I noticed one of my favorite manufacturers,Lenovo, has apparently discontinued ALL their 17" notebooks and they now only have up to 15 inches max.
Are the big screen notebooks likely to be phased out by other manufacturers as well?
I doubt it. There’s always going to be the “gaming laptop” demographic. They tend to want big screens. Granted, its always going to be a small niche.
Lots of video editors and professional photographers use Apple’s 17" laptops. I suspect that there would be quite a fuss if they discontinued them.
There are laptop models out there with screens up to 18.4 inches and full 1080p resolution. Check out the Toshiba and HP models. There is always a demand for large screens in the desktop replacement market.
Makes you wonder why Lenovo is pulling back.
My guess is that the market for 17" laptops is shrinking as people look for ways to save. In a good economy, some people splurge for the big screen even if they don’t need it; in a lousy economy, they start looking at netbooks. The market isn’t going away entirely, of course, but the changes in consumer tastes might be enough that continued research, development, production and support is just not cost effective for Lenovo.
My feeling is that its just Lenovo clearing out its old inventories of W700’s. I’ve noticed that Lenovo sometimes stops showing Models its not currently shipping on its own site usually when a refresh is due but not yet available.
I believe they had the W701 on their road map for 2010. Engadget had a screen shot of it a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, they’re moving away from those beasts. Being 17 inches and 11 pounds isn’t what being a laptop is about. It was one thing when your choices were 15.4 inches or 17 inches, but now people just won’t stand for it.
Lenovo is mostly into business laptops. There probably isn’t a huge call for laptops that won’t fit on the tray table on the airplane.
Actually I’ll say business, specifically the segment Lenovo is targeting with the portable Workstation might be one which can still justify carrying the Weight for the performance and screen size.
We were tempted by the w700 as a Luggable, a machine that would mainly be desk bound, but could be taken mobile for the frequent events we had where we needed power and performance on the go and found lugging a Desktop along with all the accessories (Including a UPS as power was usually bad). Unfortunately we were not able to justify the price, which I think was and is the Bigger issue.
Back to the topic at hand, as more and more people get mobile, even those people who need higher performance for which they usually use Desktops, will be looking for mobile alternatives. What companies are going to have to do is get the Price performance balance right for these larger machines before they see a wider uptick and demand.
Also, I think some of these models are PR flagship models to get some free press in all the enthusiast sites and magazines. The bleeding edge people buy them and then toss them in 9 months when the next model comes out. For a short while Lenovo or Acer can say things like “World’s fastest 17” laptop" in their marketing materials. Just dont ask how much it weighs or how hot it gets.
Big-screen high-power laptops are also popular with developers. As noted above, the usual scenario is mostly-desktop-but-movable-when necessary use.
And yes, that is a niche market. Lenovo is more interested in the mass market.
Yes but… I have several 17" HP notebooks and it’s quite possible to buy mid priced ( $550 - $900) units with middle of the road horsepower specs and a big screen. A 17" LCD panel is not that big a deal pricewise vs a 15" or 14" panel. And the latest 17" notebooks by HP are not that heavy.
Is Lenovo keeping up with the competition?
I spit on 17". 
I’m writing this on my Acer 20" laptop. Agreed, it’s not really portable, but it is a fantastic all in one computer. But, as far as I can tell, the biggest they make now is 18.4". I know Dell and HP made 20" models. I’m not sure if they still do.
Dell has a bunch of 17" laptops as well.
I have an Inspiron 1720 and I like it a lot. It’s big, heavy and hot, but I don’t care because the giant screen blows peoples’ minds. Sometimes if I’m using it in public people will stop and sit down with me just to look at the huge screen.
Just a quick update to the Original Question about Lenovo’s 17 Inch Models disappearing from the site.Looks Like updates are on the lawy later this week.
Thinkpads.com has a some more details on the Updates coming out soon, which Apparently include the W701 and W701ds Mobile Workstations.
Not sure what model this is, but I saw one in the wild a few weeks ago and it totally blew my mind. I had to but some serious effort into not staring like an idiot.
