Yeah, I know. Thinkpad screens suck anymore, we hear it constantly, we talk about it constantly. Recently though I popped over to Apple's website (My sister and dad are fans of Apple hardware) and checked out the Macbook Pro. The 15 and 17-inch models are now available with a 16:10 anti-glare screen with a resolution of 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 respectively.

I am officially jealous of Macbook Pro owners.

I hear you - I too can't figure out why this isn't at least an OPTION on Thinkpads (16:10)... Don't care if it's IPS or not.

It doesn't make sense for different screen form factors to be "options", as it would mean in most cases completely different chassis, and different production lines. Some exceptions can be made (and have been made in the past), e.g., A3x series which had an option to stick a 14" screen in a 15" chassis or Z61t series which had 14.0" 5:3 and 14.1" 8:5 screen options in the same chassis. However, 15.4" 8:5 and 15.6" 16:9 screens are probably too different dimension-wise to be accommodated in the same assembly without very weird looks and other compromises. And for 14" it makes little sense to have 8:5 as an option, since the highest resolution screen was 1440x900, and you can already have 1600x900 in 16:9...

One advantage with ThinkPads is that Lenovo makes no secret of where the wireless antennas are located. I haven't seen any information on where wireless antennas are located in a MacBook Pro. Lenovo has placed the antennas as far away from the user as possible - very considerate. It might well be that MacBooks have the wireless antennas in their base, no one knows...

This reply is being posted via a MacBook 15 with a "high resolution, anti-glare" LCD - a.k.a. HR-AG, WSXGA+, or 1680 x 1050 resolution. This is the same resolution and size as my ThinkPad Z61m.

It is quite nice, indeed. Some 15.4" ThinkPads are about as nice, but Apple is able to offer consistent quality with their LCDs.

Apple also offers the HR option in glossy. The HR glossy option is a $100 add and the HR-AG option is a $150 add.

I had the same MacBook with the "standard" resolution - a.k.a. WXGA+ or 1440 x 900, but it didn't work out for me, not enough pixels!

I am jealous as well. I might get one in the future and install Windows on it.

In the past two days, I attended two meetings that reminded of this thread. Yesterday, four of us gathered to review a bunch of grad school applications. Each person brought a laptop: I had my Dell Latitude D820, and all the others had 15.4" Macbook Pros. I had always found my D820 very beautiful, but sitting next to those slim and stylish Macbook Pros, it looked sooooo much thicker and antiquated, making me a bit jealous.

This morning, I attended another similar meeting, except the laptops were reversed: only one person had a 15.4" Macbook Pro, and the other three of us had Dells: I once again brought my Latitude D820; another guy had an E-Series Latitude, possibly E6400 or E6410; and the third guy had a 15.*-inch Vostro. The Mac was still the nicest-looking among the four, but I was reminded of one of the reasons I have been refusing to buy a Mac: I want something unique. There are so many different models of Dell laptops to choose from and they all look so different, e.g. the three at our table this morning; by contrast, all Macs look more or less the same. And of course, my D820 has 15.4" 1920x1200, whereas the 15.4" Macbook Pro is only 1680x1050 at most.

Plus...the Dell can be (almost) abused and still look good. Aluminum MacBooks need to be handled very delicately to prevent scratches and dings. I have a Dell D400 that still looks new after six years of regular use. My MacBook sits on my desk at home with a full, hard case and palmrest guard for protection. Without the protection it wouldn't withstand one in and out from my bag. Its lighly used keyboard is far more worn than the six year old Dell.

I just finished the Air vs X220 review. I'm not jealous at all.

There is only 1 feature that Apple laptops have that I would kill for on any Thinkpad.

Back lit keyboards. They look high tech, and are sweet.

I had a 15" Powerbook G4 and man that was a really nice looking machine but my favorite feature was the back lit keyboard.

The screen maybe nice, but the ThinkPad rules in terms of thermal management. The macbook pro heat up a lot when you stress the CPU and GPU.

The W510 and W520 FHD screen is pretty nice.

I though the heat on the Air was pretty good, but the fan could get fairly loud.

The pixel density is too high on 15.6" 1080p. This is why the going to 16:9 is such a shame. You could have a five pound 14" notebook with almost the same vertical resolution, but a much more palatable 125 pixel density.