Dual Screen Laptop

I note that although laptops could have gotten lighter, there have been a tendency to load them up with DVD players and so on. It's as if there is a maximum tolerable weight for laptops, of 2-3 kg, and people will load on features up to that point.

Then there was a reaction against this, of netbooks - lighter, smaller, lower-wattage - but this trend seems to have slowed, and of course, laptop sales still dominate netbook sales. Why? Because people in fact want to do desktop things on a laptop. If they need dual screen on their desktop, they'll need it on their laptop.

(personally, I much prefer the netbook approach)

While this is true, there are more uses for a laptop than mere usage on the road.

I use my laptop as a portable office. I go someplace, unpack and start working. I always have a desk and a power plug. I always plug in an external mouse (I hate touchpads). I have no problem carrying around my current 17" laptop.

Netbooks or other small laptops would be terrible for me. I have a lot of problems with the screen size in pixels as it is. I really don't want less screen estate, or a smaller keyboard, for that matter. (Rather, I'd like a numeric keypad added.)

But maybe I am a niche: people strong enough to carry around a large laptop and wanting a portable office more than a train-/plane-computer.

Unless, of course, it's your plane.