17 inch notebooks embarrassing in college?

My parents seems to think that 17 inch notebooks, such as the Dell Inspiron E1705 that I purcahsed, would be embarassing to bring to college. I assured them that it is no big deal and that 17 inches are the new style. They kept telling to cancel my order and buy a thin and light notebook. Has anyone had problems like this in college or any where else? I know this sounds stupid, but my parents brought this up so I just want to make sure. Thanks in advance.

 

I consider myself rather trendy and somewhat cool.... not.

But yeah, I am currently a sophmore and I don't think it's "embarassing" at all. It might be more of a pain to lug it around campus and to the library, but I don't think people will be laughing at you.

Sounds like a nice machine though

 

I would get a thin and light one. A 17 inch one would be annoying and thier battery life "suck" to say the least.

 

battery life is not a problem for me as I bought 2 nine cell batteries. with those i should be able to get atleast 4 hours of battery at a time.

 

itll be heavy and lots of people will look at you funny when you lug it around and bust it out at the library. personally thouh i would say that 17 inchers shouldnt be brought to campus on a consistant basis, but its perfect for college. why? its mobile enough so that you can bring it home with you on the weekends while still have the power of a desktop to do certain tasks (especially if you are a statistics major). looking at your set up though, all the people that would think that you are embarassing yourself will be playing soltaire while you are playing Fear and Counterstrike!

 

17 inch notebooks are big and heavy and might be a pain to carry around from class to class. However the power of a desktop replacement 17 inch might be a worthy trade off if it is your only laptop at school. I don't think it's not trendy. Remember beauty is all in the eye of the beholder. Really, it is my experience guys like the masculinity of carrying big laptops. I've known friends of mine to brag about there weight. Still a thin and light laptop could be a worthy consideration down the road if you can afford to get your E1705 a little sidekick.

 

I hope you aren't expecting 4 hours from each battery. In total, you can probably squeeze out 4 hours with two batteries.

I'm one of the weird ones that took my 17in to school everyday last year. In all honesty, if you are wanting to take a laptop to school, I'll have to agree with your parents on this. I'm not saying that having a 17in isn't nice, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume this is your freshman year.

If you haven't been to college yet, your books are going to be very heavy. Even if you get a backpack to carry your laptop, 9 pounds is alot of extra weight, and the bags for the 17in are very bulky. Second thing is the desks at college are not meant to have a 17in on them. If you are planning on using it just at the library or at your dorm, then that is a different subject.

Actually taking it to class - is going to be a pain. Trust me, I know. I took mine every single day. All of the times that I was in class, I only pulled my laptop out for 1 class and that was because i could type quicker than write notes down. He was one of these professors that goes through the notes as lightening speed, and my desk was huge.

Another thing is that you are not going to be able to play games and check your email, etc while you are in class. Professors will see that you aren't paying attention, and they have the right to ask you to put the laptop up or get out of the class.

Its not a matter of it being embarrassing. It is a matter of your personal use. If you want to have a laptop in class, I strongly suggest to reconsider it. If nothing else, as soon as you get your laptop, going walking somewhere with it with a couple of books and test it out. You'll have 21 days from your shipment date to test out your laptop and change your mind.

 

im not going to be carrying my laptop around campus. i might take it to the library every now and then, but thats it. that shouldnt be too much of a problem for me.

 

I doubt anyone will laugh at you. The only thing i can see being trouble is just the weight/size. I settled for a lesser laptop, power-wise, just so I coulde carry it around more easily. 17'' seems a little too big imo and it might seem that way to other people who are in the library with you.

 

your parents are right. 17" is embarassing. people will think with such a 'large' laptop you must be trying to compensate for 'something'. might not go too well with the ladies if you catch my drift.. lol

 

hmmm.....this is also a concern that i share, as im in need of a laptop and considering the e1705/9400 as well....i dun think it will be that big a hassle to carry around, as long as you have everything in a backpack with two straps.....ive seen sum of the backpacks and they look like they can carry everything inside

 

ill have to agree with SG on this one. 17" laptops are heavy. if u just plan on taking your laptop, and no books to class (or carry your books), then i guess its ok. but its still alot of have on your back (of course, if you're right out of high school, then im sure your bookbag was pretty heavy).

after hearing what SG said...im kind of reconsidering my e1505. haha. thought crossed my mind, but i dont think ill regret having the 15" screen

 

I don't think you guys heard or not..but I will not be taking it to class or carrying it around campus. It will staying primarily in my room and will be taken home on weekends.

 

If its going to be in your room most of the time it should be fine. I know where I go to college, the E1505 and E1705 and their previous gen equivilents, the 6000 and 9300 are the two most popular laptops on campus

 

good to hear.

 

Since you won't be carrying around as much, I don't think it's going to be a major problem. But every where you go, there will be people carrying around and do their stuff on their ultra portable 15" laptop (compare to you), and you'll some what regret not getting something smaller. But when you are in your dorm playing lastest game or watch latest Ripped DVDs at 17" wide screen, those who carry around 12.1" will wish they have something bigger. So it's trade off, those people who has desktop replacement will alway envy ultra portables and those who has ultra portables will envy desktop replacement. So be happy about your purchase and be ready to laugh at those who try to play lastest game on their ultra portables.

 

That's what happen to me. I had no intentions of taking my laptop to class, but i got bored sitting in the library for 2 or 3 hours a day with nothing to do. I could have used their computers, but it is good time to download school junk and be on NBR - and i didn't have to worry about security.

I wanted a 9300 because of the 17in, but in the end - especially since it is trying to go up in flames at the moment but that is beside the point - I wish I would have gotten a 15in .

NOSintake - i think a 15in will be good to travel around. It isn't going to be ultra portable, but it should be light enough to carry around. My friend had one, but she carried hers in a bag with wheels - which doesn't seem to be a trend with the guys

 

Hey, don't listen to anyone. You don't get a notebook because of whether it is going to be embarassing or not. You get it becuase it has the features you want. If this notebook has all of the features you want, and you don't mind the larger size for carrying around occasionally or the battery life, I would say stick to it. You are getting a notebook for yourself, not for anyone else, so make sure it works for you! BTW, I have seen plenty of people at the University of Utah with 17" notebooks, I dont judge them at all. Actually, 17" Dell rocks, especially with the 7900 GS!

 

Get the 17". If you were going to take it to class every day that'd be different (and I think laptops in class are overrated), but when you have to do the inevitable group projects it'll be nice to have that big screen for everyone to crowd around. My old 15.4" laptop with its 1680x1050 res screen wasn't particularly good at that. Now that I have a 17" laptop (dv8000z) I won't go back.

 

I consider myself cool and I got a 17". I'm also planning to bring it with me to college (I dropped out a couple of years ago and I'm going back this fall). I don't think I'll need a laptop in class since I think I'll remember things better if I hand write the notes, but if it turns out that I'm wrong, I'll get an extra smaller one just for that purpose - because college desks really are way too small, even for a notebook that's not a computer. I don't think anyone will laugh if I take it out at the library or whatever, and if they do, I don't care - style is intrinsic, and no number of losers can take it away from me. I have a DTR because it gives me what I really want, luxury, and anything less than that is a compromise.

And, yeah, if you spend hours and hours and hours looking, you can find a bag that won't cramp your style. I know I did, and it had to be shipped from Europe which took over a month, and I wouldn't recommend it to other people since it's too personal IMO - but nobody in their right mind can say that it's not cool. It's actually the coolest bag I've ever seen of any size, and I wouldn't have found it if I wasn't forced to do some seriouis research by the scarcity of mainstream 17" bags.

In other words - do what feels right.

Malia

 

You're making me wonder what bag you got...I'd love to simply see a picture.

As for the debate, I have a 15.4" I'm gonna be taking to class this fall and I was wondering this same thing...but I've seen a few people have laptops in class and it's like everyone else is used to them...so I'm hoping it's an easy transition for me. Roll w/ the 17"...hell you're the one that's buying it/using it, the other naysayers at your school aren't. Bigger screen = less eye strain.

 

gracias guys! this has made me feel much better about my purchase.

 

well...seeing as how it will be in your room mainly, then why would it be embrassing? only you and your roommate would see it. haha

 

Haha! I hear ya!...
I've bought 700m for its great battery life and ultra portability. Now, that I don't need for such portability, I am looking in to purchasing E1705 to satisfy my need for bigger screen. Although my 700m has bright and great screen but the screen is too small and I am really sick of this tiny keyboard. So I guess we can't win it all.

De nada! Hope you'll have good luck with your machine!

 

Looking at your rig you arent going to find that kind of machine any smaller. Nobody will care that you have a big machine, especially your friends that you are in class with. They will think its pretty sick that you have such a slick machine (if you take it to class once in a while), but since you aren't planning on it I wouldnt worry at all, hell I would go out and get a nice cooling pad, mouse, second monitor and set up a sweet gaming setup. Oh, I find that the second monitor helps out with schoolwork a lot fyi. Don't worry about what your parents say, they are old and not so in tune with what is cool and not cool anymore heh

 

17 inchers may or may not be embarrassing to lug around to class everyday but I know of something that is worse. I had to stop myself from laughing everytime this really big guy, I mean huge, 6'5", 300lbs, would whip out this tiny little Apple and try to type on it in our biology class. How he manages to type when his fingers probably take up four or five keys at a time is beyond me. And this professor was nuts reading off his notes on the overhead a mile a minute.

Carrying your laptop to class is overrated. I would much rather hand write my notes for most classes. But there are some classes like the biology class I took where if you are a decent touch typer you would want a laptop to prevent hand cramping from trying to write as fast as the Prof is talking.

 

I don't know about 17 inches specifically, but I had a 15.4" HP back when I tried that whole college thing out (long story) and I honestly left it at home 90% of the time. If I found a 15.4" laptop too much of a pain to carry around at 6'4" and 220lbs... well, YMMV. I don't care about embarassing, it just wasn't worth the effort.

 

When I was at Arizona State (graduated in May) XPS M140s were everywhere (14 inch).

 

Personally, I don't care what people think. I'm going to be bringing my 1705 to school everyday. I'm going into graphics/animation so I need the bigger screen. Could I have gotten away with a 15"? Probably, but who cares. I think the main concern with 17"'s should be the weight. As long as you're happy and that is what you want, don't care what people think. Tell them to shove their non existent laptop up their ass

 

i just ordered my own 17 inch sager 5760... I'm a senior in computer science, gonna be graduating this fall. I intend to take it to every class, program on it during breaks, and game on the campus network every chance I get. Lugging it around? No problem. At 6' 1" the 17in notebook bag fits me better anyway.
And embarrassing? Pffft, please, if anything, people are gonna gather around you to look at your nice 17 inch screen while you do stuff. If you take it to class, sit by a wall outlet, and you have no battery issues.

 

I was in the same boat as you a little over a week ago. I ordered a e1705, then canceled it because I thought it was too big. I got a Macbook Pro, only to get two defective Pros in a row. I thought about it long and hard and finally got the e1705 w/7900 GS... Get a laptop you will enjoy, not something with even x1600 is really that great in games, I tried with the Macbook Pro and bootcamp and it was really slow in BF2. I had a 15" screen laptop when I first went to college, but soon found that I really did not need a laptop in class. The people that usually brought any laptop looked out of place, and usually did nothing class related on it. All I ever used the thing for was the internet, IMing, and games (even that was limited due to the Nazi regime that ran our internet policy, they even banned Facebook).

 

Yeah, I've been wondering about this as well. I am planning on purchasing a notebook in the winter, and I def want a desktop replacement (since I don't have a desktop). I was originally going to go with 15.4", but they're just nowhere near the standards for gaming and what I want to do, so I will probably end up with a 17". Personally, I won't be taking it to class that often. I will still have my good old 14" Latitude if I get the need to take something to class to type on; an E1705 is overkill for taking notes anyway. Besides, if I took a nice notebook to class, I would do exactly what I do now: just play on it and not pay attention to the teacher. Except with a nice notebook, I would have even more to distract me. I say get what you want, cause that's where I am right now. I just want a desktop replacement that I can take home with me on the weekends.

 

Honestly, if you want something to take with you to class to type notes on - pick up an NEC MobilePro 790/900.

 

lol.. reminds me of when i went to college back in the late 90s during the peak of the tech stock craze. i was a CompE major and during some of my morning classes, as much as 80% of the students in there would have their laptops out trading stocks, reading annual reports, and exchanging tips, etc.. the professors didnt give a shyte 'cos they were gettng paid whether we listen or not. netscape navigator and etrade. haha.. good times...

 

Anybody else find it funny that he can't spell 'sophomore'?

 

this is great to hear! I was looking at either getting a 17" HP dv8000t or a 15.4" Dell Latitude D820, and I'm going to college next year, I was really attracted to the HP because it has dual HDs (240GB in a laptop!!!) and a 256MB 7600, but I was a bit worried about having to take it to class all the time, its good to hear that most people dont bring laptops anyways... I'm still not 100% sure on what I'm going to get...

 

At my school most did not bring laptops, but keep in mind that it really depends which school you go to and what kind of class you take. I had a class that required a laptop in class (maritime systems engineering, and am I ever glad I switched majors). For the most part though, if you like games then I would get a 17" laptop because you will kick yourself when that ultraslim notebook sucks at games. If you don't play games, get that ultraslim notebook.

 

At the university I go to, most notebooks are around 14". Makes a lot of sense: no-one just carries a notebook around - there are also books et al. The emphasis is on portability and function. For study purposes (note: not games!) - for text/writing; a 14" screen is as good as a 17". There are so many advantages in having a smaller notebook; the 17" screen does not make sense unless your main desire is things other than study...in which case the 17" is perfect. Nothing beat a big bright screen for immersive graphics, games...But the native resolution of the screen is more important for text clarity than mere real estate area. My 15.4" is very nice, but not as sensible as a 14" for hour-to-hour transporting. I would have preferred the 14", but only the 15.4" came with WUXGA for awesome text. I threw in a powerful gpu, but of course that is not for study, but for after-hours and CAD - an integrated gpu is fine for "office" use - and gives much better battery life and needs less cooling. Maybe people will look twice at a 17" notebook, when most college machines are so much smaller. Maybe that might make one a little embarrassed - others may actually like the attention! But really, function should be the guide - and a 17" screen has little extra functionality than a 14" for college use - and has much reduced functionality in important areas (size, weight, invisibility...). Of course, given a big work area, and no other factors, nothing beats a huge screen...or, to put it another way: once one is stationary, and there is nothing compromizing the size of the computer in the human/physical work-space, there is never any reason for having a smaller screen rather than a larger one...

 

If you want to be stylish I'd say get a thin and light notebook, like the Fujitsu P7120. Or how about an XPS M1210 - not exactly thin and light but definitely stylish. A smaller notebook is also less of a burden if you want to go to a bar after school or go home with someone from the library. In the long run you'll just get tired of carrying a 17" notebook around. Think of it like Hummer vs. Toyota Prius. At my school most students would think of someone with a Prius as a cool guy while Hummer drivers are just obnoxious.

 

Ahhh, blanket statements...

 

Hey, I didn't say that's my opinion. Maybe I have a Hummer myself...

 

IMO 15" are best all around laptops.

 

Do your friends think you're obnoxious? LoL J/k it's cool, I just hear a lot of people these days expressing that sentiment.

However, staying with that analogy...

Hummer - Bigger
E1705 - Bigger (though not biggest (see alienware...sheesh!))
Hummer - More versatile (can take more abuse than average car)
E1705 - More versatile (can be upgraded to a fairly nice gaming rig)
Hummer - More expensive
E1705 - LESS Expensive (ahh, bigger is at last cheaper!)

Prius - Light and slow
E1705 - Heavy and swift
Prius - status symbol
E1705 - different type of status symbol
Prius - Easy to park in small spaces
E1705 - Easy to see from long distances (ahh 17" screen, not so good on small desks)

Anyway, that said, I have an E1505... I just think to each his own. If I was a gamer, then I wouldn't be able to get what I would want in the laptop I now own. My E1505 suits me just fine now though...

 

If its possible then sure. the thing about "thin and light" notebooks is they lack power. I'd rather have the extra heft/size of a 17in with that big beatiful display and all the power at my disposal!

Also you could consider something other than dell perhaps with a nice paintjob...hint hint give me a call if your interested.

 

News flash: The original poster returned the Inspiron E1705 because " it was way too big for use in college and was just impractical."

 

I was all ready and set to order an M1210, but now I read this, and it's back to square one. Sigh, i, too, ordered an e1705 w/ the 7900, but cancelled because I thought it'd be too big, and i really wanna strike while the iron's hot (coupon deals). i don't want to have to take my laptop to class unless i really need to take notes (ie. typing faster for the quicker professors), but otherwise, i'd probably leave it in the dorm. decisions, decisions...

 

For me, it's not a big deal since my old Latitude is still in working order. It's a thin-and-light (though not so light compared to today's standards) 14.1" screen, which is perfect for me to take to class if need be. I love the 17". I think it would be hard for me to go back now.

 

just thought i would make this comment on this topic...
last year was my first year of college. Thinking I would be using my laptop in class all the time, I bought a 14" toshiba tablet pc. Turns out that I only actually used it consistently in one class for the entire year. Even though I had a desktop in my room for my games, I was stuck when I went home occasionally on the weekends because my toshiba didn't have discrete graphics. Thus, for this year I bought the e1705 with the intention of that being my only computer at school. I bought the laptop so I COULD take it to class if I needed to BUT now that I realize that I don't need it every day, I am sure I will be much happier with a powerhouse laptop PLUS with the 9 cell battery I can still get about 3 hours of battery life

 

I wouldnt think a 17" notebook would be embrassing in college. Maybe you'll get smirks and laughs from those who havent matured from high school yet, but that's about it.

 

I don't know about embarrasing, but I always felt sorry for the guys who had to cram those giant 17 inches in the cramped 1st year classes... it might be embarrasing if you show up late for class and have to fight your ways through the rows to get to your seat.

I have a 14 inch widescreen and am worried that even THAT will be too big to bring into class every day...

If you are just talking about leaving it in your dorm though, don't see why a 17 inch would be a problem.