blitzkrieg wrote:
Yeah, it's pretty much an essential purchase. It's not too big, depending on what you're comfortable carrying around and how good your eyesight is I guess? 14" wouldn't be too bad but there's nothing wrong with 16" at all. If it's the one you wanted then that's all that matters.
I've had a 17" widescreen for the past four years (well, two of them, Dell replaced the first one after two years because of a mfg defect).
It's great. Doing work, watching movies, surfing the net, doing work...
The only problem comes when I need to use it for work away from my desk. It's really too big to be 'laptop', you need a table to set it on (or maybe just for your legs to be longer, I don't know). It's also a pain in the neck... and back... and arms... to carry it when traveling.
Recently, my husband allowed me to take his netbook while traveling for work, and it was great. I could actually OPEN IT on the plane, which I couldn't do with mine, I'm lucky the times it actually fits under the seat in front of me. I only needed to be able to access email and MS Office, so it was great (mine is bigger and more powerful because I run CAD/BIM apps on it).
Unfortunately, hubby just got a brand new netbook and wouldn't let me take his with me my last trip. ~sniff~ I think that spousal cruelty.

Especially considering the amount of my peers who showed up with iPads.