Thread: 2012 Windows laptop: features to look for

Out of curiosity, what do you need full HD for on a "workstation"?

Why do I need high resolution and a bigger screen on a mobile workstation? For many reasons. So, I could work with multiple programs and have multiple documents open at once; so I could see more lines of code in debuggers without making the fonts hard to read; so I could connect to remote and virtual computers and see their screens without rescaling or scrolling; so I could see every pixel without rescaling when editing HD videos or photos. The list goes on!

13" screens with their lower resolution are great for reading (one document being open at a time), browsing web and of course for travel. But they are not sufficient for any serious work, at least to my eyes.

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Originally Posted by rockymtnhigh

Out of curiosity, what do you need full HD for on a "workstation"?

My Vaio has full HD, as well as my desktop I am using now, and I cannot tell you how much of a difference it makes when staring at the screen for hours at time. The clarity is amazing. Plus, since it has a bluray player in it, the full HD resolution is a must when watching bluray movies (mostly Rush concerts ).

Originally Posted by rockymtnhigh

Out of curiosity, what do you need full HD for on a "workstation"?

Have you ever seen a real workstation with only a 13" display? When the point of Windows was being able to multitask, having multiple windows open on even a 17" screen is a lot to ask. Of my coworkers that use laptops, all of them have either ginormous (20" HP) or dual displays when they are in the office.

Originally Posted by isaacmorseMI

I don't know if I would use a touchscreen display. On a PC I like the accuracy of a regular keyboard and trackpad/mouse.

Alas, that's not what Microsoft wants you to do. You can do that just fine with your older version of Windows and that doesn't sell new CALs.

One feature I'd like is UEFI, the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface that replaces BIOS for faster boot times. I don't know how it's being marketed or what it does to the price. Or maybe the combination of Win 7 and a modern processor compared to my current XP and Pentium M 1.7 will leave me so impressed that the possible added cost of that or the definite premium of even a small SSD won't really be necessary.

Getting a Windows PC to boot in under 10 seconds | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

Originally Posted by harshness

Have you ever seen a real workstation with only a 13" display? When the point of Windows was being able to multitask, having multiple windows open on even a 17" screen is a lot to ask. Of my coworkers that use laptops, all of them have either ginormous (20" HP) or dual displays when they are in the office.

I have a 24" external monitor, but I probably work on my 13" laptop 30 hours a week, doing lots of heavy duty computing. MY POINT was that it was not clear to me that full HD on a laptop is necessary, but Ilya explained why it is for him - and that's all I did was ask why he saw that as crucial (ON A LAPTOP). BUT then too, I am not a fan of laptops bigger than 14." Never have been.

I do not use my computer for watching movies. I have a big tv for that.

The wait is almost over: first Ivy Bridge CPUs will be announced next week!
Intel plans to release the quad-core versions first.

Originally Posted by Ilya

The wait is almost over: first Ivy Bridge CPUs will be announced next week!
Intel plans to release the quad-core versions first.

Nice. My almost 4 year old laptop is really showing it's age even though it was top of the line back then.