Thinkpads Forum

For people who bought a 14" notebook after a 15" one : do you regret the switch?

I won't vote, as I went the opposite way - from a 14" T22 to a 15" T60. My aging eyes prefer the slightly larger screen, but the bigger machine is a drag - I had to buy a new laptop bag, it won't fit in one half of my briefcase like the old machine, won't fit in my fancy Samsonite laptop compendium, etc.

But no regrets - life's too short, and this is still an amazing amount of portable computing power.

I find the 15" form factor just too big; too big to lug around, too big to take on a trip, even too big to hold in my lap.

On the negative side, the 15" SXGA+ screen is easier to read than the 14" SXGA+ screen.

I also won't vote because I am in a more complicated situation. I guess the OP's question is intended to be answered by people with only one laptop. Since Sep 2002, I have always had two or more laptops at any one time. I have preferred different kinds of laptops over the years, but right now, I like to have one big laptop with a super high-res screen that always stays at work (which happens to be a Dell Inspiron 6000 with a 15.4" WUXGA screen), a smaller and thus somewhat portable but still fairly high-res laptop at home (which is currently a T60 with 14.1" SXGA+), plus a pocket-size PDA that allows me to use wireless internet and work on MS Office documents on the road (a Dell Axim X51v with 3.7" VGA).

BUT, if I were forced to have only one laptop, and no PDA's, then I would definitely not want to own a 15" monster. But I wouldn't be happy with a 12.1" ultraportable with XGA resolution either. In this case, the best possible solution would be the Panasonic Y5, which has a 14.1" SXGA+ screen and an internal optical drive but is only 3.4 lbs. The second best would be the HP nc2400, which has a 12.1" WXGA (30% more pixels than XGA), an internal optical drive, and weighs only 2.8 lbs.

All my previous ThinkPads were 15 + 15.4 inch i always thought that 15 inch is the standard for notebooks however after using my friends 14 inch T43 for few days i decided to switch and i bought my first 14 inch T60 and i don't regret it.

lesbell wrote:I won't vote, as I went the opposite way - from a 14" T22 to a 15" T60 ...

Another no-vote, and for the same reason. I migrated from a SXGA+ 14" T41 to a SXGA+ 15" T60 because I wanted more screen real estate, and I was looking to upgrade to FlexView. While I sometimes miss the 14" form factor (let's face it: it is nothing short of magnificent), there really is no going back for me. I'm normally not docking or port-replicating my way onto an external monitor with this machine, and there really is no substitute for the clarity, color depth and resolution of the larger screen.

Yes, I like 14" ThinkPads very much, but I'm probably going to be staying with 15" from here on out. Old age, and all ...

Chief

I went from a UXGA 15" T42P to an SXGA+ 14" T43 (with an Acer Ferrari 4005 in between)

no regrets, as I preferred the form factor.

As it is, I bought a T60 wide screen as I prefer widescreen to normal format....but I'm looking at picking up a cheap T40 on ebay w/ a 14"

So it seems that, except for people like pianowizard and Army chief who prefer the bigger screen because the laptop always stay on the desk or because it is a bit easier to read, people who use their laptop at different places (home,school,work,etc.) prefer the 14"...

considering my eyes are ok and I move my laptop to different places, most people suggest me to go for the 14"?

except the smaller screen, are there other disadvantages? does the keyboard have the same width?

thanks a lot

The keyboard is exactly the same size on the 14" and the 15".

The screen size difference is not that terrible, seems to me. I tested a 14" SXGA+ T41p for several hours last week. After I adjusted the DPI and font sizes settings on it the same way as I did on my 15" T42, it was just as readable.

The only real advantage of the 15" is that the screen is IPS.

jbrown wrote:... except the smaller screen, are there other disadvantages? does the keyboard have the same width?

Well, depending upon your usage patterns and the nature of the kind of work you do on the machine, the screen issue can be a pretty big one; that said, the ergonomics aren't an issue -- both variants use standard size keyboards.

Chief

It really does depend on what you do, a lot of people go from their desk at work to their desk at home, 15" is perfect for that, but if you carry one around all day with a laptop bag full of stuff and don't always know where you 'll be plopping the thing down, the 14" (without 9 cell) is the way to go.

Another no-vote. I went from a 15" UXGA IPS (personal laptop) to a 15.4" WSXGA+ on the company laptop. I carry my personal laptop in a backpack and don't really care about the added dimensions or weight. The company laptop stays in a "standard" laptop case when it's not sitting on the dock... carrying it around never really bothered me.

For development work, the more screen real estate, the better. One reason I have a pair of 20-inch and a pair of 19-inch flat panels on my desk.

I tried to go from a 15" T42 to a 14.1" T43 reasoning that I would welcome the lighter weight (bulk is not an issue to me).

Much to my surprise the 14.1 was almost the same weight (0,3 lb lighter) and a lot more dificult to use in a desktop for programming work.

So I just passed it along to a co-worker and kept the T42 15" up to today where I face again the same issue when upgrading: weight vs screen estate.

When I'm going to be in one place for a while, my 15" UXGA+ T60P is usually my preferred machine.

When I'm traveling via car or commercial airline, I grab my 14" SXGA+ T41P for it's smaller size and weight.

When I'm heading to the boat or one of the planes, I find myself grabbing my X31 for its small size.

James

I vent from an no-brand 15" XGA to my T60 14.1" SXGA+ so I got more workspace from going down i size

Well, i did consider what to go for when i bought my T42 a year and a half ago. Some friends of mine use a 14" T42, but i really wasn't too fond of the screen when i used theirs. It was hard to describe - it's like the viewing angles are too narrow to make an even image from top to bottom.
As I use this machine 8+ hours a day this is unacceptable.
So blindingly i bought a 15" T42 flexview, and i am happily biking back and forth work 12 km a day.
I used to lug it into my backpack, but due to carrying too many books the back became to heavy, so i'm not using a backpack for any books any longer.
I bike with an Ortlieb Office Bag medium, and the size of the notebook has never bugged me.
I think a 15.4" would be a larger issue, since it won't fit in the office bag, and will get bent easier in a backpack.

So i'll stay with 15" flexview, but seeing as 15" manufacturers now stop production this will mean that this T42 must last for a very long time.

lesbell wrote:I won't vote, as I went the opposite way - from a 14" T22 to a 15" T60.

I should point out that that was from a 14.1" 1400 x 1050 to a 15" 1400 x 1050. (What is that? I've not kept up with all these SUXGA-style acronyms. )

Towards the end of the T22's life, text was starting to look awfully small. I guess that's just one small disadvantage of geezer-hood. . .

I still prefer the widescreen on my 15" Powerbook G4. Then next best screen is the 14.1" 1400x1050 on my T41p . Although for some reason I really loved the screen on my Compaq Armada M300.

There should be a "HELL NO!" option! how can i show my love for 14"

i will switch from 15" to 14.1" only if the 14.1" would be IPS or flexview screen otherwise, i'll stay with the 15" which i'm very happy with it. i wanted a good looking and non glossy screen laptop so this was my perfect choice something that i couldn't find in stores or on others brands like hp's compaq's sony's all are xga's screens except dell's but i was tempted to buy one of this but the plastic is not goods as thinkpads.

How brightness compares in 15" flex and 14"

I had 15" T60p untill it got stolen, I want to buy new one but would prefer to go for 14". I;m just afraid that brightness and crispness of Flexview might be too much to sacrifice.

Is there any chance IBM is going to go for 14" Flex???

Stupid question: what is IPS?

nofuture wrote:Stupid question: what is IPS?

There are no stupid questions!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#IPS

James

lesbell wrote: Towards the end of the T22's life, text was starting to look awfully small. I guess that's just one small disadvantage of geezer-hood. . .

Ain't that the sad truth.

I'm not voting either, but I often wonder what an oddity it was be the way I use my ThinkPads. I've had two - a 14" T21 that the company provided and the R-51 15" job I have now. I find that I use them differently. I used the T21 right in front of me - on the desk or on my lap, and I never thought it was too small. They overlapped a little - the T21 was sick but still cranking (booting) when I got the R52. The R52 travels with me and goes to work everyday. I use it as the sidebar computer. Then it goes home, and its use is informal. Right now, I'm on the couch and it's on the table. It's further away than my monitor at work, but I'm happy with it and it's fine for what I'm using it for now.

That inch makes a difference. I would have the T21 right in front of me. The extra inch means I can be a couple of feet away and still see what I need to.

I don't really mind the extra bulk and weight because I carry a LOT of crap back and forth to work. Back when I had a cable modem, I used to carry my modem to work and connect there for the ThinkPad. It was faster than the office's DSL connection. Then the cable company over committed the subscriber base, and the connect speeds went to hell.

Now I have DSL on both ends, but it's faster at home.

Lamar