Pros & Cons of 17" screen?

I'm shopping for a desktop replacement computer, but I'm little unsure about buying a laptop with a 17" screen. Do I really need it? My desktop PC has a 16" LCD on the desk, and it works fine.

The reason behind my interest in the Sager 17" is that I want a graphics video engine that will last a long time (won't go obsolete overnight), and apparently only the 17" models have the best gear. My desktop PC has a 6800 video card and, after 2 years, I can see it reaching into obsoleteness: it won't run MS FSim X; which I'd love to play with.

Stuff I run: games, movies, video editing applications, 3D CAD, MS office

Any feedback based on your person experience would be great!

 

MS FSX is buggy since it was rushed, it makes high end desktop systems cry.

if you really want a future proof mobile GPU, 17/19/20 inches is the only way to go

the catch though, is that the more pixels you have the more your video card works, making it show its weak side sooner. But I find it wasteful to buy a 17 inch screen and have the wxga resolution on it. So there's a bit of a dilemma there. It's all personal preference though. It's up to you to figure out the trade off between a powerful cumbersome laptop vs a portable laptop with inferior hardware. Though it looks like you made up your mind with your other thread.

If you are still hesistant about getting a 17 inch screen then you might want to look into the 14 inch asus a8jp ($1300 @ newegg). It's video card is as good as the one's in 15.4 inch laptops and since it's 14 inches, it's obviously more portable.

 

The major CONS would be poor battery life and weight. If it's staying at home, then you have nothing to worry about.

 

Thanks for the pointer... I'll check that system as well.

 

When I bought my D900K, I wanted a laptop that would run the same games I played on my desktop system, some of which would severely beat up a lesser machine. Portability was a consideration, but the relative portability of a mid-tower case, LCD monitor, keyboard, and trackball (ignoring the 17" CRT that the LCD monitor replaced) makes the D900K's weight a lot less of a consideration. With the projected use being a transportable computer that could be taken to a location, set up on AC power, and used for hours at a time, with only occasional use on internal battery power, the battery life wasn't a big issue, either. However, those are considerations if you intend to be using your laptop away from AC power and moving it around a lot. Deciding how you will be using your laptop is one of the major factors in deciding which laptop you get.

 

One other thing to keep in mind:

I heard a rumor from a fairly reputable source that the DX10 GPU for laptops will probably not be available until 3Q 2008, not 2Q 2007 as I had heard before. So if you wanted to wait, it might be a while...

Anyone else able to confirm/deny?