Which is better today 15.6 inch or 17.3 inch laptops?

[jorge_medion]

In the place where I live there is a noticeable difference in prices and availability between 15.6 inch laptops and 17.3 inch laptops. Brands such as HP, Alienware, MSI have both sizes and sometimes the difference in price for similar specs is very wide. But I am concerned about these aspects: screen size being too small to enjoy it and cooling. I would be able to get a laptop with better specs if I go for the 15.6 laptop and a lower specs but good enough laptop if I go for the 17.3 laptop. What do you think? Is worth having a more powerful 15.6 laptop or a less power but 17.3 laptop?

To illustrate with an example imagine a 15.6 laptop with a gpu RTX 2080 max q and a 17.3 laptop with a gpu RTX 2070 max q, asume the remaining components to be the same between both laptops.

 

[logainofhades]

15.6 vs 17 is just a personal preference, for viewing, more than anything.

 

[geofelt]

I see many complaints about gaming laptops not performing well.
Usually gaming while plugged in.
One common cause is thermal throttling.
Laptop coolers must, of necessity be small and light.
They are also relatively underpowered.
If you need the portability of a laptop, then 15" will be lighter and easier to transport.
If portability is not needed, you can get a larger, more immersive monitor and better specs for less with a desktop.
Perhaps not today, though since graphics cards are hard to buy at any price.

I think I would opt for 17" on the basis that 2070 is likely to be good enough and the larger unit has the possibility of better cooling.

 

[hotaru.hino]

The size is based on personal preference. I've had both sizes and while 17" is nice at times, they can be bulky and harder to set up in smaller spaces (I affectionately called mine a boat anchor). As far as the hardware goes, see if someone reviewed the laptop you're looking for in the configuration you want or with higher end hardware. Notebookcheck is a good resource to start with this.

While I haven't had something like a 2080 or 2070 in a laptop (usually the GPUs I get are NVIDIA's 60 level SKU), I haven't really had a problem with them performance wise.

 

[DSzymborski]

It's really hard to answer this question as stated, because it's based on personal preference. You are not me, so your needs and goals will not likely be identical to mine.

It's a bit like asking someone if a sports car or an SUV is better. The answer will vary greatly depending on the expected use of the vehicle and preference.

 

[hang-the-9]

If you are going to be using the system as the main computer, with the laptop screen, I would buy the larger one myself. Of course that depends on how much you care about the size of the laptop as a laptop vs just screen size.

 

[cryoburner]

Are things like the resolution, refresh rate and panel type (IPS, VA, TN) of the screens similar? There tends to be a lot more than just size affecting the quality of a given screen. Even when the advertised specs of two screens are the same though, they could potentially have significant differences in terms of things like color accuracy, ghosting or overdrive artifacts.

 

[LordVile]

In the place where I live there is a noticeable difference in prices and availability between 15.6 inch laptops and 17.3 inch laptops. Brands such as HP, Alienware, MSI have both sizes and sometimes the difference in price for similar specs is very wide. But I am concerned about these aspects: screen size being too small to enjoy it and cooling. I would be able to get a laptop with better specs if I go for the 15.6 laptop and a lower specs but good enough laptop if I go for the 17.3 laptop. What do you think? Is worth having a more powerful 15.6 laptop or a less power but 17.3 laptop?

To illustrate with an example imagine a 15.6 laptop with a gpu RTX 2080 max q and a 17.3 laptop with a gpu RTX 2070 max q, asume the remaining components to be the same between both laptops.

17” always seem too big to carry around for me. Though I wouldn’t buy a laptop for gaming. Generally stuck with MacBooks and my 16” is getting on the might be too big side.

 

[kris05]

I'm going to go with a middle sweet spot of 16inches, like the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. It's the size of a 15 inch laptop but the display inside is actually taller, so it's better for creative content not just media and game consumption.

 

[lvt]

If you move a lot with your laptop, better go with the smaller screen.