Anyone have a laptop with a widescreen LCD?

[Yzzim]

I'm looking at getting a laptop. I'm looking at the HP ZD7000, the Sager NP4780, and the Dell Inspiron 8600. Both the HP and the Sager have a 17" Widescreen LCD, and both are around $1800. The Dell has a 15.4" screen for a couple hundred dollars less.

I plan on using the computer for DVDs, some gaming, internet browsing, word processing, etc. What I want is a machine to replace my desktop and be portable. I suppose battery life is good for dvd viewing, but 90% of the time I'll be at my desk next to an electrical outlet.

So here's my question, what would you choose? Does anyone own a laptop with a 17" LCD? How do you like it? Is it too bulky? Does the shorter battery life bother you? I'm almost leaning towards the Inspirion with the smaller screen just because of battery life and the option to add another battery.

Comments, Suggestions, and Guidance are very welcome

 

[Frightcrawler]

Sager, of course.
It's really a no brainer. Sager has the best service, support, and build quality of the three.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
Sager, of course.
It's really a no brainer. Sager has the best service, support, and build quality of the three.

Ok, but what about the 17" vs 15.4" monitor?

 

[MDE]

My eMachines M6805 has a 15.4" screen and it's on the big side. If you're looking to carry the thing around 17" will probably be very clumsy and bulky.

 

[Frightcrawler]

Ahh, sorry, missed that part.
The Sager and the HP will not be portable (its heavy, and its 17 inch screen adds to it).
My laptop is 15.4", and I think it's fine. If it were 17", even better, but thats just me.

If you wont be traveling much, I would just go with the Sager, because you'll get performance. Plus, you could always let the power scheme throttle down for more battery life in the event that you do travel.

 

[Yzzim]

How is the screen size on the 15.4"? You lose more vertical viewing space, right? How do you like playing games on the monitor? Does it stretch the game to the screen or do you have black bars on the sides?

 

[Frightcrawler]

Games are great. (MDE and I have the same model)
No vertical bars; it stretches to fill the screen.
However, some games are natively widescreen compatible -> widescreen gaming.
Some games don't support widescreen, but CAN, after some tweaking.
And finally, some games don't support it at all (stretching).
Regardless of whether the games support widescreen or not, it never has black bars, at least for me.

Edit: Screwed up message a bit

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
Games are great. (MDE and I have the same model)
No vertical bars; it stretches to fill the screen.
However, some games are natively widescreen compatible -> widescreen gaming.
Some games don't support widescreen, but CAN, after some tweaking.
And finally, some games don't support it at all (stretching).
Regardless of whether the games support widescreen or not, it never has black bars, at least for me.

Edit: Screwed up message a bit

Thanks for the info.

So would you ever consider going back to a non-widescreen notebook?

Also, what resolution are you running at?

 

[sdaccord01]

I love my widescreen notebook, hp zt3000, granted it only has a radeon 9200 64mb card, but the only other 1920 x 1200 res out there that is reasonably priced is a dell, but i hate dell's build quality. Great laptop by the way...

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Yzzim

Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
Games are great. (MDE and I have the same model)
No vertical bars; it stretches to fill the screen.
However, some games are natively widescreen compatible -> widescreen gaming.
Some games don't support widescreen, but CAN, after some tweaking.
And finally, some games don't support it at all (stretching).
Regardless of whether the games support widescreen or not, it never has black bars, at least for me.

Edit: Screwed up message a bit

Thanks for the info.

So would you ever consider going back to a non-widescreen notebook?

Also, what resolution are you running at?

This is my first notebook, but I'm loving the widescreen, and it's at 1280x800.

 

[Abhi]

I am using a 15.4 inch WSVGA+ screen (1680X1050) screen on a I8500...

Its great...

 

[aakerman]

Originally posted by: Yzzim
How is the screen size on the 15.4"? You lose more vertical viewing space, right? How do you like playing games on the monitor? Does it stretch the game to the screen or do you have black bars on the sides?

In the catalyst drivers (radeon), you can chose if you want the image stretched, or want to keep original aspect, but then suffer black bars instead.

 

[aakerman]

Originally posted by: Abhi
I am using a 15.4 inch WSVGA+ screen (1680X1050) screen on a I8500...

Its great...

That's WSXGA+ SVGA is 800x600...

I had an HP nx7000 with WSXGA+ also on 15.4", and found it just a bit too small. I got pretty much used to it after some time,
but I always kept thinking "if only the resolution was a bit lower, I would be very happy"...

I finally exchanged it for an IBM T41P, which is 1400x1050 (SXGA+) on 14.1" - and this is just perfect for me!

 

[Frightcrawler]

Yeah, I was wondering why Abhi always referred to his screen as WSVGA..

 

[aakerman]

Originally posted by: Abhi
I am using a 15.4 inch WSVGA+ screen (1680X1050) screen on a I8500...

Its great...

That's WSXGA+ SVGA is 800x600...

I had an HP nx7000 with WSXGA+ also on 15.4", and found it just a bit too small. I got pretty much used to it after some time,
but I always kept thinking "if only the resolution was a bit lower, I would be very happy"...

I finally exchanged it for an IBM T41P, which is 1400x1050 (SXGA+) on 14.1" - and this is just perfect for me!

 

[PlantATree]

Originally posted by: aakerman

Originally posted by: Abhi
I am using a 15.4 inch WSVGA+ screen (1680X1050) screen on a I8500...

Its great...

That's WSXGA+ SVGA is 800x600...

I had an HP nx7000 with WSXGA+ also on 15.4", and found it just a bit too small. I got pretty much used to it after some time,
but I always kept thinking "if only the resolution was a bit lower, I would be very happy"...

I finally exchanged it for an IBM T41P, which is 1400x1050 (SXGA+) on 14.1" - and this is just perfect for me!

SXGA on a 14.1" screen would be even smaller and harder to read than the same resolution on a 15.4" screen.

 

[Accord99]

Not true, since SXGA+ on a 14.1" LCD screen would have a dot pitch 0.205mm, while the WSXGA+ on the 15.4" LCD screen has a dot pitch of 0.197mm. Not a big difference, but maybe just enough of a difference between to make it from too small to just right. Or maybe the IBM just has a better screen in general.

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: aakerman

Originally posted by: Abhi
I am using a 15.4 inch WSVGA+ screen (1680X1050) screen on a I8500...

Its great...

That's WSXGA+ SVGA is 800x600...

I had an HP nx7000 with WSXGA+ also on 15.4", and found it just a bit too small. I got pretty much used to it after some time,
but I always kept thinking "if only the resolution was a bit lower, I would be very happy"...

I finally exchanged it for an IBM T41P, which is 1400x1050 (SXGA+) on 14.1" - and this is just perfect for me!

Thanks aakerman.... my bad!

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
Yeah, I was wondering why Abhi always referred to his screen as WSVGA..

coz me = retard !

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: Yzzim
I'm looking at getting a laptop. I'm looking at the HP ZD7000, the Sager NP4780, and the Dell Inspiron 8600. Both the HP and the Sager have a 17" Widescreen LCD, and both are around $1800. The Dell has a 15.4" screen for a couple hundred dollars less.

I plan on using the computer for DVDs, some gaming, internet browsing, word processing, etc. What I want is a machine to replace my desktop and be portable. I suppose battery life is good for dvd viewing, but 90% of the time I'll be at my desk next to an electrical outlet.

So here's my question, what would you choose? Does anyone own a laptop with a 17" LCD? How do you like it? Is it too bulky? Does the shorter battery life bother you? I'm almost leaning towards the Inspirion with the smaller screen just because of battery life and the option to add another battery.

Comments, Suggestions, and Guidance are very welcome

Given those books have you considered a 8790 or the 5690? Those are both ATI 9700 and given the headroom, they have a LOT of bang for the buck. That said , the Dell 9100 should be considered too as a VERY well configured one is ~ 1500 or so with a coupon.

 

[Yzzim]

Originally posted by: KevinH

Originally posted by: Yzzim
I'm looking at getting a laptop. I'm looking at the HP ZD7000, the Sager NP4780, and the Dell Inspiron 8600. Both the HP and the Sager have a 17" Widescreen LCD, and both are around $1800. The Dell has a 15.4" screen for a couple hundred dollars less.

I plan on using the computer for DVDs, some gaming, internet browsing, word processing, etc. What I want is a machine to replace my desktop and be portable. I suppose battery life is good for dvd viewing, but 90% of the time I'll be at my desk next to an electrical outlet.

So here's my question, what would you choose? Does anyone own a laptop with a 17" LCD? How do you like it? Is it too bulky? Does the shorter battery life bother you? I'm almost leaning towards the Inspirion with the smaller screen just because of battery life and the option to add another battery.

Comments, Suggestions, and Guidance are very welcome

Given those books have you considered a 8790 or the 5690? Those are both ATI 9700 and given the headroom, they have a LOT of bang for the buck. That said , the Dell 9100 should be considered too as a VERY well configured one is ~ 1500 or so with a coupon.

Thanks for the info, I will look into them.

There's so many different laptop models out there it's a little overwhelming.

How many laptops with 15.4 or 17" widescreens allow for dual batteries to be used at the same time? Is that a Dell-only thing?

 

[Zuke]

For what it's worth, I've had a dell 8600 for about a month now. I'm very happy with it. 1.6 Pentium M, dvd +r drive, radeon 9600, 512meg ram.

Nice all around machine. Not as small as some laptops, but not too bad to carry around either.

 

[KevinH]

Yzzim - It's not as bad it seems. Most smaller vendors just rebadge the same ODM where as the bigger names probably have enough pull to have a specific ODM model for themselves. That said, think about the feature you want. The basics to ask yourself:

1. Size/Weight
2. Battery Life
3. Gaming
4. Aesthetics
5. Customer SErvice
6. Price
...I'm sure you can think of more.

The reality of it is that even a Pentium 3 500/512 mb or Ram will be MORE than sufficient to run Office Apps. Hoewer, to game you will want at the minimum an ATI9000/9200 class GPU and up. I will say this though. The best balance of power and portability is a Centrino/Ati 9600 or 9700. In fact, I've been recommending this model for the last few weeks when a quenstion such as yours arises: Powerpro 5:6 or the Chembook 2056 as they are fairly cheap and is the same ODM but for the LCD as the Hypersonic CX6. You're looking at Centrino+ATI 9700 in a form factor that's 1.1" thick. Priced decently you can do it for under 1700. As far as a combination of weight/price/battery life/ performance...it pretty much stops here (for now). Check out this forum as quite a few people have bought it and the reviews sound fantastic : talknotebook . Btw, for reference, I've own a T21 and now a Dell 8600.

*Doh, I just realized you wanted a widescreen. The CX6 should suit you just fine if battery life is a concern. If portability and weight isn't, then I stand by my first suggestion of the 9100.

 

[aakerman]

Originally posted by: Accord99
Not true, since SXGA+ on a 14.1" LCD screen would have a dot pitch 0.205mm, while the WSXGA+ on the 15.4" LCD screen has a dot pitch of 0.197mm. Not a big difference, but maybe just enough of a difference between to make it from too small to just right. Or maybe the IBM just has a better screen in general.

You are exactly right, accord99.

I actually did extensive calculations on this before buying - wanted to be sure, that I was getting a 'larger' picture than on my nx7000.
I don't have the numbers anymore, but in terms of pixels pr length, it goes like this (in order from least pixels pr length to most):

XGA on 14" and 15" >> WXGA on 15.4" > SXGA+ on 15" > SXGA+ on 14.1" > WSXGA+ on 15.4" > WUXGA/UXGA

As the old resolution was just a teeny bit too small, the new sxga+ on 14.1" fits me perfectly (might also be because of a sharper screen, don't know)

 

[Flashram]

The zd7000 with 17" 1680x1050 BrightView WVA is amazing. Looks like the Sony Xbrite screen. Also, the newer models with the new screen and Go5700 get around 2hr 30 min of battery life because of the Nvidia PowerMizer. Not bad at all for a notebook this size.

UT2004

17" + 1680x1050 = lots of room

Dvd