I think that along with the screen size, people need to consider that this affects the keyboard as well. Smaller screen means tiny or poorly spaced keys. I think that 12" is the absolute minimum if you plan on doing any typing & actually 14-15" if you want to be comfortable.

Between my 12" Powerbook, and my 15" Thinkpad, my Thinkpad is the better desktop replacement, and my Powerbook is the better traveler, I just wish it didn't have the optical drive in it.

12.1" minus the optical drive really is the perfect size for a laptop. I have my desktop if I need more space or power. My only gripes about the form factor involve the low resolutions 12" laptops get saddled with.

My next laptop will be between 14" - 12". It kind of depends on what I want it to do, and what Lenovo does with the Thinkpad line.

14.1" widescreen.

i have a dell vostro 1400 with a 14.1" 1440*900 screen.

Play DVD? check
Play blueray? check
play hd=dvd? check
Enough room for work?
check not too big or small? check
Enough capacity to run 4+ hours on a charge? check

God and Qwerty have spoken.... 13.3" wide-aspect FTW

Love my 15.4" widescreens - perfect for movies and usability.

I do quite a bit of amateur print graphics work. This meant getting high resolution along with some processing power, yet be at a reasonable size. To those requirements, I ended up getting a Tecra M4 which landed me a 14.1 inch, 4:3 screen. (1400 by 1050.)
It just so happens to be slightly different in size compared to a letter sized sheet of paper (8.5 inch by 11 inch.) Also being a tablet, it makes for an excellent way to preview sizing before printing. A full size keyboard is also nice, though usually I use an external keyboard.

That said, it is a bit large for actual lap-top use. A 12 inch display seems to be much better suited for portable use while having a full-size keyboard available.

Equally good question: what's your preferred DPI? Would you rather have a 13.3" screen that is higher res than a 15.4" screen?

Those 2 who voted for 7" Lappy should get themself a High end PDA like HTC Shift...

I honestly don't know why HP is going all widescreen format on all of their laptops, even the business line of laptops. My company used to buy the NC6230 and the NC6320 laptops and those are undoubtedly the BEST laptops HP have ever produced, their size, weight and totally awesome functionality were PERFECT for business use. The screen on the NC6230 was a 14.1" 4:3 aspect ratio. It's perfect for traveling, now we're stuck buying these ridiculous 6710b notebooks which barely fit into laptop bags because of their 16:10 aspect ratio screens, so retarded for business use.

Honestly HP, who's behind your design decisions?

I bought a 15.4" laptop because I wanted it to do it all. This was before the introduction of the EEE pc.

I'll eventually switch to a regular desktop and a cheap 10" laptop I guess, but for the past year and a half this laptop has served me well.

13.3" is great. High enough res, but small and light enough for travel. 15" laptops are always too big and heavy.

I don't care, really, how big it is as long as the resolution is at LEAST 1024x768 or greater and has a regular laptop sized screen (no UMPC!).

Even with only 29 votes cast, we can see a clear divide between the mobility folks (13" or less) and the DTR folks (15" or more).

My laptop sits on my desk all day, unless I'm traveling, and I'm not going to sacrifice daily use for something that happens twice a year, so I have a 15" screen.

13.3" for me.

I want a laptop I can (and will) carry around everywhere without breaking my back or a sweat.

I have a 12.1" Toshiba, and I'm eyeing the X300 when lenovo releases a non-ssd version.

My 2-year-old laptop has a 14.1" widescreen display and it's certainly good enough. If I was to buy a laptop today, I would go with a 15" or 15.4" screen, but 14.1" is a good compromise between size and function. I have no regrets.

15.4 seems to be the most popular and the cheapest form that OEMs use.

for me, though, 12.1" widescreens can fit in a comfortable keyboard, while being small and light.

13.3"-14" for me.

I've used 15" and 17" laptops, but they are simply too big, too heavy and use too much battery power.

12" and under are too cramped for me to comfortably type on.

If I had to pick one screen size it would be 13.3" 1440x900, although that's on the large side for portability purposes.

14.1" Standard or Widescreen would be my choice. Still small and light to carry around comfortably and large enough to view comfortably.

I prefer my 15.4" laptop. While I admit that a 13.3" laptop would definitely fit better on those absolutely ridiculously small desks they give you in a university lecture hall, I prefer the additional power my 15.4" has that I couldn't find in a 13.3" for nearly the same cash--an 8600M GT. For someone who likes to game, I think that combo is best. I just wish I'd had the money at the time to fork out for a higher-res screen than 1280x800.

I don't plan on getting a laptop anytime soon, but if I was to get one to replace my desktop for day to day activities, I would go for one with a 17" screen (which I voted for). That'd give me plenty of screen real estate for Photoshop and other multimedia software I may run in the near future. Plus you can squeeze a full-size keyboard in that form factor.

For something more mobile that I could carry around with me and use for more basic tasks, I think 11.1" or so would be about perfect as long as the max resolution was at least 1280x720.

13.3" is just right because it uses about the same space as a text book.

I have 15.4" 1680*1050 and a 14.1" 1440*900 laptop. both work really good but i would say 14.1" is the best as it is smaller, lighter and it has a better battery life. i have used 13.3" one and i absoluetely hate the KB on those. they are too small for typing comfortably.

i love these polls. I wonder if some manufacturers actually get an idea.

Even if its just 4000 ish votes, i believe we voters at least have a good idea what represents the over target consumer.

Of the laptops I've used, the screen that fit best was a 15" 1400x1050 so that was my vote. My current 15.4" 1440x900 is nice enough but I'd still get a 4:3 screen if they were more common.

yeah macbook with 13.3 is good except resolution should be higher.
otherwise the size is perfect to me, highly portable and fits anywhere and has full size keyboard
only thing really lacking is expresscard

I bought my wife a 17" lappy a while back (a couple years ago). When looking I was thinking "the bigger the screen, the better". After having to deal with its size on multiple road trips and airplane trips since then, I can say with enthusiasm that 17" screen and the associated laptop size is just too big. I had a chance to play a little with my mom's 15" laptop that she just got, and thought the size to be a perfect balance of size and ease of viewing.

I think that the trend towards wide screens actually means that you need a larger display panel. Rows of information are important for me. My main laptop is an aging G4 iBook. The 14" screen is 4:3, so it is tolerable...but the resolution is awful (1024x768). It is a work system, but I am definitely going to move to higher resolution and a 15.4" screen for my next machine. I'd love to have a 17", but I doubt that work will spring for it.

gotta say, i love my 15.4 widescreen at 1680x1050. only problem is that it's a few years old and the NV 4200 go graphics in their can't handle full res video in vista because of aero. had to drop the resolution to watch video.