Dell 19-inch widescreen laptop

We need to be more careful what we ask for.  While we are pleased to hear the DigiTimes report that widescreen laptops may account for "80-90% of the notebook market in the first half of 2006," the news that Dell will launch a first-ever 19-inch model next year has us giggling-up bubbles in our fruit loops. Given how massive a 19-inch laptop would have to be it's doubtful you'd ever see one of these backbreaking monsters outside the cubicle, especially if it comes packed in the usual sleep-inducing Dell plastic slab.

[BatFastard @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

That's BLOODY HUGE. 17" screens are bad enough!

[iPodTodd @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Could this be the end of the desktop and the begining of enourmous laptops, they're HUGE like sputnik!

[bowlhed @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

thats gona need some big bag to carry it around in

[JT @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Widescreen just makes sense on a laptop. I have the Dell 700m, one of dells (if not first) widescreen laptops.

The reason they're so great is that they're in the shape of books and not squares. That way they're easier to carry in public. Once you get used to putting windows side by side, it's a blessing to have such a large screen in what carries like a smaller package.

[steven @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

So how thick is this going to be? 10"?
My friend has a 17" widescreen from Dell and it's probably 5" thick.

But, compare that to Apple's 17" widescreen which is only 1" thick.

I'l rather have an Apple 19" than a Dell 19".

[Dean Shan @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

That is going to be one ugly monster.

[Nicholas Paredes @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

my apple powerbook barely makes into my bag at 17 inches. i would be happy with a higher resolution screen, rather than a larger one!

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

They should make the screen detachable some how if it's going to be THAT big and offer an optional external power supply and stand. As the article said these will likely remain in the cube (or den I suppose) most of the time, so why put up with the fixed distance screen 100% of the time if it's only necessary about 5% of the time ?

Just a thought...

[Blair Robinson @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Apples' 17" monster is 15.4" wide, this thing is going to be pushing 17" (For comparison, a normal sized 14" laptop is about 13" wide, and something like the 12" ibook is 11.2")

[John Laur @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

There is a great market for these monsters that is not satisfied by any other type of computer. They are great for when you need to have a full size screen, full size keyboard, and full-power machine that is easily portable.

We use some 17" widescreen laptops in conjunction with roaming profiles around our office as workstations for temps. They also make great machines to run demos on at tradeshows and the like.

I notice a lot of buisnesses around town are also moving to laptop-only workstations. They want to give the management the convenience of a laptop if needed, but don't want to have to buy them all two machines. This is understandable, except that 99% of the time, they sit on a laptop stand on the desk. Maybe it's just me, but I really like using large monitors, full size keyboards, and a regular mouse when I have room for them. While you *can* plug those all into regular laptops, when you can just set one down and hinge it open and have them available -- if you seldom have to move the beast then all the better.

Author's note: I use a 15" PB. I will never personally buy a larger screen laptop to lug around... But I said that about 15" laptops too -- my last was a 10" VAIO subnotebook...

[Corey Gouker @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

The 8600 I used to have was quite nice at 15.4" and 1920x1200. That was a beauty, even that was too big and I traded for a X1. 19" is just a giant penis extension and is really just a (semi) portable desktop.

[DIJ @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Just go to http://tinyurl.com/64mnf and buy a VGN-A397XP, it's all the laptop you will need for quite a while.
Nuff Said.

[John Hoffman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I bought a big-screen HP laptop that I thought was rather inexpensive; the display is beautiful, the machine is fast, has lots of RAM, a very usable keyboard -- and approx. 23 seconds of battery life. Not everyone needs a monster like it, but it makes sense if you need something with the power of a full desktop PC that you can take with you when you travel.

[danamania @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Why stop at 19" when you can go all the way to 30".

http://www.danaquarium.com/gallery/vhacks/powerbook_30inch

dana

[Jonadab the Unsightly One @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Just one question:

Does it have an actual full-sized keyboard, or does it just stick a couple of extra inches of empty space on each side of a teeny-tiny squeezed-together keyboard like all the 17" models?

[Jack @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

http://tinyurl.com/by76f I got one and it does everything I need.
No Worries.

Jack

[Joey @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

You might as well turn your briefcase into a laptop.

[vinob @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

If you want a large screen, full size keyboard and a mouse, why not just get a flat panel screen that you can plug in to your laptop? I have a 13" Sony that I connect my 21" monitor to at work. I use the laptop keyboard and plug in a trackball. This way, when I need my laptop to be portable, it is, yet when I need to see things on a larger screen I have the option.
19" for a laptop just seems extreme and unnecessary unless you are one of those people who like to say "Hey, check out my new piece of technology that I paid way too much for and will not utilize to its full potential!"

[Tony @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I hope Dell doesn't include the Pentium M chip. When they do that, they miss the whole point of having these monstrous laptops ... to have an easily portable desktop.

I have an HP ZD7260 and love it. It's big and bulky, but it's a great portable desktop. I can do video editing on it, run games, and still pack it up in a few seconds, take it downstairs or to a LAN party.

The market for this kind of machine is not small convience and long battery life, it's for people who want some mobility, but do not want to sacrifice computing power (like the Dimension 6000M).

As for plugging things into you laptop, that is way more inconvient than closing the lid and your ready to go.

[vinob @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I see your point, but I still like my system. And I totally agree that putting a Pentium M in this behemoth would be a travesty.

[Autoversicherung @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I want one tooooooooo


http://autoversicherung.einsurance.de/newsticker/30055

[Drew from Zhrodague @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Wow, that is alarmingly huge. This might fit the people who buy laptops instead of desktops (but never move them - ever), but I can't imagine something like that being really portable.

[Shaun @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

SUV of the notebook world!

[Joe Kelch @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Pentium M rocks!! What are you guys talking about!? It has better performance and better battery life and any true Pentium 4 up to about 3.2ghz. I have just a 1.6ghz (Dell 8600) and it screams. Almost 5 hours of battery life too.

[Laura @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

http://tinyurl.com/ddy67 much better.

[chris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

4. Posted May 11, 2005, 11:23 AM ET by steven

So how thick is this going to be? 10"?
My friend has a 17" widescreen from Dell and it's probably 5" thick.


5 inches? have you seen a ruler in your entire lifetime? for comparison a can of Cambells Soup is 4" tall.... now are you confusing a desktop computer with laptop or what?

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Another big difference is screen resolution as available on laptops vs. desktop monitors. I have a 15.4" laptop screen that will do UXGA, 1600x1200. To get an external monitor that does that I think I have to go 19 or 20". To my knowledge you can't just go out and get even a 17" desktop LCD that does UXGA. (Maybe some special purpose medical one)

I wouldn't want to lug around a 19" laptop, but I wouldn't wan to lug around a 17" one either. But if I was looking at something to use on a desktop I'd be happy with a 17 or 19" model if it gave me more pixels and used less desktop than a conventional keyboard, mouse and monitor.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I don't get it.
I have a 12inch PowerBook that can burn DVDs, has an 80gig hd, 1gig ram, two usb2 ports, one firewire, ethernet, fax/modem...and upwards of 4 hours on one charge... And I can hook it up to a monitor and use BOTH displays... all at around 4 pounds and exactly the size of a piece of notebook paper.
Or I can hook it up to a Keyboard, mouse and monitor...close it...and it feels like I am at a desktop.
I am limited to 1024x768 res on the pBook screen... but with Expose...I can switch between windows effortlessly.
I just don't see the need.

[kpf @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

#3 - JT

1st widescreen laptop: Apple Powerbook (titanium.)

1st 17" widescreen laptop: Apple Powerbook (aluminum).

I doubt that Dell has done anything first... :)

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I don't know what you guys talking about how putting a pentium m in one of these notebooks is a travesty, the difference in performance between the pentium m and the desktop pentium 4 (the athlon 64 as well) is nominal, and it would be ridiculous for them to put a desktop processor in there. Don't you guys know that pentium m is the future of the notebook, and it won't be very long before all notebooks use the pentium m or amd's turion processor, as it should be.

As far as the people talking about apple's notebook only being 1 inch think and the 12 inch powerbook lasting 4 hours and all that, that's is quite a feat using such an antiquated and low power processor.

My opinions about the actual notebook at hand are that it is ridiculous. Nobody needs to actually look at a notebook screen that big, they should just get a far superior desktop screen if they want a screen that big. Simply ridiculus

[Andy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Madness. I do wonder where these companies get their ideas from. The only company with a solid sense of design and usability is Apple. I'd be interested if anyone disagrees with that? They defined the first mainstream OS (which was copied), defined the mobile PC (which was copied) and are the only company that have been able to develop usable larger screen portable PC that is light weight and powerful.

Why can no-one match Apple's flair and obsenssion with getting every detail right (from the hardware to the OS)? Being a designer myself (software) i find it amazing that only Steve Jobs and his team have the direction and focus to create new and ground breaking products. COME ON PRODUCT DESIGNERS!!! GIVE THEM SOME COMPETITION. I love Apple products but am so bored that no-one else can put up a fight!

[3llingswin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

no one needs anything that big. I have a 14 inch iBook and it is plenty big...I just have a problem with the 12 inches. Even the 17 inch Powerbooks are almost too big. I think that dell notebook is the XPS and it is literally around 3 to 4 inches thick and weighs about 10 pounds

[Grover @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

People here a talking plain BS - I own a Dell Ispiron 9200 widescreen and it is not more than 1.5 inch thick!! Where do you Apple fanboys get your stats from? This is little difference to my friends 17" powerbook.. In fact, they are almost identical in dimensions. However the Mac lcd is smaller in viewable space than the 9200.. the best bit about Dell is they have some pretty amazing features/caps for the price - which Apple cannot compete with.

[Nick @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I'm with the 9200 crowd. The thing looks amazing and isn't 5 inches thick. It's exactly what I would suspect out of a 17" notebook. The graphics card pulls some great screenshots in games and the battery life isn't any shorter than a 15". I got 3 hours the other day when I was paying attention to it.

[Cueball @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I just bought a Dell Inspiron 9300 (17-inch WUXGA display 1920x1200) as a desktop replacement, not to put on my lap while I ride the Metro. I think the target market for these things would be for people who need/want to use the computer at the travel destination, but not durring the trip. Here are the chassis specs for the 9300:

Height: 1.6-inches (41.5 mm)
Width: 15.5-inches (394 mm)
Depth: 11.3-inches (287 mm)

[Hellboy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Wide screen laptop in my opinion are better suited for people who mave them from desk to desk, which is what I do for work. Using it on the road is tricky due to the size, but the idea of having a desktop, and then lugging that around is obviously too much.

My current laptop, a Dell Inspiron 8500 is wide screen, and while it's generally to big to have on your lap, it works fine as a portable. My next laptop will probably be wider (17") so I'm guessing it will be less portable.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Please, PLEASE let them offer a model with a real, honest-to-god Lexmark-licensed buckling spring keyboard and pointer stick so I can finally have a laptop that doesn't cripple my typing ability (I can easily type about 120wpm on a Lexmark kb, but stumble and lurch along at 50-60wpm on most laptop keyboards).

Realistically, it would add about 5/8" of thickness and about a pound of weight (most of a Lexmark keyboard's weight comes from the case itself and the steel plate fastened to its bottom... the keys and switches themselves don't weigh much at all).

And of course, if there's a god, Michael Dell will be spotted crawling out of AMD's bedroom window late at night and roll it out with a dual-core Athlon 64 (the performance of dual Xeons, the battery life of a Pentium M).

[Z @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

19" screen? Now that would be an amazing sight for a laptop. I've always thought laptop screens would continue to grow - even clear to 21" one day... we're almost there.

[Stefan Mtoiu @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Yes, it is true that the 19" laptops are a monster for the inadequate, but not for normal people.
Hence, it is a desideratum and imperative to fabricate the larger screen (19" or >) laptops, your honor!

[Jack-And-Coke @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Does anyone know when the specs and first screen shots for this monster are coming out?

[Dman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Hey, how do you upgrade an LCDs max resolution? I have a Dell 9300 with a max res of 1440x900 and would like to increase it.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

You guys may not see a reason for a large screen, but I actually have a coworker that has an eye sight problem (he has glasses but its a different problem). He has the largest flat panel in the shop (21"), runs 800x600 and still needs to use the magnifier. You could probably relate it to being very very farsighted. We helped him fix his laptop the other week which was the biggest monster I have ever seen, but he can barely see with it.

Still, most people wouldn't really need something so big, maybe for watching movies though. That and porn.

[Trex @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

"Hey, how do you upgrade an LCDs max resolution? I have a Dell 9300 with a max res of 1440x900 and would like to increase it."


Soak it in water overnight, then hook rubber bands onto clothes pins and clip them to each side, it will stretch out over a couple of days.

[Dog @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

"no one needs anything that big. I have a 14 inch iBook and it is plenty big...I just have a problem with the 12 inches. Even the 17 inch Powerbooks are almost too big. I think that dell notebook is the XPS and it is literally around 3 to 4 inches thick and weighs about 10 pounds"

Right, and I drive a Geo Metro, nobody needs anything bigger, not even those semi trucks. Have you seen how big those are? Geez, at least 4" thick, who would ever use one, they must weigh at least 10 pounds.

[Ted @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

"1st widescreen laptop: Apple Powerbook (titanium.)
1st 17" widescreen laptop: Apple Powerbook (aluminum).
I doubt that Dell has done anything first... :)"

Wrong!!
Dell: First 17" notebook under $1000.
Dell: First company to ship 100 notebooks for every one Apple builds.

[Kent @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I can't find a 1920 x 1200 stand alone screen cheapter than a dell 9200/9300. I want a 2560 x 1600 on a 21" screen. Probably weigh 9lbs and run 8 hours on batteries. Or maybe they will fill the hard drive with high pressure helium, then it weighs 7lbs. Just hang on to the drive if you ever take it out...

[Delvien @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

"""So how thick is this going to be? 10"?
My friend has a 17" widescreen from Dell and it's probably 5" thick.


5 inches? have you seen a ruler in your entire lifetime? for comparison a can of Cambells Soup is 4" tall.... now are you confusing a desktop computer with laptop or what?""""


He's an apple user, everything apple users say about Good computers ( non crapple ) is 5x worse then they actually are.

[Ted @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

I've got a brand new Dell Inspiron 9300 17 inch and love it. As a graphic designer and web developer a 19 inch would give me that extra bit of real estate for all the palettes in Photoshop and the like. Accountants and those who use spreadsheets would also find a 19 inch portable really useful. Weightwise it ought not to weigh in much more than the 7lbs my 17 incher is.

For everybody else though, 19 inches would be too much. After all these are desktop replacements and not for jogging around the jungle with.

[Paul @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Or you could get a real non-nonsense laptop with a propper docking station (as little as I've seen docking stations used they seem to universally supported on laptops) ... no need to plug and unplug wires :-)

Of course, add on the extra $200-400 docking station, $100 wireless keyboard/laser mouse (most laptops, including the Dell D800's I've been cursed with, have crappy keyboards), $700 20" LCD (granted it will be far superior to the laptops LCD in most aspects), $200 speaker system (again, far superior), and ....

But back the the laptops as desktops replacements argument:
As cool (or bloated "penis extensions") as they may be, they are a compromise.
They will never be as fast as a comparibly priced desktop.
They have greatly restricted upgradability.
The mainsteam parts will always try for a reduce-power market with slower speed (both CPU/GPU and supporting components); the P-M CPU is absolutely wonderful and efficient but it doesn't compete with a current Intel EE--nor should it, different market segment (although netburst is finally getting the boot.)
They will not be as thin, light or powerfriendly as units designed for more portable applications.

[John Charles Webb, Jr. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:05AM]

Does the Dell 19 inch screen come with a USB Nuclear Reactor to power it?