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From: gargoyle60 on 17 Mar 2010 16:29

I use a desktop at home and want to get a small laptop or netbook for
use of up to 4 hours. The spec doesn't have to be fancy - just enough
to run Windows/Ubuntu, don't need massive disk storage, to be honest
80GB is more than enough, but 2GB ram would be useful for running
multiple apps or having about ten windows open. I will probably be
running of mains adaptor so battery life is also not a major factor.

My concern is screen size - I have sensitive eyesight that means I
suffer from eye strain quite quickly. I am concerned that a small
screen, i.e. 10.1" as with many netbooks, is likely to lead to
eyestrain after only a couple of hours.

Can anyone comment on their own experiences along these lines?
From: Barry Watzman on 17 Mar 2010 17:40
Your question is so subjective and so much a function of the user in
question that I'm not sure that anyone else's experience would be
relevant or applicable to any other person.

gargoyle60 wrote:
> I use a desktop at home and want to get a small laptop or netbook for
> use of up to 4 hours. The spec doesn't have to be fancy - just enough
> to run Windows/Ubuntu, don't need massive disk storage, to be honest
> 80GB is more than enough, but 2GB ram would be useful for running
> multiple apps or having about ten windows open. I will probably be
> running of mains adaptor so battery life is also not a major factor.
>
> My concern is screen size - I have sensitive eyesight that means I
> suffer from eye strain quite quickly. I am concerned that a small
> screen, i.e. 10.1" as with many netbooks, is likely to lead to
> eyestrain after only a couple of hours.
>
> Can anyone comment on their own experiences along these lines?
From: Ryan P. on 17 Mar 2010 01:53
On 3/17/2010 3:29 PM, gargoyle60 wrote:
>
> I use a desktop at home and want to get a small laptop or netbook for
> use of up to 4 hours. The spec doesn't have to be fancy - just enough
> to run Windows/Ubuntu, don't need massive disk storage, to be honest
> 80GB is more than enough, but 2GB ram would be useful for running
> multiple apps or having about ten windows open. I will probably be
> running of mains adaptor so battery life is also not a major factor.
>
> My concern is screen size - I have sensitive eyesight that means I
> suffer from eye strain quite quickly. I am concerned that a small
> screen, i.e. 10.1" as with many netbooks, is likely to lead to
> eyestrain after only a couple of hours.
>
> Can anyone comment on their own experiences along these lines?

Barry is correct... Anything anyone says will be purely subjective.

In my OWN experience, the small screen size makes netbooks basically
useless to me for any real work for any extended period of time. For
me, the bigger the screen is, the better. Not because I need big type
to read, but, as you imply, small fonts lead to eye strain for me.

Is there a reason you'd prefer to have a smaller device than a
standard notebook? You mention being able to have 10 or so windows open
over multiple apps. What do you intend on doing with this netbook? If
its 10 windows between email and a web browser, it'll be fine. If
you're talking productivity software, you might run into an issue.
From: gargoyle60 on 18 Mar 2010 05:15
On Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:53:34 -0500, "Ryan P."
<rdeletepaque(a)wi.rr.comm> wrote:

>On 3/17/2010 3:29 PM, gargoyle60 wrote:
>>
>> I use a desktop at home and want to get a small laptop or netbook for
>> use of up to 4 hours. The spec doesn't have to be fancy - just enough
>> to run Windows/Ubuntu, don't need massive disk storage, to be honest
>> 80GB is more than enough, but 2GB ram would be useful for running
>> multiple apps or having about ten windows open. I will probably be
>> running of mains adaptor so battery life is also not a major factor.
>>
>> My concern is screen size - I have sensitive eyesight that means I
>> suffer from eye strain quite quickly. I am concerned that a small
>> screen, i.e. 10.1" as with many netbooks, is likely to lead to
>> eyestrain after only a couple of hours.
>>
>> Can anyone comment on their own experiences along these lines?
>
> Barry is correct... Anything anyone says will be purely subjective.
>
> In my OWN experience, the small screen size makes netbooks basically
>useless to me for any real work for any extended period of time. For
>me, the bigger the screen is, the better. Not because I need big type
>to read, but, as you imply, small fonts lead to eye strain for me.
>
> Is there a reason you'd prefer to have a smaller device than a
>standard notebook? You mention being able to have 10 or so windows open
>over multiple apps. What do you intend on doing with this netbook? If
>its 10 windows between email and a web browser, it'll be fine. If
>you're talking productivity software, you might run into an issue.

The main reason is cost. A new netbook can cost as little as half the
cost of a new laptop. Additionally, I just don't want to have excess
weight on my lap for extended periods.
From: John Doue on 18 Mar 2010 08:08
On 3/17/2010 5:40 PM, Barry Watzman wrote:
> Your question is so subjective and so much a function of the user in
> question that I'm not sure that anyone else's experience would be
> relevant or applicable to any other person.
>
> gargoyle60 wrote:
>> I use a desktop at home and want to get a small laptop or netbook for
>> use of up to 4 hours. The spec doesn't have to be fancy - just enough
>> to run Windows/Ubuntu, don't need massive disk storage, to be honest
>> 80GB is more than enough, but 2GB ram would be useful for running
>> multiple apps or having about ten windows open. I will probably be
>> running of mains adaptor so battery life is also not a major factor.
>>
>> My concern is screen size - I have sensitive eyesight that means I
>> suffer from eye strain quite quickly. I am concerned that a small
>> screen, i.e. 10.1" as with many netbooks, is likely to lead to
>> eyestrain after only a couple of hours.
>>
>> Can anyone comment on their own experiences along these lines?

Indeed, but one reasonable thing can be said, I believe. Screen size is
only one factor, the other being resolution. A smaller screen can be
easier on the eyes if its resolution is lower than that of a larger screen.

A good examle of this is the R51 Thinkpad which came in two screen
flavors. The one I have is called Flexview and its resolution of
1400x1050, the other one only 1024x768. Since I work mostly with text
documents, I was hesitant to take the higher resolution. But I thought
that going from 1.50d to 1.75 for my reading glasses was worth the
additional quality.

So, as Barry said, your eyes will tell you which one suits you best, but
keep in mind my experience if you have reached the age, your arms are
getting too short ...

--
John Doue
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