Johannesburg, 07 Nov 2006
Widescreen notebooks are the latest offering from leading vendors. Is there real merit behind their popularity or is it just a novelty?
Widescreen notebooks first appeared on the mass-market about two years ago. While these devices undoubtedly had a certain novelty value attached to them, vendors maintained that the new screen size would be a hit. As it turns out, they were right.
During the past two years widescreen has become the de facto standard and the reasons for this are not difficult to comprehend," says Jason McMillan, HP Product Manager at Tarsus Technologies.
"The biggest overriding benefit is the increase in real-estate space," he continues. "Having two documents open on the user's desktop boosts productivity, not to mention that when browsing the Internet, there is no need to 'side scroll', thus improving the user's experience.
"Another huge benefit is that there aren't any trade-offs. By going widescreen users gain all of the additional real-estate, without the drawback of an increased notebook form factor, extra heat issues, price increases or the dreaded loss of battery life. It's benefits all the way," he says.
McMillan says the difference in form factor between a notebook equipped with a 15.4-inch WXGA (Wide) and 15.4-inch XGA sounds negligible.
"In reality though, it's the 14-inch WXGA form factor that is actually comparable to 15.4-inch XGA," he says. "For starters, the viewable area of a 14-inch wide and 15-inch normal screen is identical. But users lose a third of the overall notebook weight when going for a widescreen model.
"Secondly, while users can have the same desktop real estate, but in a smaller form factor, they don't lose any comfort or functionality. Since a full-size keyboard is designed into both chassis and trackpads are of a standard size, the only loss is in weight."
When comparing 12-inch models, however, the widescreen format truly shines.
"Today's 12-inch notebooks are expressly designed for road warriors. These notebooks generally included an external optical drive (since there was no space in the small form factor for such peripherals); however, today's 12-inch wide units are designed to comfortably include built-in optical options.
"They weigh the same (if not a little less), take up the same space in a notebook bag and offer superior resolutions," McMillan says. "They also sport an aspect ratio that makes 'more sense', can accommodate additional peripherals and run cooler.
"And to dispel the myth once and for all, there's no trade-off in battery life when going for a widescreen monitor. Widescreen it seems, is all about benefits."
Thus far, McMillan says the uptake on widescreen has been exceptional and the reports from the business user market extremely positive.
"With benefits such as these, it's not difficult to see why widescreen is fast becoming the form factor of choice," he concludes.