has to decide, and that I'm the only one who knows for sure what will serve me best, but I do wonder if anyone here has made the switch from 17 to 15, or 15 to 17. Can you share your experiences and if you had any regrets? Will a 15 feel that much smaller than 17? Is it really any easier to travel with? Thanks for humoring my completely subjective questions.

 

My first laptop was a fifteen inch HP Pavilion that worked well for what it was designed for, and even for things it was not designed to do. I kept a dedicated desktop system with a seventeen inch display (again, this was YEARS ago) before my desktop finally decided that enough was enough. After using the HP for a few more years as my primary, I finally retired that laptop from being my primary computer in favor of a seventeen inch Dell XPS.

Currently, I own four fifteen inch laptops, two seventeen inch laptops, and I've got a thirteen or twelve inch little guy, as well. The seventeen inch laptops are my favorite in all regards. I have no problem carrying them as I use backpacks, and the only time I am ever in a position that I cannot easily get power for my laptop (flying last class) I normally bring a book, anyways, as there is only so much MineCraft one can do before one starts to worry about the lack of torches in the cabin.

I'd suggest that you ask around family/friends/co-workers/enemies/comrades and see if anyone has a fifteen inch laptop that you can play around with for a bit. If possible, get something with a full sized keyboard, but, if possible, I'd suggest going with a seventeen inch laptop.

Good luck, mate!

 

I did a lot of screen size transitions - 15" to 17", 17" to 11" etc. It seems to me it is the speed of adaptation which matters the most. I might use my 22" display for a week, then grab my tiny 11" Vaio TX and it takes me about 10 minutes to adapt to the screen size, after which an 11" seems to be exactly the same as a 22".

This might be the case with you as well - try doing a bit of experimental research.

Moreover, you might want to analyze the prospective usage of your Sager:

Are you going to use it at home, or at your office most of the time? It is better to use a nice external display then - effectively nullifying the difference between 15" and 17".

On the other hand - if you do travel a lot, work freelance in whatever place you are at the moment - a 17" would be a reasonable preference then, those 2" do make the computer feel more comfortable to use - no matter if you do some late night coding, sitting in an antique hotel room in the heart of Marrakesh - or some urgent surface tension calculations in a derelict building on the outskirts of Kowloon.

Speaking about Sager - I'd like to advise you to compare the real size / weight differences between, say, an NP8150 and an NP8170 - those differences are not that drastic at all.

Small things to keep in mind: a 17" might have better cooling, while a 15" might have a better battery life.

Good luck and have a great time choosing!

 

I came from a 15", as a matter of fact my last three main laptops were 15". Only owned a P7811FX for a short period before I decided to return it. Now this time I went with 17" primarily for the dual hard drives + optical drive and the fact that I do most of my movie watching on my laptop these days, the larger screen is definitely a bonus for that.

 

hate to bump an old thread, but now i'm contemplating taking my 8150 config and putting it in the 8170.. any more opinions on the 17" vs 15"? i know there's around a 2lb weight difference.. but other then that?

 

I have owned many 17, 15 and 11.6 inch laptops in the past. I have realized one thing for myself. The ergonomics and ease of operation of a computer decreases linearly as the width of the screen deviates from the distance your palms are from each other when you tuck your elbows in and stick your hands out. (sounds weird, but has been a great rule of thumb for me and people I tell this to.)

Smaller than this width, your hands will start to feel cramped when typing. Your wrists will be too close to each other during use. This is especially true when using a keyboard that has a number pad on the right side. In addition, the screen will feel limited since your distance away from the screen will be too far for the length of your reach.

Bigger than this width, the spacious area before your chest and under the bottom of the keyboard will begin to feel slabby and invasive under extensive use. You won't be able to hang your wrists down the front edge while tapping away at the keys. You will have to roll your eyeballs more than what is ergonomic in order to view the far edges of the screen. (However, a good exception to this rule would be media-centric laptops since a further sitting distance is usually taken during most of the laptop's use.)

For me, a 15 inch screen slips into my presence with perfect embrace. Ever seen small people lugging a big mac book pro? Or a tall teacher inputting grades into a very small netbook? Choosing a laptop's size is similar to choosing the right size clothes for yourself. Proportions matter a lot.

 

You're right.. This does sound weird lol

But, following your logic, a 15" would probably be best... Hmmm. Interesting perspective. I got into the 17" just cuz I think I like the brushed metal more than the rubberized of the 8150, but I wasn't really thinking of the ergonomics.. My girlfriend has a 17" and I always think that it looks too big

 

Actually I thought of a good point to make about 17". My current one is 17", and I use a small wireless mouse on the right side of the palm rest. I don't think I could do that with a 15". Although I already decided on the 17" Clevo, this just strengthens my resolve

 

Went from 15, to 17, back to 15. It's definitely my most desirable size, except for netbook-class computers when I need the absolute most portability.

 

You might want to take legibility and pixel density into consideration. For instance, I'm used to 100.6PPI at 3-4 feet on my desktop.

On a 17" laptop with 1080P you'll start getting densities of 127PPI which is pretty illegible to me at 3-4 feet. Luckily, a laptop is typically closer than a desktop monitor (end of the keyboard is where the screen begins, about 1.5 feet distance). I stared at my cousins 15 inch 1080p laptop...that thing is illegible even at 1.5 feet away.

So yeah, I'm going to go with 17 inch because I don't want to fuss with DPI scaling (Win 7 has improved it a bit, but its still not quite there).

 

All personal preference. It doesn't matter to me. I use my M11x, Dell Mini without issue, and I'm six foot tall. But I prefer the larger machine for both easier viewing and larger pixel area.

NP8150 and NP8170 share the same keyboard. The depth is the same as my NP8662 (15" 16:10) as is the thickness. The depth between the 8150 and 8170 is only 3/4". The extra width of the 8170 is basically taken up by surrounding bezel. In this case the 15" and 17" offer the same typing feel. Although I would MUCH prefer the larger screen not to mention the ability to add two hard drives plus an optical drive.

I don't see how a 17" really differs from a 15" in terms of useability, if anything it's more realistic to a regular desktop. I *WISH* the NP8170 had a different layout than the 15" to utilize the full width of the machine. Not for typing comfort, but to separate the number pad and isolate the special keys (ins, del, etc).