The Student Room Group

How heavy is too heavy?

I know that, usually, the lighter a laptop is, the more expensive it is, so I was wondering what weight would be light enough. I'd be traveling to and from uni with it in my bag (either walking or on a bike), so it would need to be fairly light, I'm just not sure how light it would have to be. Is 3 kg too heavy for what I need portability wise?
Reply 1
Being a small girl, I wouldn't want to carry anything heavier than my MacBook which weighs.. 2.36kg.
Reply 2
Mines nearly 3, and its no problem to lug. But then, I aint a small chap.
Reply 3
Mine is probably just over 3kg, and I don't have any problems lugging it around.

Really, what you consider to be "heavy" or bearable depends entirely upon what you would personally feel comfortable carrying.
Reply 4
I personally wouldn't carry anything more than 3kg regularly.

When I took my laptop to secondary school, my 2.2kg 14" IBM ThinkPad T20 was fine to slip into my bag and although noticably increased the weight, it wasn't too bad. For the last couple of weeks I took my 3.6kg 15.4" Fujitsu Siemens laptop and that was slightly uncomfortable to carry around for prolonged periods.

My 2.6kg 15" Apple PowerBook is a nice compromise, big enough to use comfortably yet slim enough (just over 1") to fit in a slip case in my bag without taking up loads of room.

Just for reference, I'd say I'm smaller built than the average 17-18 year old guy.
Personally, I wouldn't want to lug around anything more than 2.5kgs regularly, ie. something around the size/weight of a MacBook/Sony Vaio C-Series/SZ series/Samsung R20/40 are what I'd consider to be good companions for a truly mobile user.
Reply 6
i wouldnt call anything over 2.5kg portable, let alone 3, but different people have their own limits.
mines only 1.7kg and its probably one of the most portable laptops that i could ever carry around
whatever floats your boat
^^ haha jeremy, my bag used to be 3kg. + no big problem if I'm carrying anything under 3kg, just bugs me though saying that my notebook is 2.5kg so yeah, got rid of my books and I put it in my bag and stuff

so it's lighter than what I'm used to.
Reply 8
personally i would not want to lug something over 3.5kg around unless i have to.
Reply 9
I have a brick of a laptop (a 'desktop replacement', and it sure feels like it :wink:). I have to carry around its power supply wherever I go too. So that's 3.5 kg. Still I'm fine with it, as long as it's in a backpack. I can't really carry it around in a shoulder bag for long periods of time.

The obvious advantage with lighter laptops like the Macbooks etc. are that their battery lives tend to be quite good, so you don't need to bother lugging around the power adapter. :smile:
Reply 10
Mac's have tiny and light power adaptors anyway, so it's not a problem even if you do need to carry it :smile:
Reply 11
mkgm1
The obvious advantage with lighter laptops like the Macbooks etc. are that their battery lives tend to be quite good, so you don't need to bother lugging around the power adapter. :smile:


Not necessarily... My 15.4" laptop has a better battery life than my friends' MacBooks.
Reply 12
loopymeg
Not necessarily... My 15.4" laptop has a better battery life than my friends' MacBooks.

what is your one? i really need good battery atm where I'm living, because of where the wireless net is
Reply 13
moogle301
what is your one? i really need good battery atm where I'm living, because of where the wireless net is


Dell Inspiron 6400. I can squeeze 6hrs out of the battery when needed (about 5hrs with normal use).