Are 13" laptops too small as a primary pc

Fol20

As the title suggests im wondering if a 13" laptop is too small for using for long period of time. Does it hurt anyones eyes when looking at the screen.Im stuck between the new studio xps 13 and the older xps m1530. I prefer the newer model but for some odd reason they only brought out a tank of a 16" and the small 13". Anyway can people please advise me on their own current experiences with 13" laptops as their main pc.

leninbenjamin

buy a monitor you can leave at the desk at home/work with a usb keyboard and mouse and you'll be fine.

p.s. there are other brands than Dell.

Fol20

Yea but i like dells suport setup.Iv had a good few pcs with them and their really good at replacing faulty items etc.Thats why i buy a load of microsoft accesseries as well.Their excellent for replacements.I buy dell for piece of mind i suppose and i love the look of the new model.It has the shiney black on it.I have a phillips 42" at home that i use to watch movies but in terms of using it to use my pc its not really comfortable to use.Whatever laptop i get ill have to stick with the screen on it.

Btw does anyone know if the keyboard in the 13" is smaller than a regular keyboard

Umiq88

I have a dell 1310 which is similar to the XPS 1330

C2Duo T8100 2.1ghz
nVidia 8400m GS
3GB Ram

The size of the laptop is perfect its fine for working full time the keyboard is big enough as is the screen for use all day i dont find any drawbacks in that way or tbh any other way

people are always commenting that its a nice size the screen is perfect for watching dvds as well theres a good resolution on mine 1280*800 which is the same as alot of 15" so you can see just as much.

Mate of mine has a big 15 or 17 inch alienware and was amazed at my little laptop playing call of duty 4 with no problems.

swingking

I'm using a 13" macbook and I have to say that the 13 inch is the best all rounder. It's very useable and at the same time portable.

The resolution is high enough to do anything you'd want to do on a main laptop.

leninbenjamin

psittacosis wrote: »

I have a dell 1310 which is similar to the XPS 1330

C2Duo T8100 2.1ghz
nVidia 8400m GS
3GB Ram

The size of the laptop is perfect its fine for working full time the keyboard is big enough as is the screen for use all day i dont find any drawbacks in that way or tbh any other way

people are always commenting that its a nice size the screen is perfect for watching dvds as well theres a good resolution on mine 1280*800 which is the same as alot of 15" so you can see just as much.

Mate of mine has a big 15 or 17 inch alienware and was amazed at my little laptop playing call of duty 4 with no problems.

i wouldn't go near the XPS1330 today though. the 8400 though is an awful card, was grand when i bough mine and they were giving it away free a year ago, but if one's buying a laptop today stick well away from it. the 8000M series have a really high failure rate too so if you do decide to go for it make sure you get more than the year warranty.

Fol20

Can anyone comment on the following specs as well for 1100

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26Ghz, 1066MHz, 3MB)

256MB nVidia® 9500m graphics card

4096MB 1067MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]

320GB Free Fall Sensor (7200RPM) Hard Drive

Btw the reason im so weary about it is because of the fact that ill be going from 17 to 13

Umiq88

leninbenjamin wrote: »

i wouldn't go near the XPS1330 today though. the 8400 though is an awful card, was grand when i bough mine and they were giving it away free a year ago, but if one's buying a laptop today stick well away from it. the 8000M series have a really high failure rate too so if you do decide to go for it make sure you get more than the year warranty.

Thanks for the heads up im aware of it though and have done the copper mod and have undervolted my cpu and the heat levels are fine so im not to worried about it.

jimbling

I'm considering getting on of these studio xps 13 machines as well. I have a 24inch monitor at work, and I'm getting a 32inch Full HD tv/monitor for my office at home.
I'm presuming the graphics card has no problem putting out to full 1920x1080, but what about if I wanted to use multiple Monitors... say, for example. The 32inch and two 20inch either side. Can this little laptop handle that?
All advice welcome......

Fol20

Its still a bit pricey though at 1100.Id say i could get the older m1530 for about 8-900 like

leninbenjamin

Fol20 wrote: »

Its still a bit pricey though at 1100.Id say i could get the older m1530 for about 8-900 like

don't. seriously, stick away from anything with the 8000 series cards.

jimbling wrote: »

I'm considering getting on of these studio xps 13 machines as well. I have a 24inch monitor at work, and I'm getting a 32inch Full HD tv/monitor for my office at home.
I'm presuming the graphics card has no problem putting out to full 1920x1080, but what about if I wanted to use multiple Monitors... say, for example. The 32inch and two 20inch either side. Can this little laptop handle that?
All advice welcome......

depends what you're doing. i have an 8400M GS and have a 23'' 1920*1080 monitor i hook it up to and it works fine for coding or watching movies, but you would see it stutter for graphically intensive apps. seeing as the cards in the XPS are a fair bit better i would say there shouldn't be much of a problem adding a second monitor.

AlmightyCushion

Fol20 wrote: »

Btw the reason im so weary about it is because of the fact that ill be going from 17 to 13

I was really wary going from a 17" to a 10" netbook. It takes a bit to get use to it but after a few days I was more or less fully adjusted to the netbook. You should be okay.