11.6" Laptop - Too small?

Michael H

This is a question for anyone that owns a laptop with an 11.6" screen - have you found the small screen size to be cumbersome? (Specifically, I'm looking at the new HP dm1z.) I would be using it for word processing, some light gaming (mostly chess & strategy gaming, Torchlight is probably the most intensive one I would run), and programming in Visual Studio. The resolution is 1366 x 768.

Note that this would NOT be my main machine, I have a desktop at home with a glorious 23" monitor. I go back and forth from work to school a lot, with some travel, and might use it to type in bed and such.

I drew out what an 11.6 screen looks like on a piece of paper, and it's really small. But... I also like really small and really light. What's your experience been with an 11.6" screen?

ArcSyn

I use a 10" netbook almost every night and it's fine. There's times where I wish I had another inch or so, but then I remember I can fullscreen the browser window and it works out just fine. So 11.6" would likely be no problem.

Big Red Tie

it's not the size of the wave, it's the motion of the ocean
can i get an amen to that?

Big Red Tie

don't get me wrong; who doesn't want an extra inch now and then? but you've got to use what you've got.

mere_immortal

itt: Big Red Tie outs his tiny penis.

Big Red Tie

mere_immortal wrote: »

itt: Big Red Tie outs his tiny penis.

even i wouldn't amen that

DVG

Programming on a screen that size might be a little difficult, but as long as you can dual monitor between that and your 23" monitor, you'll be just fine, I think.

Michael H

DVG wrote: »

Programming on a screen that size might be a little difficult, but as long as you can dual monitor between that and your 23" monitor, you'll be just fine, I think.

Yeah, it won't be ideal for that but it's really just to get by when I'm not working at my desktop. I sync up all my projects on Dropbox so it would be easy to switch between the two, I wouldn't even have to run another HDMI to my monitor from the lappy toppy.

admanb

I used a 12" Powerbook with a 17" external monitor as my only system for two years as a computer science major.

Rigor Mortis

Man, I use a first-gen Aspire One 9" netbook as my main computer. I do all my work (mostly recording or notating music in Sibelius) and browsing on it. I've never felt the size was a hindrance at all. (I've occasionally coded on it but that was just JellyFB so not really the best indicator, I suppose)

My desktop essentially exists to play Oblivion and hold files.

Vater5B

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

Man, I use a first-gen Aspire One 9" netbook as my main computer. I do all my work (mostly recording or notating music in Sibelius) and browsing on it. I've never felt the size was a hindrance at all. (I've occasionally coded on it but that was just JellyFB so not really the best indicator, I suppose)

My desktop essentially exists to play Oblivion and hold files.

What kind of music do you create in Sibelius? I often times want to kill myself for buying a 13" laptop when I'm having to edit full scores. I cannot imagine editing on anything smaller than that.

Echo

Big Red Tie wrote: »

it's not the size of the wave, it's the motion of the ocean
can i get an amen to that?

It's not the size of the drum stick, it's beats per minute!

...anyway.

I used to think that 13.3" was too tiny when I got my Macbook, but it's all about the resolution. At 1280x800 that's a higher pixel density than my 22" 1680x1050 screen.

I booted up my old 15" Acer with a 1024x768 screen and put them side by side and was just dismayed by how shitty the 15" looked. :P

Michael H

Thanks for all the feedback; I will find out the answer when my HP gets here sometime before the end of August.

Bionic Monkey

When I went shopping for a netbook, I determined that it was going to be just slightly too small and underpowered for what I wanted to do, so I ultimately ended up going with the Dell 11z, and let me tell you, I love the damn thing.

It's still a little on the underpowered side with a Celeron processor, but when it comes to the size, I have absolutely no complains. It's perfect. Normal size laptops seem absurdly huge to me now, and utterly pointless. It's easy to read, and 99% of web pages are going to fit just fine on the 768 horizontal resolution. The only occasion the screen is a hindrance is when looking at oversize photos online, or when that 1% of web pages either go extra wide, or make novel use of their vertical space.

Captain Vash

I would second the idea that, if you have an alternate machine available for those situations where the laptop screen isn't big enough, you're good to go.

I have two 24" 1900x1200 monitors on my main computer, and it's easy to get used to that much real estate, but I don't feel hindered when I'm using my iPad for browsing, or when I use my 12" 4:3 laptop screen either, because I don't feel the need to multi task or lay out all my work at once on the smaller screens.

Michael H

Bionic Monkey wrote: »

When I went shopping for a netbook, I determined that it was going to be just slightly too small and underpowered for what I wanted to do, so I ultimately ended up going with the Dell 11z, and let me tell you, I love the damn thing.

It's still a little on the underpowered side with a Celeron processor, but when it comes to the size, I have absolutely no complains. It's perfect. Normal size laptops seem absurdly huge to me now, and utterly pointless. It's easy to read, and 99% of web pages are going to fit just fine on the 768 horizontal resolution. The only occasion the screen is a hindrance is when looking at oversize photos online, or when that 1% of web pages either go extra wide, or make novel use of their vertical space.

I think the laptop I just ordered looks like the equivalent of your Dell, netbookish sized, closer to normal-laptop-power. Looking forward to it!

Rigor Mortis

Vater5B wrote: »

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

Man, I use a first-gen Aspire One 9" netbook as my main computer. I do all my work (mostly recording or notating music in Sibelius) and browsing on it. I've never felt the size was a hindrance at all. (I've occasionally coded on it but that was just JellyFB so not really the best indicator, I suppose)

My desktop essentially exists to play Oblivion and hold files.

What kind of music do you create in Sibelius? I often times want to kill myself for buying a 13" laptop when I'm having to edit full scores. I cannot imagine editing on anything smaller than that.

It would probably be easiest just to show you....
http://ninjapumped.byethost12.com/main//node/4
99% of everything there was done on a netbook.

Aridhol

Big Red Tie wrote: »

mere_immortal wrote: »

itt: Big Red Tie outs his tiny penis.

even i wouldn't amen that

Would you "amend" that?

Seriously though, it doesn't seem too small but there is no substitute for hands on. Cut out a cardboard mockup or go to an electronics store to play around with similar sizes for a good amount of time.

I have used a 10" screen and a currently use a laptop with a 13" and it's no problem, though any gaming, especially strategy would piss me off with that screen size.