The main thing that defines a laptop these days is how big it is, and the thing that defines that more than anything else is the screen size. It used to be the fact that every laptop had a 15” screen but the smaller device has grown more popular and it is easy to see why – what point is a mobile device if it huge, even though you can get 17” screen laptops that act as desktop replacements.

The big change tor many was the introduction of the ‘netbook’ which through in mostly 10.1” screens with some smaller ones at 8.9” or right the way down to the original EeePC 4G with 7”. These screens really made laptops extremely portable, and I believe it is the big reason for the growth in laptop ownership amongst ordinary people – as people saw that they could always have a laptop with then when it was a tiny ultra portable machine. However these screens are almost entirely only 1024×600 pixels in size which has been a major problem with Netbooks and I believe the main driver to their reduction in popularly in recent months (along with tablets coming to the fore of course). The problem being that applications expect a minimum of 1024×768 pixels or more specifically at least 768 pixels in the vertical.

In the last 18 months, screen sizes grew into the more manageable 11.6” to 13.3” size ranges and these have been mostly available in 1366×768 pixels in size (or the less popular 1280×800 or 1280×720). For the smaller screen this resolution is a very effective size but in my opinion way too small for the larger 13.3” size screens. Apple lead the way and the new Ultrabooks are following up by introducing 1440 x 900 pixels for these 13.3” sizes, and more effective number of pixels for these sizes.

The combinations of pixels and screen size actually points to the tradeoffs between portability and ensuring you have an effective screen size for applications. I find that for the ultra traveller you need to focus on having a small laptop which is why I have the 11.6” 1366×768 pixels based device and this is great on the go (can open when in economy on planes) and ok when I have arrived, particularly if I am a regular traveller and have organised a second monitor at my destination. I do however keep a 13.3” based machine running which works real well when combined with a decent 7” or 9” tablet for use when the 13.3” screen is impossible to use.

What about you?