I'm trying to figure out if a 6.3 pound (2.8 kilo) laptop is heavy. It's one of the choices for my next one. My current is about 4.5 pounds. It's not light, but I don't feel like my arm is going to fall off either.
I stopped bringing my 17" MBP to NYC because even in a backpack it was way too irritating. IMO the extra weight wasn't worth the extra pixels--and I likes me some pixels. It's still my laptop of choice (except for that the video went out today :( but for commuting I'm now using a netbook--doubt I'll ever go back to a full-size until power supplies get lighter.
Vikas Kapoor
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17" screen, shouldn't be called laptop.
Eric Pascarello
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David Newton wrote:I stopped bringing my 17" MBP to NYC because even in a backpack it was way too irritating. IMO the extra weight wasn't worth the extra pixels--and I likes me some pixels. It's still my laptop of choice (except for that the video went out today :( but for commuting I'm now using a netbook--doubt I'll ever go back to a full-size until power supplies get lighter.
I used to carry my 17in desktop replacement HP with a full keyboard and mouse to NY with me. I swear the thing is 11 pounds! I had a nice book bag taht supported the weight well and I did not seem to care about the weight while taking the train from DC to New York.
Now taking it on an airplane was a PITA and I take my 13in instead.
My 17in now is permanently sitting on my desk while I take my 13in everywhere else in my house. :)
Jeanne,
If you can go with a smaller one and have a larger external monitor to use when in a permanent place, that might be the best deal. You can than use the laptop screen as a 2nd smaller monitor. I like doing that because I can see my we pages in two different resolutions when I am coding, plus they tend to have different colors.
Eric
Mike Simmons
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:I'm trying to figure out if a 6.3 pound (2.8 kilo) laptop is heavy. It's one of the choices for my next one. My current is about 4.5 pounds.
Well, 6.3 would be, how can I put it? More. Whether that's "heavy" or not depends on many, many things. I don't think anyone else can answer for your. If I were you, I'd find a mass of 1.8 pounds (rolls of coins maybe?), and duct-tape that mass to my laptop's carrying case for a few days. See what you think.
Personally, I went from a 17" laptop to a 13", and now to a 15", which seems just right. That last one weighs in at 5.5 pounds. But for me, it's not so much about the mass. It's about whether I can easily fit it in a backpack, and whether I can easily read things without side-scrolling. Those things, unfortunately, are harder to simulate with coins and duct tape.
In my meaning laptop should be as thin and light as possible (that is why they are called laptops). Get Apple Air, get rid of damn os x, setup XP and live happy with that.
Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:I'm trying to figure out if a 6.3 pound (2.8 kilo) laptop is heavy.
Its heavy. Period.
Also, nearly all laptop ads and specs ignore the weight of the power brick, which is often more than a pound.
What your arm/shoulder will feel is the weight of the laptop, brick, mouse, and case.
I'm partial to serious desktops and netbooks for travel, you can get a killer desktop for a grand, and run two or three LCD screens on it. After getting used to all that screen real estate, no laptop can compare, so go light.
Vikas Kapoor
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Pat has made a good point. Laptop won't be alone ever. Power brick, external mouse (which I prefer too) and the laptop case itself (I have leather one). In addition to this I carry my lunchbox,juice bottle (~500ml) and notepad. and all this fits into my laptop bag. This might be around 11 lb (5 kilo).
PS : I carry it from my home to office, 1 mile away. I walk from my home to office.
Thanks for the advice. The answer: I found someone who has that machine now and asked if I could pick it up. It doesn't feel that much heavier than my current one so I think I'm ok.
Eric: The resolution thing is a good idea. I have an external monitor at the office so I use it, but I don't tend to use the laptop monitor. Resolution is a good use for it.
Mike: Really - it would be more? Imagine that! And I agree nobody else could answer it. If I got back a bunch of "it was really heavy and I didn't realize it until it's too late, I'd reconsider"
I hardly ever carry around the brick. They gave us an extra one to leave at home and most of the laptop schelping is between work and home. I only carry the brick if I fly for work. My laptop bag is light and I don't put other stuff in it. That's what my other bag is for.
This thread actually was useful. And thanks to Ankit for making it fit in MD.
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Whether that's "heavy" or not depends on many, many things. I don't think anyone else can answer for your. If I were you, I'd find a mass of 1.8 pounds (rolls of coins maybe?), and duct-tape that mass to my laptop's carrying case for a few days. See what you think.
