Have you considered a 5' french patio door that opens in the center if you need a larger opening to move furniture etc. For everyday you can open one side or the other. I just replaced a sliding door and love the look and feel of a french door. Ours is in-swing fiberglass with exterior brick-mold trim in vinyl-low maintenance!

My french patio door 72 inches wide the left side door is active but both can be opened in:

Master bedroom single Patio Door:

[Traditional Kids design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kids-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_24653~s_2107) by Houston Interior Designer Carla Aston : Interior Designer

I recommend a swinging door, if you can spare the floor space for the swing. If you eat on the patio and you're carrying food stuffs in and out, you can just bump your hip against the door to close it. A sliding door is not as convenient and will be a narrow opening in a 5' slider.

My patio door on the back of the house is actually my MAIN door as the driveway ends at the back of the house and it is used all the time. We deliberately designed for a 5 foot, in swing, center opening to give us room to move furniture in and out of the house. We keep one side locked stationary all the time, unless we need to move something in or out. In swing is also more convenient during rainy weather also (or at least to me it is).

Also, if you go this route, make sure you get a lever type handle if you carry food, snacks, etc out to your patio. Makes it easier to open when your hands are full or greasy from the grill :).

I vote for the 5 foot inswing, looks great and very practical. 5 foot slider will only allow 2.5 foot opening.
I like the light that a 5 foot opening allows.

rtwilliams, that door looks great! Can I ask the brand and cost?

We bought it from Homedepot.com It seems to be a nice solid door for the money. It came Pre-painted and is available in other colors and ready to go. Very happy with the door. We had the trim carpenter that did all our trim and cabinetry install it and they did a fantastic job. It fit right in to the previous slider opening without any tear out or rebuilding of the frame area. Of course my DH watched the trim carpenters ease of installing it and said "I could have done that" : ) Pretty sure ours was righthand in-swing but I get confused on that.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202887216/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=Masonite+72+in.+x+80+in.+Pure+White+Prehung+Left-Hand&storeId=10051&superSkuId=202956615#.UC6rcKPHmKM

go for the F door. I had a slider replaced this past yr and if i'd known a F door wasn't a lot of extra work I'd have gone that way.

I went with an Anderson 400 series 5' slider with a french door look. I also considered an outswing door, but with our smallish porch and breakfast nook, it seemed less than ideal. I like the Anderson, its a nice sturdy door, but DH thinks the sliding screen is crap. My Mom has an older Pella model and the screen retracts automatically. That's a nice feature if you do go with the slider.

I don't find the slider tight to walk through, but I haven't started coming in and out with large items yet.

Do you need screen doors? We do because of insects and because we love having the doors open day and night in good weather. If you need screens, I think the patio doors have to swing in and the screens swing out.
Patio doors have the advantage, as mentioned, that both can be open at the same time and the opening can be uninterrupted. With sliders, only one at a time can usually be opened.
This is our six foot french door, doors open, storms closed. We hadn't gotten around to putting in the screens yet.

We love it.

@dilly_ny hoping you see this message, can you give an update to your experience with the 5' sliding door? Are you able to move furniture/large items in/out this door? Also, you mentioned you weren't sure if it was going to feel tight walking in and out, what do you think now? Thanks!

Yes, please give us an update on the door