The neck angle of putting a laptop in my lap on a plane is unusable.

yes with an 11" notebook the angle would be a pain but with a 17" screen it's quite usable

I worked my way through grad school with a 17 inch macbook pro. I would work in between classes by sitting in a chair in the lounge, putting the laptop on my lap and working. The height of the arms of this one chair was perfectly level with the top of the laptop. The angle of the chair back put the screen straight ahead in my vision. The ergonomics were almost as good as working at a desk.

Ikea doesn't sell that chair anymore and apple doesn't sell that laptop anymore. sigh

> All they want is thin, light and a big beautiful screen.

I disagree with the thin part. I have yet to see anyone care whether a laptop is 1" or .7". This is a pointless marketing ploy, invented by Jobs. Yes, lightness matters. But we have seen (and I actually owned one) incredibly light laptops mostly from Japan well before Jobs invented the thin craze.

> I have yet to see anyone care whether a laptop is 1" or .7".

Careful there. I didn't say mainstream customers care about having the 'thinnest' laptop. I agree that a distinction between 1" or 0.7" is pointless. They do care about having a 'thin' laptop. It's largely marketing but also partly ergonomics, especially at the 17" size to reduce volume

I really don't understand the weight issue, I don't mind a heavy laptop at all. Make it twice as heavy or even heavier if I can get more battery out of it. Thinness though is extremely important. It determines the bulk of the whole machine and in what situations I can bring it.

Noise, performance and battery life are really important too, so there are bound to be a lot of compromises. But I really do value thinness.