How big a laptop screen is big enough?

How big a laptop screen is big enough?

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All that jazz

7,632 posts

145 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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Thorburn said:
Windows 8.1 (and 10) standardises how scaling works across all the different scaling levels, and is a lot more robust.
W8.1 scaling is terrible. Far too much common stuff doesn't scale properly and it's more hassle than its worth. Try scaling stuff like Adobe in W8.1 at 4k then come back and let us know how you got on.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

253 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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All that jazz said:
Thorburn said:
Windows 8.1 (and 10) standardises how scaling works across all the different scaling levels, and is a lot more robust.
W8.1 scaling is terrible. Far too much common stuff doesn't scale properly and it's more hassle than its worth. Try scaling stuff like Adobe in W8.1 at 4k then come back and let us know how you got on.
I have a 15" 4k 8.1 dell.

Photoshop and lightroom scale ok, bridge is nasty and doesnt, and depending on how camera raw is launched it can be ok or terrible.

I mostly run it at 1080. Guess I should update it to 10 if thats better, but I am not keen on doing that

All that jazz

7,632 posts

145 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
quotequote all
RobDickinson said:
I have a 15" 4k 8.1 dell.

Photoshop and lightroom scale ok, bridge is nasty and doesnt, and depending on how camera raw is launched it can be ok or terrible.

I mostly run it at 1080. Guess I should update it to 10 if thats better, but I am not keen on doing that
Well that's just it. If you're going to go 4k you want everything to just work and scale properly, not keep flipping backwards and forwards because there's a bunch of stuff that doesn't scale.

Windows 10 is full of spyware so rather you than me.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

253 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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Oh a big chunk of the reason I run it at 1080 though is because its almost always being used with a tv/projector doing training etc and there are very few 4k ones of those so its easier when I mirror the screen.

If I didnt do that I probably would run it at 4k a lot more but then the above is its purpose and use...

Frimley111R

Original Poster:

15,537 posts

233 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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Ok, what I mean is that, for example, if I show PH on my laptop the PH page can only spread so wide, after that the background just extends to the edges of the screen. This happens with a lot of sites, so do I really need such a wide screen?

Thorburn

2,398 posts

192 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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Frimley111R said:
Ok, what I mean is that, for example, if I show PH on my laptop the PH page can only spread so wide, after that the background just extends to the edges of the screen. This happens with a lot of sites, so do I really need such a wide screen?
As per my first post: In your browser press the CTRL and + keys together to zoom in (CTRL and - to zoom back out). This will scale up the page and use more of the width of the window.

Basically all laptop screens are the same aspect ratio, so scale up using that.

ZDW

60 posts

99 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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Writing an application for Windows 8.1 (and below) to look right when scaled is a horrible job. It always ended up a bit blurry looking on high dpi screens. I don't know what W10 does. I'm dreading testing that. Scaling seems to work best at whole number multiples of the old standard resolutions. e.g. 1280x720 * 2 = 2650x1440

Macs/OSX usually do a very job.

My view is that high res is nice if your eyes are good but I hate 16x9 aspect ratio. Fine for movies but I really miss the vertical space.

Physical screen size 13" etc is always a trade off with portability


Frimley111R

Original Poster:

15,537 posts

233 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
quotequote all
Thorburn said:
Frimley111R said:
Ok, what I mean is that, for example, if I show PH on my laptop the PH page can only spread so wide, after that the background just extends to the edges of the screen. This happens with a lot of sites, so do I really need such a wide screen?
As per my first post: In your browser press the CTRL and + keys together to zoom in (CTRL and - to zoom back out). This will scale up the page and use more of the width of the window.

Basically all laptop screens are the same aspect ratio, so scale up using that.
Woah! You see it from the moon now! hehe

Craikeybaby

10,369 posts

224 months

Thursday 28th July 2016
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With regards to how much of websites you can see on the screen it is the resolution (number of pixels) rather than the physical size that determines this.

For instance you could have a small screen with high resolution - text would be really small, and websites may be displayed with blank space either side. Or you could have a big screen with low resolution - text would be really big. On a big screen with high resolution, which seems to be what you have, you could even reduce the resolution to make text/websites slightly bigger.

FWIW I like my laptops to be portable, so went for a 12" screen.

bloomen

6,851 posts

158 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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I've got a 10.1, 11.6, 15.6 and 17.3 laptop. Only the 10.1 is too little for me. That becomes unbearable after a few minutes.

17.3 is great but I don't feel much benefit over 15 and it's bleeding enormous. No normal coolers, cases or bags fit it so I'll probably get rid.