Big screen notebooks

Sick of squinting at teeny-weeny fonts? Need to look at tiny details on technical drawings? Tired of hitting the zoom button in Photoshop? You'll want to check out these large-screen notebooks.

These days the largest-screen notebooks top out at 15 inches. This is roughly equal to the viewable area on a 17-inch CRT. However, for some users, 17 is not good enough; they might be used to using a 19 or 20-inch monitor at work and need something of equal measure in a portable.

Makers such as Apple and Sony, brands associated with designers and graphics, have naturally created notebooks to fit the demand. The Toshiba and Sony notebooks go to 16-inches, while the new PowerBook G4 goes to 17.

These machines are pricey, and also heavier than normal. But they also have powerful graphics chipsets from ATI or nVidia in order to drive those high resolutions, which start in the 1,280 by 1024 range and go up to 1,600 by 1,200 pixels. Do note that at this high resolution, users may still have to squint--fonts and fine lines will become microscopic.

However, on larger screen and at higher resolutions, users get the luxury of placing two web pages side-by-side or viewing more columns in a spreadsheet, a welcome relief from the tedium of constant scrolling.

Compare all notebooks

	Sony Vaio PCG-GRX3P The highest resolution notebook in our lineup, the Sony Vaio PCG-GRX3P boasts a16-inch LCD with a native 1,600 by 1,200 pixel resolution. It lacks infra-red, integrated wireless LAN and a floppy drive, but includes a keyboard with a superb feel and a rich software bundle. (Note: The Vaio PCG-GRX3P has been replaced by a faster machine, the GRX5P, which retains most of the specs of its predecessor, including screen specs.)
	Toshiba 1950-A740 The Toshiba 1950-A740 is aimed at multimedia pros who want a big screen to display work to clients--it comes with a detachable wireless radio keyboard and mouse for group huddles. The resolution is not too high at 1,280 by 1,024 pixels, for the sake of viewers seated further away. It weighs a hefty 4.4 kg, which is heavy compared to the other machines in this roundup.
	Compaq 800 Compaq's first desknote gives users a taste of big-screen pleasures at a low price, but makes the battery an optional buy, and cuts back on the graphics chipset. The screen delivers a 1,280 by 1024 pixel resolution for easy, though not extremely detailed viewing.
	Apple PowerBook G4 Not other notebook has a screen this big: This PowerBook, at 3.1 kg, features a 17-inch 1,440x900 display. But it remains an inch thick, just like its predecessors, and offers some impressive specs. You'll find a 1GHz G4; 512MB of DDR RAM; a CD-RW/DVD-R SuperDrive; and a full complement of ports that includes one superfast, FireWire 800 slot. You'll also get a 60GB hard drive and an Nvidia GeForce4 440 Go graphics card with 64MB of video RAM.