Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

Which Thinkpad to buy?

General Questions, Rumors, Real news & More
Message
Author
ZaZ
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4697
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 1:33 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#61 Post by ZaZ » Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:10 am

pianowizard wrote:Do you view everything in full-screen mode?
My desktop has two LCDs. Does that count? While your point is completely valid, it's been my experience for most users, vertical resolution is more important.
ThinkPad L14 - 2.1GHz Ryzen 4650U | 16GB | 256GB | 14" FHD | Win11P
ProBook 470 G5 - 1.6GHz Core i5 | 16GB | 2.2TB | 17" FHD | Mint

rumbero
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 482
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 7:02 pm
Location: Barcelona, Spain

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#62 Post by rumbero » Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:45 am

ZaZ wrote:it's been my experience for most users, vertical resolution is more important.
Quite a few of my colleagues have resorted to turn their external widescreen monitors by 90 degrees in order to have a better vertical view for their work tasks. While this may sound silly, it actually makes a lot of sense for some work contexts.
A few 14.1" and 15" T61+ Frankenpads and one T480

pianowizard
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 8545
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:07 am
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Contact:

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#63 Post by pianowizard » Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:51 am

dr_st wrote:Glossy coating can make a dull screen look somewhat better. It definitely makes colors look more vibrant and improves perceived contrast. Some say it even makes the viewing angles a bit wider, although I haven't verified that. Under it I am pretty sure that, on average, it's the same crappy TN panels.
I believe you are correct about this. For instance, my Samsung 2343BWX and Dell sp2309w monitors probably use the same 23" 2048x1152 panel, but because the Samsung is matte while the Dell is glossy, images on the Dell look somewhat more pleasing.
dr_st wrote:I for one view everything in full screen mode. I hate horizontal scrolling, and unfortunately, to have no horizontal scrolling and still enough usable horizontal space for two windows side-by-side you need at least 2048 (twice XGA).
For screens narrower than 2048, I partially overlap the two windows.
ZaZ wrote:it's been my experience for most users, vertical resolution is more important.
To me, vertical and horizontal are more or less equally important and that's why 1920x1200 is my favorite laptop resolution: it's as tall as 1600x1200 and as wide as 1920x1080. For a long time I tried to like 2048x1536 but eventually gave up because its pixel density on a 15.0" screen was just too high.
rumbero wrote:Quite a few of my colleagues have resorted to turn their external widescreen monitors by 90 degrees in order to have a better vertical view for their work tasks. While this may sound silly, it actually makes a lot of sense for some work contexts.
I don't find this silly at all because I have been doing it for over 3 years. Have you seen the photo of my computer/monitor setup in my office: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=52525 .
Dell Latitude 7370 (QHD+, 2.84lb); HP Pavilion x2 12-b096ms (1920x1280, 3.14lb); Microsoft Surface 3 (1920x1280, 2.00lb);
Dell OptiPlex 5040 SFF (Core i5-6600); Acer ET322QK, T272HUL; Crossover 404K; QNIX QHD2410R; Seiki Pro SM40UNP

ZaZ
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4697
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 1:33 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#64 Post by ZaZ » Sun Nov 20, 2011 12:10 pm

rumbero wrote:Quite a few of my colleagues have resorted to turn their external widescreen monitors by 90 degrees in order to have a better vertical view for their work tasks. While this may sound silly, it actually makes a lot of sense for some work contexts.
I used to have a Dell 2001FP turned sideways. It was great for things like Office and Internet. My other panel was a junk TN panel. I decided to replace it and bought a Samsung 2333T. The 2333T is great, but when I put it next to the Dell, I realized how old and yellowed it had gotten over the years. I bought another 2333T to replace it cause they were so cheap at the time. It can't go sideways and 1080 isn't wide enough for FF with the sidebar, but I do miss the 1600 vertical resolution.
ThinkPad L14 - 2.1GHz Ryzen 4650U | 16GB | 256GB | 14" FHD | Win11P
ProBook 470 G5 - 1.6GHz Core i5 | 16GB | 2.2TB | 17" FHD | Mint

dr_st
Admin
Admin
Posts: 9691
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 6:20 am
Location: Israel

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#65 Post by dr_st » Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:15 pm

20" 4:3 is probably the best size and form factor for portrait mode. While it is possible to achieve even greater vertical space with 24" widescreens, as pianowizard demonstrates, the screen results being too tall for comfortable view at typical distance without significant neck/eye motion, which of course ends up in strain.

But in general, I have a problem with anything in portrait mode, because the Cleartype-style subpixel rendering, which make text look so much smoother in general, don't look as good on it (being tailored to specific subpixel orientations).

BTW, I also have one of these 20" monitors, albeit the 2007FP, which is about 3.5 years old now, and it does have some yellowing on one side. Still a great screen, though.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

pianowizard
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 8545
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:07 am
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Contact:

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#66 Post by pianowizard » Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:01 am

dr_st wrote:While it is possible to achieve even greater vertical space with 24" widescreens, as pianowizard demonstrates, the screen results being too tall for comfortable view at typical distance without significant neck/eye motion, which of course ends up in strain.
24" is indeed a bit too tall, even at arm's length from my eyes (which is the distance that I use). However, there are a few 22" 1920x1200 monitors e.g. the Lenovo L220X, and you might find these not too tall.

BTW, I have come across some 27" 2560x1440 monitors that can be turned into portrait!
Dell Latitude 7370 (QHD+, 2.84lb); HP Pavilion x2 12-b096ms (1920x1280, 3.14lb); Microsoft Surface 3 (1920x1280, 2.00lb);
Dell OptiPlex 5040 SFF (Core i5-6600); Acer ET322QK, T272HUL; Crossover 404K; QNIX QHD2410R; Seiki Pro SM40UNP

Matthew_Greening
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:58 am
Location: London, UK

Are there really three different Lenovo HD+ panels?

#67 Post by Matthew_Greening » Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:29 am

ssd_thinkpad wrote:There are - to my knowledge - three different HD+ panels build-in from lenovo in the T520 and W520. One of this panels is a very bad one. Here are two tests about the HD+ and the FHD panel with real data. Not that kind of "I like this display" but they measured the display:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 596.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 220.0.html
I was about to buy the L520 with HD+ as I have read that it has the same display as the T520 reviewed by NotebookCHECK. Both reviewed panels seem decent.

Which is the "very bad" HD+ panel and how does one recognise it without relying only on perception?

According to the FRU numbers it should be the same display in the T520 and L520:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_GB/product ... PD011130#8
http://support.lenovo.com/en_GB/product ... 008483#HD+

ThinkRob
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2394
Joined: Wed May 20, 2009 9:54 am
Location: near RTP, NC

Re: Are there really three different Lenovo HD+ panels?

#68 Post by ThinkRob » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:32 am

Matthew_Greening wrote:Which is the "very bad" HD+ panel and how does one recognise it without relying only on perception?
If you can't easily tell which is "bad" just by looking at it, wouldn't that mean that it's not bad after all?
Need help with Linux or FreeBSD? PM or catch me on IRC: I'm ThinkRob on FreeNode and EFnet.
Laptop: X270, running Fedora
Desktop: Intellistation 285 (currently dead)
Workstation: owned by my employer ;)
Toy: Miata!

Matthew_Greening
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:58 am
Location: London, UK

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#69 Post by Matthew_Greening » Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:58 pm

ThinkRob wrote:If you can't easily tell which is "bad" just by looking at it, wouldn't that mean that it's not bad after all?
I'm sure I could when I had the three HD+ panels next to each other but I'm more likely to compare whatever I get with my current 1200x800 display. I hope that even the worst of the three Lenovos HD+ panels would be better than my current one therefore it might be difficult to spot that I get a relatively bad deal.

thinkpadgeek91
Freshman Member
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Fortuna, CA

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#70 Post by thinkpadgeek91 » Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:08 am

I'm a big T series fan but it's totally up to you. My T410 rocks. But I'm waiting for next year to upgrade to a T530. 15" HD screen= :D
Thinkpad X220 2.5Ghz Core i5 2520M
Thinkpad X61s 1.6Ghz Core2Duo L7500

ThinkRob
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2394
Joined: Wed May 20, 2009 9:54 am
Location: near RTP, NC

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#71 Post by ThinkRob » Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:59 am

Matthew_Greening wrote:I'm sure I could when I had the three HD+ panels next to each other but I'm more likely to compare whatever I get with my current 1200x800 display. I hope that even the worst of the three Lenovos HD+ panels would be better than my current one therefore it might be difficult to spot that I get a relatively bad deal.
Ah, I see.

Personally, I'm almost always able to make a comparison between LCDs when I'm looking at them side-by-side. It's rare, though, that I'll find a panel remarkable in one way or the other when viewing it on its own. There are some exceptions to this -- the X301 had a remarkably low-contrast screen, and the WSXGA+-equipped T500/15.4" T61s a remarkably good one -- but for the most part I don't tend to notice the screen quality unless I'm doing a side-by-side comparison.

I suspect that most business (i.e. non-multimedia) users are like this; we don't really care too much about inspecting the quality of the screen since we're usually focused on what it's displaying. :D
Need help with Linux or FreeBSD? PM or catch me on IRC: I'm ThinkRob on FreeNode and EFnet.
Laptop: X270, running Fedora
Desktop: Intellistation 285 (currently dead)
Workstation: owned by my employer ;)
Toy: Miata!

rleo25
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 334
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2005 10:45 am
Location: Santander, Columbia

Re: Which Thinkpad to buy?

#72 Post by rleo25 » Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:04 pm

I would recommend any of the Thinkpad series according to your special needs, high quality, durability and premium keyboards make any of these a good choice.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “GENERAL ThinkPad News/Comments & Questions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests