Laptop want versus laptop need

marco.org: “The right laptop to get is the one that will be able to serve most of your needs, most of the time, with the fewest compromises on factors that matter to you.
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Almost everyone can point to a handful of situations in which a given Apple laptop is impossible, impractical, or frustrating to use for a particular task.
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Most people put far too much consideration on size and weight. There are situations in which this matters, such as the tray-table example, but evaluate your own situation before deciding based on that: How often do you travel on planes, how much time during the flight would you realistically be working on your laptop, and how bad would it be if you couldn’t?”

I don’t personally use an Apple laptop, but the information in the article can be applied to non-Apple machines as well. While I don’t agree with the author’s conclusion that people put far too much consideration on size and weight, I can certainly relate to the problem with tray-tables on planes. I for one put a lot of consideration into size and weight when choosing a laptop. It’s important to me. Thin and light with good battery life tops my list of desirables when I’m looking at a new machine. I also prefer laptops with screens around 14” in size.

Unfortunately my desired screen size directly impacts my ability to use laptops on planes. I fly in cattle-class where the seats are designed for petite women less than 5’6”. And for some reason the person sitting in front of me always wants to lie in my lap. Anyway, my 14.1″ Lenovo T410s laptop doesn’t fit on the tray-table comfortably between me and the reclining ding-bat in front of me; really irritating (that’s a totally different post).

What’s the solution? Get a smaller laptop obviously. Just sayin’.