T43 owner DESPITE the display

[dshorter]

I fought it for almost a year, but the featureset of the T series finally sucked me in, despite the middle-of-the-road display. Pretty-pretty-glossy-glossy Dells be [censored], there's no compensating for what's under the T-series hood. Anyone else have a similar story?

[KristianJ]

I love the displays on my 2 TPs...couldn't care less for widescreen and glossy displays (I used an Acer with both last weekend and I couldn't stand it - just looked very ordinary). Compared to any laptop I've used or seen, I have to say that I feel my T40 and X31's screens to be top class!

[AlphaKilo470]

I really don't see how not being glossy or widescreen could be classified as a fault.

[Temetka]

My T41p kicks [censored]. I didn't buy it for glossyness or widescreen. I wanted a 14'1" LCD. It's bright and it does the job.

I wanted a thinkpad and no other machine or formfactor was even given consideration for more than a few seconds.

[RealBlackStuff]

I first bought a laptop for a friend, a used A22M. Then another friend wanted one, so I bought a used T23 for him. Finally I needed one for myself, so I picked up another used T23. Then a used T30 became available for a steal, so I bought that as well.
Out of the above four, I needed only one inverter to bring their displays up to scratch. All 14.1" XGAs with 1024x768.
The other day I bought a cheapo used HP Pavilion a330 for another friend, who only needs it to make/print some invoices occasionally. A TP would have been wasted on him, hence my 'unfaithfulness'.
For anyone else I'd buy TPs because of their sturdiness, not because of good 'looks' though.

[pianowizard]

To me, none of the currently available Thinkpad displays are satisfactory. The 15.0" Flexview UXGA and the 15.4" WUXGA available in the A-, R- and T-series and the Z61p were great but Lenovo stopped offering them. But of course, Thinkpads are still better than most other brands in other ways (better keyboards, more solid chassis, slightly thinner and lighter, harder to get scratches, etc.), which is why I got my current 14.1" SXGA+ T60 despite of the display (resolution is too low). By contrast, I bought my 15.4" WUXGA Dell inspiron 6000 because of the display and great price, despite of its other imperfections (bulky, ugly, heavy).

Hopefully there will indeed be a 14.1" WSXGA+ T61, and I would get that and sell my current T60 in a heartbeat.

[sugo]

To me, none of the currently available Thinkpad displays are satisfactory.

I agree. I am not happy with the LCD brightness and contrast on my X60s and T42.

[Troels]

Well that is what kept me from buying anything else than FlexView screens. It's the part you'll look at all the time, when you use a laptop - the screen. If you're not happy with the screen, it will bug you for a very long time to come.

Here's a measurement of the UXGA FlexView in a R50p:
http://www.notebookcheck.com/laptop/con ... ew/745/65/

Compare the RGB graph to any other notebook,
e.g. a high-end HP with a 17" BrightView.
Link

Highend ASUS with Color-Shine:
Link

17" MacBook Pro:
Link

Highend Dell with a 17" True-Life:
Link

or a Fujitsu-Siemens:
Link

The 14" shouldn't be too bad either, not worse in measures than other manufacturers at least.

[dshorter]

I first bought a laptop for a friend, a used A22M. Then another friend wanted one, so I bought a used T23 for him. Finally I needed one for myself, so I picked up another used T23. Then a used T30 became available for a steal, so I bought that as well.
Out of the above four, I needed only one inverter to bring their displays up to scratch. All 14.1" XGAs with 1024x768.
The other day I bought a cheapo used HP Pavilion a330 for another friend, who only needs it to make/print some invoices occasionally. A TP would have been wasted on him, hence my 'unfaithfulness'.
For anyone else I'd buy TPs because of their sturdiness, not because of good 'looks' though.

What's an inverter?

[KristianJ]

A T4x inverter sits behind the clear plate (where the battery, standby icons live) on the LCD bezel. I think it works with the backlight to assist in providing the optimal image to the LCD, but don't quote me on it

[sugo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverter_%28electrical%29

[bopchie]

my t43 has the 15"1400x1050 and i love it.. I myself liked the glossy screens, I just bought a glossy film from nushield. it is plenty bright and the contrast is great too.. blacks are black and whites are white, with vista's glassy/glossy look with the onyx looking startbar and the glossy screen, my t43 looks awesome in my eyes