Dell planning a 19-inch notebook

Supersize me, says Dell, and give me a notebook that can be used for human X-rays. The Round Rock, Texas-based PC maker is going to come out with a notebook with a 19-inch screen, according to Taiwan's DigiTimes, an IT news Web site. That's two inches wider than the 17-inch behemoths marketed today by Hewlett-Packard and others.

Dell, HP, Acer, Apple and others will substantially increase their orders for widescreen notebooks at their Taiwanese contract manufacturers (who produce most of the world's notebooks) in 2006, DigiTimes further stated.

For years, predictions about the limit to notebook screen sizes have been launched and failed. Toward the turn of the century, the practical limit was considered 14-inches; A 15-inch screen was thought of as something that only gadget guys would buy. Now it's the typical size.

The 17-inch screens, however, are pushing the boundaries of portable. HP's Jim McDonnell, who has said HP will likely come out with 20-inch screen notebooks one day, has noted that most of these machines never leave the house.