Screens on Laptops Set to Grow

20” Laptop on the Horizon

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 10/27/2005 | 11:29 PM ]

Laptop market currently is the fastest growing segment of the computer market. Many manufacturers refresh their product lines relatively frequently providing their customers with more and more features and capabilities. While the modern laptops are powerful, fast and packed with various desktop functionality, their main difference with the desktop remains comparatively small screen. But even this problem has been being tackled for some time now.

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When widescreen notebooks emerged, many were concerned with their relatively large dimensions, but due to increased desktop workspace which allowed to simultaneously view two documents side by side, the laptops with wide screens have become popular among some users. Furthermore, notebooks with 17” screens are becoming popular along with desktop replacement (DTR) mobile PCs and some companies are working to deliver even bigger screens on laptops.

"What we are seeing is the commercial market driving the manufacturers. In addition to watching movies or playing games, customers are appreciating that wide-screen formats let them view documents and spreadsheets side-by-side instead of scrolling up and down,” said Richard Shim, IDC analyst.

“But are consumers ready to lug around a 20-inch laptop? Shim said that displays measuring 15 inches and 17 inches on the diagonal - once considered too big to carry around - are now among the more popular versions. Even larger screen sizes are in the pipeline. Samsung has already shown its upcoming 19-inch laptop to CNET Reviews. The product is expected to ship later this year. Dell, a major partner of Samsung, could easily adopt the large screen format for its high-end XPS laptops. And, LG Philips is also touting its 20-inch LCD displays for laptops, Shim said,” writes CNET News.com.

• CNET News.com: Ready for a 20" Laptop?