Screen size; 15.6 or 17.3? (8130/50 vs 8170)

Heh all,

Trying to decide whether to get a Sager 15.6"-equipped 8130 or 17.3"-equipped 8170. Looked a lot at the 8150, but realized a similar spec'ed 8170 is not that much more.

Core of my question is: running at native 1080, is the 15.6" large enough so everything is readable/viewable? I've had a chance to play with some other manufacturers (such as Vaio) with lower-end NVidia and ATI GPUs, and popping down the resolution scale leaves a lot to be desired; just too blurry. Unless the NVidias in these units do better, it's 1080 or not at all.

I'd be using this for typical surfing/email but also 3D FPS gaming, some Photoshopping, and real-time track recording.

Have looked at Mythologic's 15.6" shots, and am ok with the default 8130 screen. Haven't seen anything on the 17.3" yet, qualitywise.

Thanks!

 

Well if you absolutely must game at 1080p you're looking at spending around $2000.

Gaming at a more mainstream price point means sacrificing resolution and/or quality.

 

I went from a 15.6 to a 17.3" and I love the change. I was hesitant before I bought it because of the size but I'm glad I did.

 

Yeah I've been considering going with a 17 inch laptop myself after seeing how small the text is on my cousin's 15 inch Dell XPS at 1080p. DPI scaling just isn't there yet and scaling somewhat defeats the purpose of 1080p's extra work space.

 

on the other hand, you won't need AA that much with those pixels being so small on a 1080p screen at 15 inch.

 

Lol, maybe not. But YOU'D know it's jagged.

My two driving factors are 1) Battlefield 3 coming out in the fall and 2) my wife wants me to stop using hers, lol. One is long term, with the need for speed, while the other is as soon as practical. A side benny is being able to go mobile for track recording.

I -could- dumb the laptop down and get a killer desktop in the fall, but seems like a waste of time and money and probably kill the recording. Also could go with a dedicated monitor for those apps that need it if 15.6" doesn't cut it.

Like the size of the 15.6" form factor, just seems right. However, useability is key.

So many choices

 

I use a 15.6" at 1080 all day long and have no problem with it. It will come down to personal preference though. If you get a change run down to a local big box store and check out one in person and get a good feel for it.
With LCD screens you never want to use it out of its native resolution or it will become blurry as you've mentioned. Different video cards wont solve this problem, its caused because the pixels dont get to get a specific color and try to blend colors to make it look right.
A 17.3" is the obvious fix for this, a bigger screen means bigger everything
With Windows 7 you can always use the Ctrl +/- to zoom in/out and keep the screen crisp.