...don't these 2 foot long laptops kinda defeat the purpose of having a laptop to begin with?

I suppose they are targeted to the desktop-replacement category. I really don't see the point, though. Do they even fit in your average laptop bag?

There are some small form factor widecreen laptops, like the E-machine devices.

But the current larger machines are not intended to be mobile laptops, they are purly sold as desktop replacements, some laptop bags will fit them just fine, like Tumi bags.

I just got a laptop with 17" screen, in part because I found myself using my earlier laptop much more than my desktop system (I have two offfices, one at home and one at the university where I teach, and have to work on stuff interchangeably at either) so I figured I might as well go the whole way and get rid of the desktop computer. That hasn't happened yet, but only because I'm still moving stuff onto the new laptop and installing software.

It's 15.4" (39 cm) wide, up from 13.7" (35 cm) for my earlier one with a 15" screen, but it fits nicely into a leather Perry Ellis briefcase-style bag my GF found for $49.99 at the local Marshall's. It weighs 6.9 pounds (3.1 kg), up from 5.7 lbs (2.6 kg), but since I regularly hike hilly trails with much more than that on my back that's not a problem. The screen, with as much real estate as a standard 19" monitor, is a delight. So are the stereo speakers on the sides of the keyboard.

It also wasn't cheap, but it's got a really fast processor, 1 GB of RAM, an 80 GB hard drive and every goody one can think of. One of the best parts is raising the lid anywhere there's a Wi-Fi network and being online instantly.

I haven't tried to use it in an airline seat yet, though that day will come. I don't think it will leave room for a coffee cup on an economy tray table.

Speaking of E-machines, are they any good? In the UK, Dixons is currently selling what looks like an absolute bargain of an wide screen E-Mchines Pentium M notebook (complete with built in WiFi) for a mere �699. I almost bought one on the spot just for something new to play with (plus, I could have that and an I-Book to play with).

I have an HP Centrino widescreen (15,4") that I really like. The bigger screen and different aspect ratio make it easier to work with lots of applications at the same time. No problem fitting it into a normal bag.

WRT the e-Machine, I think they are OK. ScottC is a big fan, and has one.

I was looking at various e-machine models recently at Circuit City. The salesguy shook his head....his take on them is that they can be extremely OK or extremely BAD. His recommendation was to get as much extended warranty coverage as you can.

(Having said that, getting my "mainline" HP laptop to work, fixed, repaired, and replaced, was an absolute fiasco, even with as much warranty as I could buy from "Best Buy").

Of course the Circuit City guy, looking out for your best interest, would make the same recommendation on a roll of speaker wire AND the box it came in. They'd sell extended warranties on extended warranties of the FTC would let them get away with it.

I get the impression that some of these people make a lot of commision on extended warranty as they can be quite pushy.

True, but in the case of something that takes as much daily abuse as a laptop, I WOULD spring for the extended coverage. I lost count of how many times my old IBM Thinkpad T20 needed service in the 3 years I had it, and that was one of the more durable laptops one could get. The warranty easily paid for itself (of course, I didn't spring for it, my employer did, but you get the point).

A series of Apple PowerBooks over the past nearly 15 years have needed service twice:

Once for a new screen when I dropped the thing four feet onto a marble floor. The rest of it continued to work fine.

Once (a different computer) for a new internal modem when I inadvertently connected it to a digital phone line.

Other than that, no problems yet. I know Apple isn't perfect, everyone makes a lemon once in a while, and I'm not trying to ignite yet another Macintosh-versus-Windows religious debate, but based on my experience thus far (and on confirming evidence such as the recent Consumer Reports survey that puts their reliability as the industry best) I save my money when it comes to extended warranties.

I have a 17" wide screen laptop and would not leave home without it In addition to the big screen it has an almost full sized keyboard which is really nice. And it's only about 1.5" thick and 6lbs. Only thing is it's real hard to find a bag to put it in.

I hear stories all the time about things that happen to people's Macs and how they survive (they get driven over, take falls from significant heights, etc). This one takes the prize for the most bizarre though. The powerbook was baked. On purpose, apparently. --And it still worked. The screen and keyboard were dead, but everything else was fully functional.

Apple has been on top of the reliability surveys now for a while and has been the leader in customer support as well now for several years. The last couple of years its lead has increased.

I recommend extended warranties for new Mac owners, because it extends the phone support from 90 days to 3 years. This can be handy, as the user is still learning their way around the system. Otherwise, it's a tough call. For portables, an insurance policy that covers things like loss due to fire or theft or something might be better.

I would concur with this recommendation for many people. I've used an earlier PowerBook with System 10.2 for over a year, and System 10.3 (which the new PB has) on a desktop system long enough to become familiar with it, so the learning curve factor didn't apply.

I get the message.......

When I bought my new Fujitsu Siemens Amilo notebook (a none wide screen monster of a notebook with DVD-RW at a bargain basement price) this morning I took out an extended warranty. I've no idea how good PC World will be with this but they claim it is an on site warranty and will send someone out to me if anything goes wrong after the first 30 days (if anything goes wrong before that time then they replace it).

I've had a Dell Inspiron 8500 for almost a year now. It has a wide-screen display... with a native resolution of 1920x1200. It is amazing for playing DVDs ... and I really use the large screen size for application development.

I can definitely agree that it adds both size and weight to the machine, but I've found mine to be worth it. It really comes down to what you want to do. If you don't need the wide-screen...don't get it. But I give it two thumbs ^ .

The one issue I did experience was that it took nVidia a long time to release fairly bug-free drivers for the wide-screen. About 4 (?) months ago they came out with a version that seems to be working great.

So sure, size and weight matter...but it really depends on what you're doing.

-Chris