In almost every company I worked for, the standard size of a laptop screen was either 14/15 inches.
No one got a laptop screen larger than that. The VIPS would get larger external screens in their offices and docking stations, but it was not cost effective to buy larger screens built into laptops.
Then laptops became cheaper and I experienced my first 17 inch screen for an owner of a company I worked for. It was fantastic and I really enjoying helping that person with problems with it.
Years later I bought my first 17 inch laptop screen this year which is an HP OmniBook X. No this is not a paid thing. I just like it. For $1200 it seemed like the cheapest and best value for the size of the screen.
Now I shared that I had a problem with WiFi with AVD that was fixed by turning off the power saving preferences. I don’t expect many people to be using a consumer laptop with Azure Virtual Desktop, but it might help if they experience WiFi disconnections in other ways. Other than that it has been perfect. Oh yeah a BSOD but that was probably due to me trying to get default echo cancellation with the driver which probably no one else is going to do.
Now I am using this 17 inch display and my projector screen and I have to say that it is surprising how often I look at the built in screen. When the light level changes I have to adjust which screen I look at which won’t happen once I buy a better projector. Still the 17 inch screen has been so helpful in meetings when I can’t use the projector screen due to temporary brighter light. It really has been wonderful and so now I will always try to buy the largest display in a laptop and not mess with external monitors anymore.
There is nothing wrong with external monitors but the value isn’t there for me anymore. Yes they have larger displays than the built in but lack portability. They have smaller displays than the projector, and add complexity to a room and management. I never liked the external monitors I have used and I have used many of them. They always have to be managed and I hated the latency in games and other issues.
Of course there is latency in the projector as well but now I am playing different types of games that are less sensitive to that kind of latency. So its a non issue. When you play a mobile game or web browser based game they don’t stress the display in the same way. If I was playing a racing game then I would buy a gaming projector that specializes in low latency. Its not a need so I don’t and won’t buy those. I’d rather have something that makes text look good and easy to work with.
Is this a sign I’m boring? Perhaps or maybe games no longer have the same appeal to me.
If you need a bigger screen forget the external monitor. Get yourself a projector/screen and you will never look back.