Wide screen labtops or no?

[Preti9cboi]

I'm in the market or a labtop to carry around for school and watching DVD, on the go. Something mobile basically.
I'm trying to find something at 5 pounds and under. Has an optical drive. And doesnt
heat up too much to place on my lap.

My dilemma is should i get a widescreen since the screen size is going to be tiny? Does widescreen really make a difference?

I'm looking at this thinkpad T43.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834146102

There are so many decisions that i can't decide!!!! I'm looking to spend around 1300. The lesser the better of course. -=]

Also, should i wait another month or two for the new intel core duo?

 

[The Linuxator]

It's a hard decesion about to wait or not to wait, you need to considre what the price is going to be for the T6x series and will the new extra stuff be of use to you or not ?
For example my Thinkpad is @600 MHZ % 95 of the time, an increase in cpu power would mean sht to me.
So really is what you are going to be using it for going to require that extra power or not ?
If you wait will the price difference be worth it or not ?
Well there be a significant price drop or not ?
You can get a 15" T 43 that will give you a bigger screen, but for a $ 100 extra as I can see @ newegg's site.

Other than that the,T43 is a perfect laptop, I wish I didn't have to buy a $ 500 sequencer for my DJing needs otherwise I would have upgraded to a T43 from my R50e

If this is your first Thinkpad, you will be surprised how well built a T series is, it's just so incredible, the composite material it's made out of make it feel so light, yet it has that rugged and firm feeling to it, also the surface feels just so smooth, trust me you buy a T series, you are hooked for life, just like my uncle did, 3 years ago, he bought a Tseries, and everytime a new one comes out he jumps on it like he never seen a laptop before, I guess Thinkpad addiction runs in the family

But for me I don't think the the dual core sht is something of much importance if all you are using your laptop for is DVD s and media.

 

[Preti9cboi]

Thanks for the info.

 

[HamSupLo]

I'm typing this on an Asus z63a right now (14" widescreen). I think the screen size is just about right because anything bigger would be a PITA to carry around. Check out my z63a thread. I love mine since it's solidly built and looks much sleeker than the Thinkpads. You can probably get one for about $1200.

As for the Duo option, having it would be nice, but I don't use my laptop for CPU intensive apps.

 

[modedepe]

You might want to get something with a higher resolution than just 1024x768 if you're going to be multitasking a lot. Both the screen size and the resolution are important. IMO anything larger than 14" (widescreen or standard aspect ratio) is not that portable.

 

[Wuzup101]

My roomate has an IBM T42 and I would definitely recomend one to anyone. It gets good battery life and is very portable. He only has the 1024x768 rez screen; however, I would fully recomend you try to get the higher rez 14" screen. The T series is very very well built as stated above and is worth every penny IMHO. As far as WS or not, that's a tough decision. If the only thing you're going to be doing is watching movies, than a WS lappy would make a good choice. I personally have an apple powerbook, with the 15" widescrean - great for watching movies. As far as doing day to day stuff I love the form factor too, but getting a WS over a normal aspect ratio screen probably wouldn't be a deciding factor for me. The next LCD I buy as a secondary monitor (using a 19" samsung 191T currently) will definitely be a WS. Probably something along the lines of a dell 2405/2407 (when they come out).

 

[pmark]

Widescreens are great if you need to view two documents at the same time. They are also great for spreadsheets. I use a widescreen now and I love it. You never realize how useful they are until you start using one.

 

[sigs3gv]

Originally posted by: The Linuxator
It's a hard decesion about to wait or not to wait, you need to considre what the price is going to be for the T6x series and will the new extra stuff be of use to you or not ?
For example my Thinkpad is @600 MHZ % 95 of the time, an increase in cpu power would mean sht to me.
So really is what you are going to be using it for going to require that extra power or not ?
If you wait will the price difference be worth it or not ?
Well there be a significant price drop or not ?
You can get a 15" T 43 that will give you a bigger screen, but for a $ 100 extra as I can see @ newegg's site.

Other than that the,T43 is a perfect laptop, I wish I didn't have to buy a $ 500 sequencer for my DJing needs otherwise I would have upgraded to a T43 from my R50e

If this is your first Thinkpad, you will be surprised how well built a T series is, it's just so incredible, the composite material it's made out of make it feel so light, yet it has that rugged and firm feeling to it, also the surface feels just so smooth, trust me you buy a T series, you are hooked for life, just like my uncle did, 3 years ago, he bought a Tseries, and everytime a new one comes out he jumps on it like he never seen a laptop before, I guess Thinkpad addiction runs in the family

But for me I don't think the the dual core sht is something of much importance if all you are using your laptop for is DVD s and media.

I hear the new Core Duo is suppose to have better battery life than the T43.

 

[simms]

Get the T43p which has the upgraded resolution on the monitor. Or wait for the T60 which will be a few hundred more.

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: pmark
Widescreens are great if you need to view two documents at the same time. They are also great for spreadsheets. I use a widescreen now and I love it. You never realize how useful they are until you start using one.

Widescreen is wonderful but you need to up your resolution to get the maximum benefit. I have a 1920x1200 widescreen and will never go back to anything less.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Save some money at Office Max. I have a Compaq v2000z with a 14.1" BrightView widescreen that is great for movies.

 

[Hacp]

Widescreen notebooks are awesome for the smaller form factors because it allows more keyboard space. It is especially usefull in the 12.1 inch and 13.3 inch models, as it allows almost all keys to be full sized.

 

[corkyg]

And, in that vein, they also don't stick up as far when open, and that makes them better for use on a tray table in steerage class on an airplane.