t42 for bschool - screen size/res revisited ...

[jculkar]

Anyone doing alot of spreadsheet work out there? I'm about to purchase a t42 for bschool and I'm having the debate over the 14.1" sxga+, 15" sxga+, and the 15" uxga. This will be my workhorse computer - no external monitor yet. I'm figuring on heavy spreadsheet use, moderate powerpoint use, and light solid modeling (can't rid the inner engineer) and games use. I like the idea of the smaller form factor in the 14.1", but I might regret not having the extra real estate with multiple workbooks open. I'm going to run to fry's tomorrow to check out some screens, but any other input is greatly appreciated.

Thx
jculkar

[waspfish]

If you are getting sxga+, definitely go with 15".
If weight is important, go 14"
If screen estate is important, go sxga+ 15".
uxga is probably too small for the eyes..

[jculkar]

I'm leaning towards the 15" - it's portable enough for me and I really do value the extra real estate - but I'm still torn between the sxga+ and uxga. Any heavy spreadsheet users out there with opinions??

[adrenalincreek]

Hey jculkar!

So you're an Engineer and going back to Bschool? Exactly the same thing over here amigo! I'm also getting a TP for the same reason!

[sage529]

i do plenty of spreadsheet work on my 14"... looks fine... its when i change the magnification to 50% on excel that i begin to strain my eyes...

[Kermy]

Go with the 15" SXGA+. It'll give you more viewing room when you wanna see a lot of cells in excel. The 15" isn't that much bigger anyways, there's a post here somewhere that has the 15" on top of the 14" and side by side showing the difference.

[Kenn]

I have a lot of friends at bschool, and they overwhelmingly prefer the 14" SXGA+. Maybe it's because a lot of schools offer something akin to the 23733VU on edu discount, but for spreadsheet work it's fine.

IMO, At SXGA+ it just makes more sense to go 14". You give up flexview, but you don't need it on the smaller screen, and you save almost 1 lb, get a smaller form factor, and nearly 30 minutes more battery life. And, it's slightly cheaper. Now that's an easy tradeoff, wouldn't you say?

If you're going to the 15" UXGA, I can tell you right now that it is simply fantastic for big spreadsheet work, which I do a lot of. At full-screen 75% zoom, I get about 34 columns and 75 rows, which is a godsend. I rarely run full-screen, but the resolution is high enough for me to window it and still have a lot of data displayed. UXGA is the only real reason i went 15", but IMO it was well worth it.