Help me buy the right laptop

[Morten]

I've had the pleasure of several thinkpads over the years, including a 370, SXGA+ T41, SXGA+ 15" T42p and most recently a X301. The older 4:3 CCFL SXGA+ screens were getting kind of dim on me and the 42p is now defunct following a failed GPU reflow. So, I acquired a X301, and am sorry to say I'm very disappointing at the viewing angles.

As far as I know, none of my SXGA+ screens are IPS, but there is a world of difference in viewing angles between then and the X301. IMO the engineers who designed that screen into the otherwise premium X300/301 laptops should be banished and forced to go work for some of the low-end laptop vendors. I love everything else about that laptop, and if you angle it just right it's allright - the viewing angle problem just irks me and I'd rather sell it on before I start using time configuring it etc.

So, what should I get instead?

My needs (prioritized):
- Touchpad (I can drive a car with a stick, but not a laptop)
- Fair viewing angles, preferably should match my wife's 2011 macbook air 11" or at least my 4:3 non-IPS SXGA+ screens
- High resolution, minimum 900 vertical pixels (1440x900 etc)
- Fair brightness, needs to match the X301 (300 nits??).
- LED backlight (no degradation over time)
- Good windows 7 support (incl aero)
- Reliability
- Good parts availability in case something breaks

My wants:
- As lightweight as possible
- As compact as possible
- Silent
- Webcam
- 4GB RAM
- Display brightness to match the 2011 macbook air (which is a lot brighter than the X301)
- Fast SSD drive (I have an 80GB 1.8" intel G2 drive to put in)
- Fair cost, max $500 (or less?)

Stuff I have no use for:
- Optical drives
- WWAN
- Docking stations
- SD readers
- PC card slots
- Huge batteries

I would expect to keep this laptop for many years, possibly until windows 7 reaches it end-of-support or beyond that.

So, which thinkpads should I be hunting for?

I'm honestly not all that familiar with non-thinkpad options. If any of you are, feel free to point out any obvious non-thinkpad options worth considering for someone like me who values a good screen far above just about all other aspects. I mean, I definitely do like and appreciate the thinkpad keyboards and build quality, but have come to realize the screen is far more important to me and I'm absolutely shocked by the abomination of a screen they put on the X301.

I'll openly consider building something custom, but only if it would cone in on budget and be good future-proof solution. Going over budget to build something antiquated and with limited resale value is not for me - might as well bite the bullet and pickup a new 13" macbook air then. Going over budget could be considered for something still under warranty.

[RealBlackStuff]

You just missed out on this, but check with seller anyway, if sale falls through: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=106928

[ZaZ]

The IdeaPad Yoga with the 13" 1600x900 IPS screen might be worth a look.

[RealBlackStuff]

Funny you should mention the Yoga...
Look at my posting here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=107370

[ZaZ]

Andrew, one of the moderators at NBR, did a nice write up of the Yoga on his Laptop Reviews site.

[Morten]

Allright that Yoga thing had me drooling. Most of what I like about the macbooks in terms of hardware and size, but with an IPS display. Way way out of budget, however. If they retain their value as poorly as some other thinkpads, I'll be getting one later on, however.

As to the (slightly bulky..) T520 that was proposed - do these have particularly good screens or was there something else that prompted this model to be brought up?

It has started to occur to me I won't find anything that fills all my needs and wants in my budget. Starting to think about a two-machine split, and it's making more and more sense. Here's what I'm thinking:

If realblackstuff's NOS 15" SXGA+ IPS screens are still available, I'll pick up one of those (have left a message). Either to use with my T41 mainboard in the dead 15" T42, or to supplant into a T60(p). If those panels are gone, I'll try to pick up a T60 that has one and hope it still has some brightness left.

That will be a bit bulky though for casual use, so thinking about picking up a cheap X200/X201 and putting in the AFFS screen. Probably even the glossy version. I do realize the touchpad on the x201 is kind of small, and that the x200 has none - I'm trying to see if I can get used to using the stick..

I won't get the durability of a LED backlight, and the small one probably won't have a (useable?) touchpad, but both will have awesome displays which are a HUGE priority. Guess I'm willing to let go of the 300 nit brightness and LED requirements in return for awesome contrast and viewing angles, realizing that nothing good will last forever.

Question: If I do pick up a x200 and can't get used to the stick only input, could I look for a crashed/damaged x201 with working mainboard+palmrest and use that in the X200? Or am I better off just ponying up for a X201 in the first place?