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14" VS. 15" TP's (LONG! print&read on toilet)
This is another LONG post with an update on how I finally resolved that dilemma.
Since both sizes have their own unique advantages, and picking either one means giving up the advantages of the other, it can make the choice very difficult.
Whenever I thought about how beautifully compact the sleek, thin & light 14" model was, I'd have a nagging thought about how much better DVD movies look on the 15" screen which, with it's Flexview technology, makes colors vivid and saturated, whereas the 14" screen makes colors look washed out, making people's faces seem bleached out and lacking in color as if they were beneath a bright fluorescent lamp.
For a long time I was caught in a tug of war between the 14" and 15" models, but my breakthrough came when I finally faced the fact that my principal reason for getting this laptop is to write fiction (novels), and watching DVD's is merely a fun and frankly frivolous secondary purpose and the prospect of watching DVD's had been exerting a disproportionate influence on my deliberations about which ThinkPad to get.
Since the thought of watching DVD's on a gorgeous flexview screen was exerting an excessive influence on my decision making, I broke free of it by telling myself that I'd get a Flexview screen eventually, but that right NOW I was to get a ThinkPad specifically for the purpose of writing. Later, after I become a successful bestselling author THEN I can reward myself by purchasing a second ThinkPad--one that was especially good for things like watching DVD's, playing music,working with audio files, graphics, and so on.
Once I did that I was able to think clearly about which ThinkPad would be the absolute best specifically for doing writing. I began to think seriously about which attributes would make my ThinkPad the "ultimate writing tool"...
- Firstly, I wanted it to have long battery life so I could take it to a cafe, or library, or a museum for the day, or do writing while riding the NYC subway (yeah right!)
- Second, I wanted it to be lightweight and compact, easy to carry about, something that feels unobtrusive when I open it on a cafe table--more like opening a notebook and less like I'm setting up shop.
- Third, I wanted it to have a quiet fan that wouldn't bug me when I'm working in quiet settings like my bedroom late at night.
To maximize battery life AND keep fan noise to a minimum I purposely chose a slower ThinkPad. I chose a T42 with its 400 Mhz FSB, instead of the T43 with its 533 Mhz FSB. I chose a 1.8 Ghz processor instead of 2.0 Ghz or higher, and a 5400 rpm drive instead of 7200 rpm.
Amazingly I actually had to pay a little extra for a slower T42 than I would've paid for a slightly faster T43. This was the price I paid for being very focused on my true purpose for getting this laptop, instead of getting drawn into the mindless pursuit of Mhz for its own sake.
To minimize size & weight, and also increase battery life, I finally chose the 14" screen.
I now have (on order) what I consider the perfect ThinkPad for the type of writing I will be doing.
I ordered altogether FOUR accessories to go with it:
1. A 9-cell battery since it comes with a 6-cell. Besides lasting longer, it's nice having a backup.
2. The extra lithium polymer battery that goes in the ultrabay slim for additional battery life.
3. The Ultrabay Slim Multi-Burner Plus Drive, because DVD-RAM is great for keeping important data backed up (you can drag & drop files to it, save documents to it create folders on it same as if it were a giant floppy disk). Plus it will make it a cinch to share data with my desktop system which also has a DVD-RAM drive.
4. Lastly, I got an extra 72 Watt AC Adapter. Working at home I'll be using mainly AC and this lets me go back and forth between working in two different rooms without constantly undoing & reconnecting the AC adapter.
As for my NEXT ThinkPad. THAT one will be a T43p (or T44 or maybe T45p by then!) with the fastest available CPU, the fastest hard drive, the fastest graphics card, and most especially a 15" Flexview screen. It will assuredly run very HOT, and the fan will kick in frequently to cool it down, but I won't care! That ThinkPad will be my desktop replacement used for things like working on audio and video files, and it isn't likely to be louder than my full sized tower computer. And when I use its 15" flexview screen to watch an occasional DVD movie, the fan noise will probably be drowned out by audio from the movie.
As for the screen resolution, I chose 1400x1050 after confirming that I could zoom the text so I'd find it comfortable to read on a 14" screen. I was surprised to discover that I like the look of the zoomed text *better* on an SXGA+ 14" screen (compared to SXGA+ on a 15" screen.) On the smaller screen the increased number of dots per inch makes the zoomed text look sharper. Text does look so much blacker on the 15" Flexview, but y'know, it's dark ENOUGH on the 14"--I wouldn't call it washed out.
Incidentally, for me to choose a 14" screen with 1024x 768 resolution was out of the question. If I had found SXGA+ (1400x1050) too small on the 14" screen then I would have gotten it on a 15" screen after all, despite the extra bulk, weight, and battery usage of the 15" model. I'm accustomed to working with 1600x1200 worth of information (comfortably on a 22" LCD) and I know how useful that extra screen real estate becomes when you get used to working with several open windows at the same time. SXGA+ is still an appreciable amount of information, but XGA is just too much of a step down, IMHO.
I hope that helps some people out there faced with the dilemma of which ThinkPad to get.
-Inky