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Why Most Business Laptops Still Have Horrible, 1366 X 768 Screens

19 points by ohjeez 9y ago

nicolashahn 9y ago
Personally, screen real estate is the second most important metric as far as productivity goes, after RAM (I usually have a lot of browser tabs and terminals open). I usually use two 2k monitors and my Macbook Pro's retina screen when developing. I would definitely feel severely hampered by a single screen with 768p resolution.
- flukus 9y ago
  I find the opposite, 2 or more screens tends to distract me more than it helps. I'm more productive on my 1366x768 13" screen as long as I have a decent window manager (i3, tmux) that can actually manage your windows. I'd do this all day if the ergonomics were better.
  - nicolashahn 9y ago
    For me, no matter how fast I can switch windows, it's still faster just to glance at another monitor. And if I need to say, look at some example code in a browser, while having my own code open in an editor, as well as another terminal for reading output, it quickly gets very cramped at 1366x768.
xstartup 9y ago
SSD > RAM > Display
- aiCeivi9 9y ago
  Is it? It is much easy to add/replace SDD & RAM but you are stuck with bad display.
  - xstartup 9y ago
    I can do with a non retina display just fine but I can't live without SSD or <16GB RAM.
tqkxzugoaupvwqr 9y ago
> it costs only $39 to upgrade to 1080p I don’t understand why anyone thinks it is a reasonable decision to buy the coarsest low resolution screen available for actual work purposes. Bravo, you saved $40 once – and pay with years of low productivity.
- mc32 9y ago
  The thought probably is that people will get an external monitor and rarely use their laptops without an external monitor, either at home or at work, save for meetings and perh during mass transit commutes. Well, that's my guess as to why.
- guitarbill 9y ago
  As a beancounter can say, "Hey, I saved us $8000 (200 laptops)! Now where's my promotion?", and the low productivity won't be your problem - you might not even realise it. So it's very easy to understand, actually.
wmf 9y ago
1366x768 actually sounds appropriate for a 12" screen, but I guess moar pixles is better. 1920x1080 is kind of high resolution for 1x mode, but maybe fighting bad scaling is better than nothing.
- Terretta 9y ago
  Oh, so you’re that guy in IT procurement.

19 points by ohjeez 9y ago

Personally, screen real estate is the second most important metric as far as productivity goes, after RAM (I usually have a lot of browser tabs and terminals open). I usually use two 2k monitors and my Macbook Pro's retina screen when developing. I would definitely feel severely hampered by a single screen with 768p resolution.

flukus 9y ago
I find the opposite, 2 or more screens tends to distract me more than it helps. I'm more productive on my 1366x768 13" screen as long as I have a decent window manager (i3, tmux) that can actually manage your windows. I'd do this all day if the ergonomics were better.
- nicolashahn 9y ago
  For me, no matter how fast I can switch windows, it's still faster just to glance at another monitor. And if I need to say, look at some example code in a browser, while having my own code open in an editor, as well as another terminal for reading output, it quickly gets very cramped at 1366x768.

xstartup 9y ago

SSD > RAM > Display

aiCeivi9 9y ago
Is it? It is much easy to add/replace SDD & RAM but you are stuck with bad display.
- xstartup 9y ago
  I can do with a non retina display just fine but I can't live without SSD or <16GB RAM.

tqkxzugoaupvwqr 9y ago

> it costs only $39 to upgrade to 1080p I don’t understand why anyone thinks it is a reasonable decision to buy the coarsest low resolution screen available for actual work purposes. Bravo, you saved $40 once – and pay with years of low productivity.

mc32 9y ago
The thought probably is that people will get an external monitor and rarely use their laptops without an external monitor, either at home or at work, save for meetings and perh during mass transit commutes. Well, that's my guess as to why.
guitarbill 9y ago
As a beancounter can say, "Hey, I saved us $8000 (200 laptops)! Now where's my promotion?", and the low productivity won't be your problem - you might not even realise it. So it's very easy to understand, actually.

wmf 9y ago

1366x768 actually sounds appropriate for a 12" screen, but I guess moar pixles is better. 1920x1080 is kind of high resolution for 1x mode, but maybe fighting bad scaling is better than nothing.

Terretta 9y ago
Oh, so you’re that guy in IT procurement.