15 inch laptops being chosen over portable mini PCs

Reports from a recent study indicate that consumers are choosing 14 and 15 inch notebooks over ultraportable devices. The most affected however, seems to be 13 inch notebooks. MSI are no longer offering their X360, which features a 13 inch display, while Lenovo will stop making the ThinkPad X300, another notebook that sports a 13 inch display.

Ultraportable machines have their advantages over larger notebooks, such as the portability factor with regards to weight and bulk but, the average 15 inch notebook also has a shorter battery life of about 100 minutes, than the average 13 inch notebook. However some consumers regard smaller devices as having less power, while 15 inch notebooks come with more powerful CPUs and will replicate a desktop experience more. It’s not all down to the way consumers see things however, manufacturers also offer a more competitive price on the 15 inch panels, than they do for smaller displays. Could ultraportables be on the way out? While Lenovo and MSI have given up on their 13 inch devices, netbooks and tablets are still very popular, with more devices being announced all the time.

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