Laptop Screen Size 7

[WIstructural]

The engineering department at my company is finally starting to get laptop. I was wondering what people thoughts are on screen size. The laptops will mostly be used in the office with docking stations and two 24 in monitors. The primary reason to get laptops is to allow some flexibility in work locations, like working from home. The engineering staff does not travel much so weight is not a high priority. We run 2D CAD, RISA, other genral programs. My initial thought was 17 in screens, but my IT department thinks I am nuts and thinks we should get 15 in. My previous experience with "engineering" laptops was using 17 in screens. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[IRstuff]

I think we're in the realm of personal preference. My older eyes tolerate a larger screen better, but I can live with a 15-in. While you might not be travelling, I can certainly tell you that just lugging a behemoth 17-in laptop back and forth gets old. With 15-in laptops, I can carry two of them back and forth on weekends, my personal and my work.

TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
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[rowingengineer]

15 inch is my preference, you can get some good carry bag for a 15 inch and also when you want an extender battery it will note get too large.

http://www.nceng.com.au/

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."

 

[GregLocock]

'They' want to replace my handily sized 15" with a 17". I am not in the least bit enthusiastic. My personal laptops have settled around 11 to 14 inch screens, portability is a priority for me.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[IRstuff]

My 15-in Dell, with the extra large battery supposedly can go a full work day on a full charge. Haven't actually attempted to do that, but it does require some tweaking of backlighting, processor duty cycle, etc.

TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
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[JohnRBaker]

Most 17 inch laptops are like hauling around a brick, not because of their size (although that's an issue when trying to find a decent PC bag) but because they tend to weight a 'ton'. I always had a 15 inch and while a few people where I used to work insisted on getting 17 inchers, most all of them later admitted that it was a mistake. This would be particularly true if you indeed spend most of your time working at a desk with dual large-screens tied to a docking station.

John R. Baker, P.E.
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[MacGyverS2000]

If most of your work will be using the docking station and external monitors, I also highly suggest the (MUCH) lighter 15" laptop. The extra weight involved with those larger screen systems is just so out of proportion to the benefit of the larger screen. Suffer screen-wise for a few days while you're on the road, but save your back the trouble.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[nickelkid]

SAVE YOUR BACK, as time goes on a little weight makes a big difference.

 

[FreddyNurk]

The bigger the laptop, the harder it is to find decent long lasting equipment to carry it around in. There's also not that much to stop getting a second docking station at home, if for no other reason than the associated laptop keyboard and tracking device isn't much more fun than being restricted to tiny screens after being used to 2x24" monitors.

I used to carry around a 4kg laptop in a backpack, screen size was one of the larger options at the time. My new backpack won't fit the older laptop, and to be honest I'd not be interested in carrying around the heavier gear now either. Your preference may vary, but I hate using laptop keyboards and I cannot imagine attempting to do drafting work on a touchpad.

The only caveat with the smaller laptop is to make sure that it still has decent graphics capability to run the big screens with design software, not all of them do.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

The biggest thing I found using a laptop for work was that the majority of work will be done with a projector, large monitor, or other screens in combination with the laptop's built-in screen. Whenever you'll be forced to use the laptop's screen alone it will be a pain regardless of size. Thus, the difference between 15 inches and 17 inches will not make a substantial difference and having to lug a large laptop around isn't that fun; 15" seems to be the sweet spot.

Professional and Structural Engineer (ME, NH)
American Concrete Industries

http://www.americanconcrete.com

 

[jdgengineer]

We have latitude E7440 (14" screen, i7, 16gb ram, SSD). They are pretty nice and would probably work well for your setup (if it's just 2D cad and RISA). Their biggest lack is graphics card but that shouldn't be an issue for what you've described. I travel with mine everyday back and forth from work and I think it's a good size. 75% of my time is in the office in the docking station, 15% of my time is in my home in a similar docking station, 10% of my time is using the laptop without a docking station.

I agree with others I'd go with portability over 17" size. If you are used to a dual monitor setup it doesn't matter how big the laptop screen is you still won't like it very much. I'd be more focused on the performance specs of the laptop meeting your requirements so it works when plugged into the docking station.

 

[RocketRed]

My laptop is a 17" and the posters above are correct, the screen sucks if you are trying do anything other than send e-mails or type documents. Once you are used to running 2 or 3 screens, a laptop screen is really hard to get used to. Forget about doing anything in CAD except the most minor tweaks.

The 17" hasn't bothered my back much I have an O'gio Urban pack. This thing is awesome for travelling engineering nerds. Tons of pockets and thickly padded around the laptop itself.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Typically cheaper as well.

Professional and Structural Engineer (ME, NH)
American Concrete Industries

http://www.americanconcrete.com

 

[jayrod12]

I've got a backpack similar to the one RocketRed posted. Mine is a DaKine Terminal. It fits a 17" laptop but it's tight, not quite as many pockets as his shows but enough to fit anything I ever need.

That being said, a 17" monitor is heavy to lug around back and forth and do recommend a 15". Make sure whichever laptop you get has the sidebar of numbers similar to a keyboard, there's nothing more annoying than trying to enter stuff into a spreadsheet and having to use the row at the top of the laptop.

 

[WIstructural]

Thank you all for your responses.

 

[Brad805]

Unless you need the horsepower one can fit into a 17" I would not buy one. I have had three of them for modeling at home, and they are terrible to travel with.

 

[IRstuff]

There's no need to do that; there are plenty of 15-in laptops with i7-4700MQ's or better. Like:

http://www.costco.com/Acer-Predator...-Keyboard-|-Windows-10.product.100236188.html

which has 3GB graphics or

http://www.costco.com/ASUS-ROG-GL55...ntal-Damage-Protection.product.100248155.html

which has 4GB graphics

TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
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[tickle]

I had a 17", then went to a 15" and then another 15". The 15"s were great (even if the case on the first one was a bit fragile). I appreciated the reduction in weight. The biggest problem for me was keyboard. The 17" one had a full keyboard with number pad, similar to the one on the docking station. The second 15" not only lacks the number pad but has put the home and end buttons that require shift key strokes. I do a lot of technical documents, and the work I tend to do at home / away from the office is checking and editing documents when I tend to use those keys a lot. I get used to them after a while, but the next time I am in the office, I am back to a normal keyboard. I also struggle when typing by tapping the track pad and the cursor jumping all over the document...

 

[truckandbus]

My coworker is currently suffering the decision to go with the 17".even at home he has external monitor. If he isn't at his desk he is using a projection screen

 

[tempeng]

For portability and productivity, I'd say stick with 15in. If you're not planning on running any resource heavy 3D modelling software, I can't see the need for it to be any bigger.