15 inch vs 17 inch for Portability?

How much difference is it for 2 inches?
I am thinking about 2 models:

ASUS G53SX-XR1 - XOTIC PC - ASUS Gaming Laptop
and
FORCE 1761 / MSI 1761 - PRE-ORDER

The G53 is a 15 inch and the dimensions are 15.6" x 11.9" x 2.0" (W x D x H).
While the Force is a 17 inch with these dimensions: 16.38" x 11.25 " x 2.17" (W x D x H).
(same weight)

Would there be any real noteable difference? Should I just get the one that is better?

 

There isn't much of a point to the G53 (vs. the G73), it is almost the same size as a 17" notebook as you already know.

That said there is a difference in portability between a 15.6" and a 17" laptop. I don't take my EliteBook 17" with me anywhere, for that I resort to my 15.6" Dell Latitude. It's not so much the weight (though that is a factor), it's the physical dimensions that make 17" notebooks prohibitive to travel with by comparison.

 

IMO I will take a lighter 17in over a 15in any day, if I need something more portable than a light 17in I likely won't need anything more powerful than a netbook. With a "gaming" 15ing cooling/preformance/etc are likely nerfed to save that extra .5in and 1/2lb...

 

So basically I should look at specs then?

 

Charles states it the best;

17" aren't not portable, just not ideal for traveling and carrying around. I know whenever I had to lug around my ASUS G71GX, it was always in a carrying bag because it was over 11 pounds (including AC adapter).

And 17" DTR's aren't meant to be carried around..

 

Ah then I think i'll look for a 15 inch. Idk if the ASUS G53 is good for portability... but that seems to be the laptop that fits all of my other specifications. Since I am strong young lad, I believe I can handle it

 

Considering a good portion of 15" laptops are now coming with 1080p, the reason to go 17" is even less these days.

 

17" screen is a lot more comfortable to work with than a 15". The best way to travel with a 17-incher (IMHO) is using a backpack. I swithed from using a 15" laptop to a 17" one and I would never switch back.

 

why dont you go for a np8150? lighter and smaller, packing more power even

 

17" and portability?
This is like saucy double burger and a diet!

 

Having skip the fries and soft drink, that definitely sounds like a diet to me.

 

Being able to have an additional hard drive alongside a DVD drive is good enough reason for some though.

 

When I was in college, I had one of these: Power-Gaming Dell Laptop

It was stupid huge, and weighed 10 pounds, 12 including the AC adapter.

Was it heavy? Yes. Was it portable? Yes. Once it was in the backpack and on my back, it didn't really seem that heavy.

It's ten pounds. I mean, unless you're walking around doing this with it:

http://www.abc-of-fitness.com/images/tutorials/lateral-raise-step2.gif

You probably won't be bothered by the difference. I don't understand people who say that big notebooks aren't portable.

 

10 pounds That's like 4,5 kg! Ok..... if that's portable, so is 10 kg I guess - a normal PC you can pack in a bag and carry with you. Obviously everyone has a different idea about "portability". My line is 2-2,2 kg. Let it be 2,5 kg if it is worth it. And the size alone - 17" - that's a huge backpack dude...

To me the best compromise between size+weight/ergonomics is 14". Everything above that is unportable to me and everything below that might put the comfort of everyday-tasks under question-mark.

 

It is all about perspective.

Osborne 1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EDIT:
@Gracy123
As shown above, 10Kg was considered to be portable in the good(?) old days.

 

Certainly But I assumed the author is looking for a laptop in 2011

 

No, 10kg is more than double 4.5 kg, so I'm not sure how you can make the leap that 10kg is just as portable as 10 pounds.

Maybe I just have superhuman strength or something.

 

Yes... and 4,5 kg is more than double 2 kg!

 

Perhaps you need to work out then? I'm not saying 10 pounds is just as light as 5 pounds, I'm saying that if you have problems carrying 8 pounds, you need to eat your Wheaties.

 

Huh ? Whether you can is very different from you want. And notebook is usually not the only thing one carries.

 

the problem is that, I for that matter, never carried the notebook alone, and books usually weight much more than 3kg

For example the Mankiew economy manual alone weights almost 4kg, add to that other books that are needed to complement such a frail book and you get yourself almost 10kg of books alone, thats why I have a backpack and a shoulder bag. Currently I use the C++ bible from shildt, and that alone is also 4kg.

 

The problem is not just the weight, but also the size. A 15" laptop is not entirely comfortable to use on trains and even less so on planes. A 17" one would be practically impossible on the latter and highly unpleasant on the former.

 

17" on a plane ?? Maybe in business class but will be difficult... and to be honest embarrassing

No matter what some think, a 17" is a desktop-replacement and nothing else. Yes you can put it somewhere else whenever you want and yes you can carry it if you have to... but it is not what its purpose is and by far not for daily transportation.

15" was a standard size laptop a few years ago. Nowadays it is rather a big and heavy machine.

14" gives you IMO the best ratio.

13" is what I call "portable"

<13" - Ultraportable

 

Anyway, portability of a 17" really depends on who you are and what you're comfortable carrying. If you're a weight-lifting gym rat, 15" or 17" might not matter. If you're a college/high school student lugging 30lb of textbooks, replacing one with a 17" laptop could be nothing as well. If you're a g/d roller-bag dragger, it would also be irrelevant (rarely a day when I walk by one without cursing as I nearly trip). I've been known to have headphones in and walk around w/my 15" Dell propped open on one arm and streaming a Hulu vid as I go down the stairs to get a glass of water and a snack without too much effort.

That said, a 17" laptop doesn't leave much elbow room on a desk, much less room to put down a notepad/mousepad/coffee cup without bothering a neighbor in tight spaces. Good luck opening it without shoving chassis into your stomache on a bus or plane.

 

In any case, I doubt weight is a big factor. Physical size it.

Personally, I don't mind laptops weighing a bit more due to quality construction/materials.

 

Having owned a 15.6" Samsung notebook for several weeks, and carrying it back and forth on foot every day last week, I wouldn't want anything bigger/heavier. It is at my personal limit for portability.

Also my backpack's padded compartment won't hold anything larger.

For me, it was the inclusion of a dedicated number pad in the 15.6" size that made the case most compelling. Smaller notebooks tend not to have one (maybe nothing smaller does?). I needed one for math-oriented use.

At this size, I look at it as more of a "portable desktop replacement" than anything else. I tend not to pull it out on buses because it's just too large (also because I don't want to have to beat down a would-be mugger who follows me off the bus after seeing my shiny).

 

I've always owned 17" laptops and traveled with them.

Honestly, it was always a hassle until I got my MacBook Pro. It's thinner and lighter than most 17" laptops and probably most importantly, the battery life it offers means I don't have to take the Power Supply and extra battery with me. On my past 17" PC laptops, that meant an extra 1-1.5 lbs I could leave at home. At the end of the day, the daily load on my shoulder dropped around 4lbs and made a huge difference in comfort.

If you're going to get a 17", get one as light as possible. Or better yet, get a 15" or 17" with really good battery life.

 

the only thing that I would use on a bus is an iPhone, even the Playbook(and of course the iPad) is way to cumbersome to operate.

 

Although I have 1.66m and 75kg, I dont want to carry anything more than a 13'' the reason being as I stated before, its quite cumbersome to have anything more than that, not to mention the weight problem.

btw I do lift weights quite a bit for legs exercise its 200kg each side, for bench press its 40kg each side, I can do 100 military push ups non stop. I would still prefer to not carry anything more than what I carry now

 

Louder

I think I might go with the M14x then. I need a 1080p screen for coding... gaaaah!

 

While in college, I used to carry around my 17" Inspiron 9300 daily along with books and it wasn't much of a hassle. It's not as big or heavy as some 17" laptops today, but to say a 17" isn't for daily transportation is your opinion, not everyone's.

 

@i has m11x

Seems that your signature disagree with your opinion or it would be called 'i has m17x'

 

What is funny is the fact that I used to carry around my 17" laptop all the time for school and the 11.6" laptop has been a desktop replacement/stay at home laptop 90% of the time.

 

The only light 17" laptop out is the MBP 17...which isn't exactly a feather. 17" DTR don't care about weight, they aren't intended to be moved that often.