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Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#11
If you think you’d need an external monitor for something, I doubt if a 15” or 16” will be anywhere near a satisfactory replacement even temporarily. Of course, it’s (to me, uncomfortably) larger than the 13” or 14”.

I’d suggest physically handling those measurements before deciding. Two inches (and the added weight) can make a big difference in portability.

My preference is the 13” or 14”, mainly because I can use the price differential between that and a similar spec for the 15” or 16” (which could be a few hundred dollars) to have better internals on the 13” or 14” (like 32GB RAM and/or a 2 TB SSD). Since the RAM and internal SSD are not upgradeable on MacBooks (of the past few years and the current ones) after purchase, think about how long you would use the laptop before buying another one and what spec would work better for future proofing it.

Though the Apple Silicon Macs of the past year have been very efficient and performant even with 8GB RAM, there have been many reports of heavy use of the SSD (swap space for virtual memory), leading to suspicions/predictions that the internal SSDs may wear out sooner. I’d be a lot more comfortable having more RAM with these new systems and enjoying the performance without too much of a compromise in the long run. SSD wear is also inversely proportional to the free space available. So the larger the drive is or the less of it that’s occupied, the better.

Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#12
post #10

15.6"-16" with small bezels are OK to me. Resolution 1080p or higher, even though I feel that 4k for that screen size is a bit overkill.

Once I've got used to my 1440p Dell 27" monitor six years back, it basically ruined my tolerance for 1080p for working with text and browsing websites. Personally now even for smaller laptop screen I cannot stand 1080p anymore.

Recently there is a flurry of golden ratio 16" laptops by most of manufacturers, and I think this display size is the Goldilocks of laptop screen size. Hopefully they can get them lightweight around 1 kg. No need for built-in discrete GPU as you can always use external GPU or eGPU as popularized recently by Asus [1].

[1] ROG XG Mobile External Graphic Dock:

https://rog.asus.com/external-graphic-docks/2021-rog-xg-mobi...

Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#14
post #10

15.6"-16" with small bezels are OK to me. Resolution 1080p or higher, even though I feel that 4k for that screen size is a bit overkill.

Once I've got used to my 1440p Dell 27" monitor six years back, it basically ruined my tolerance for 1080p for working with text and browsing websites. Personally now even for smaller laptop screen I cannot stand 1080p anymore. Recently there is a flurry of golden ratio 16" laptops by most of manufacturers, and I think this display size is the Goldilocks of laptop screen size. Hopefully they can get them lightweight…

1080p at 15" = 140 DPI

1440p at 27" = 100 DPI

I'd expect better text clarity on the 1080p laptop screen, whether you keep the same pixel size or adjust for similar physical size. The real tradeoff you're making is how much you can fit on screen.

Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#15
post #10

15.6"-16" with small bezels are OK to me. Resolution 1080p or higher, even though I feel that 4k for that screen size is a bit overkill.

Once I've got used to my 1440p Dell 27" monitor six years back, it basically ruined my tolerance for 1080p for working with text and browsing websites. Personally now even for smaller laptop screen I cannot stand 1080p anymore. Recently there is a flurry of golden ratio 16" laptops by most of manufacturers, and I think this display size is the Goldilocks of laptop screen size. Hopefully they can get them lightweight…

Similar thing happened to me with 1080p laptops. I've used some 720p laptops since then and oh god, it looks like something my grandma would use because her eyesight problems.

I've seen several 16" laptops lately. I'm actually looking to buy an Inspiron 16 for my niece. 3k screen with or without dedicated GPU.

Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#16
post #3

I’m going to go with 12” here as my preferred size. And yes, I miss the original MacBook “one”. 13” is the absolute maximum for portability if you have to carry your machine around on a daily/hourly basis, and smaller is better for me, so I really hope the 14” has the same effective footprint as the 13” model…

Oh absolutely, I miss my 12" Macbook so much! It was underpowered, so I really hope they bring back an M1(X) version of that

Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#17
post #9
post #7

14 inch 3:2 ratio would be ideal. Wish there was an apple notebook with this form factor

THIS! Yes, I very much would like 14" 3:2 or even een 16:10 would be sufficient. A lenovo T series, AMD, 16:10/3:2 14" laptop. Wow.

Asus makes a 14" AMD laptop with a 16:10 4K OLED screen. Been eyeing it as a possibility. https://www.asus.com/Laptops/For-Home/Zenbook/Zenbook-14X-OL...

Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#18
post #11

If you think you’d need an external monitor for something, I doubt if a 15” or 16” will be anywhere near a satisfactory replacement even temporarily. Of course, it’s (to me, uncomfortably) larger than the 13” or 14”. I’d suggest physically handling those measurements before deciding. Two inches (and the added weight) can make a big difference in portability. My preference is the 13” or 14”, mainly because I can use t…

I have an HP Omen Laptop which is 15" -- and I love it, and the HP Executive Support team has been the best support I have experienced yet...

I have (2) AOC 15" USB monitors that I carry in my backpack and love them as well.

So, I have a nice rig (the Omen is a dope-as machine (dope ass-machine as well)) -- but I have (3) 15" screens that all fit in a backpack that weighs nothing...

https://www.amazon.com/AOC-I1659FWUX-USB-Powered-Portable-19...

These are fantastic

Re: Ask HN: What is your preferred notebook screen size and why?

#19
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once I've got used to my 1440p Dell 27" monitor six years back, it basically ruined my tolerance for 1080p for working with text and browsing websites. Personally now even for smaller laptop screen I cannot stand 1080p anymore. Recently there is a flurry of golden ratio 16" laptops by most of manufacturers, and I think this display size is the Goldilocks of laptop screen size. Hopefully they can get them lightweight…

1080p at 15" = 140 DPI 1440p at 27" = 100 DPI I'd expect better text clarity on the 1080p laptop screen, whether you keep the same pixel size or adjust for similar physical size. The real tradeoff you're making is how much you can fit on screen.

Technically correct. But practically the perceived PPI/DPI would matter more, with distance. Relevant: https://tonsky.me/blog/monitors/#the-myth-of-apple-patented-...
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