Is 14.1" laptop to big for portability 1635

My current primary laptop (D610), as well as my previous main laptop (IBM T21) were both 14.1", and for real traveling they're fine (in fact I will be taking my D610 on a plane with me in the next 2 hours). I typically keep it on my lap for my flight, but it can open on the tray of a 737 without much of an issue (you would have to tilt the lid a bit if the seat in front is reclined). If you look at the business line of all the major laptop manufacturers, you'll find a 14.1" model (Dell's D6XX line, Lenovo's T4X-T6x, HP's NC6love line, etc.).

For small traveling -- eg. clbutt, coffee shops, etc. -- 14.1" and under 6lbs works, but it's the largest I'd recommend. When I was in college (just graduated in EE in December), I mainly took my laptop to lab. If my major were something that required more writing, etc. then I'd probably have taken it to clbutt more. Of the people that did bring laptops to clbutt, 14" was one of the more common sizes, with 12" coming in second (usu. Dell 700m-X1, Lenovo's X line, or Sony's 13.3" Vaio), and anything larger (Dell I6000's) were there too but less common.

When I was interning in the summer last year, I eventually picked up a smaller machine for commuting, etc. I went with a Dell LS from cerca 2000; it's about 3lbs, 12.1" screen P-III 400MHz w256MB of RAM. I installed Linux on there and it runs quite well. The main reason I went with it was not because my D610 was too large, rather, I didn't want to risk having it loss, damaged, or stolen. I found the LS on eBay for $150, and although I'd be upset at losing it, it certainly would be a lot less worse than losing my D610.