T42 LCD quality

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misterbean · #1 Post by **misterbean** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:38 pm

I've had my new T42 for 2 weeks. 2378RGU 14.1" XGA. I really like everything about it except for the display. Its not that its _really_ bad, but 1/3 of the way up the right side, theres a slightly darker patch. Not much, but enough to annoy me. And some variation in color tint from one side to the other. Now, I know that LCDs are not going to be perfect. And I'm picky. I find fault with my CRT monitor too. Maybe I'll just get used to this. Or maybe it will drive me nuts. I can't make up my mind what to do. This one has zero bad pixels. If I get another it could have worse brightness uniformity. Or bad pixels. Or both. (I'm picky _and_ paranoid).
I guess I have a number of options.
(a) Live with it
(b) Have Lenovo swap the unit or LCD. Problem is, by the time they've done this my 30day return-for-refund will have passed and I'll be stuck with it.
(c) Send it back for refund, and reorder (anyone know approx cost to ship unit back?)

Now, if I reorder I have more options...
(1) Get the same unit and hope I get a better one.
(2) T43 or T60 XGA. It may have a better panel. Probably the same.
(3) Upgrade to the SXGA T43 that is currently "on sale" at $1499. Why is it reduced from $2100 to $1500? Is there something about that model that makes Lenovo want to get rid of them. (Did I mention paranoid?). Thing is, I bought the T42 because its really quiet and there are reported issues on the T43 with fan noise and heat. Anyway, maybe the SXGA panel is better quality than the XGA. Or maybe not.
(4) Thinkpad X-something. I like the idea of small and light, I think it would be great for casual browsing and email, but probably too small for software development.
(5) Model with Flexview - not an option as I don't want 15".
(6) Some model from another manufacturer with better display quality and good build quality.

Any input or comments welcome. I'm sure some people will tell me that they have perfectly uniform LCDs. Some probably do, and some probably are less sensitive to the variations - my wife can't see it for example. She has a 15" XGA which doesn't annoy me as much, even though it can appear darker at the edges due to viewing angle.

TIA
- bean

#2 Post by **Kyocera** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:42 pm

I think anything that annoys you will only continue to annoy you and won't get better on it's own. You should have a perfect machine from the start, your still in the 30 day window to get one.

dr_st · #3 Post by **dr_st** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:51 am

If you want to stay at 14" size, SXGA+ screens are said to be better than the XGA ones. I've seen a couple and they seemed just fine. You're not going to get Flexview quality in terms of brightness, uniformity, colors and viewing angles, but it's probably the best you can get at 14" from Lenovo right now.

misterbean · #4 Post by **misterbean** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 7:43 pm

Thanks for input. I've decided to try the T43 SXGA. Hopefully all will be well (and hopefully my aging eyes can handle the higher res

misterbean · #5 Post by **misterbean** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:35 am

Well, I've had the T43 for a few days now. Here's my observations:

1) Fan Noise. It runs constantly with an annoying whirring noise. (This is of course not news to many other t43 owners). The T42 fan ran occasionally and was quiet when it did. The fan control utility can shut down the fan for a while, but the temperature eventually rises and it kicks in again. Even at slow fan speed, the air noise is reduced but the whirring (and pulsing) continues. Underclocking/undervolting didnt seem to help any.

2) The palmrest squeaks and creaks when I touch it. Even gently tapping on the touchpad gets a creak. In fact, when pushed gently, the right side of the touchpad and the palmrest next to it depresses noticeably, whereas the left side is relatively solid

3) Battery life - less. As expected.

4) Display - Somehow, undefinably, nicer. Not just the resolution - in fact the higher res is a strain for me, even with increased font size, as not everything scales up with the font. This SXGA makes the XGA seem cheap and nasty, yet its possibly too high-res for me. 5 years back I had a dell with 1400x1050 (on 15") and was perfectly happy, so maybe I'm just getting old.

5) Keyboard. The T42 was Chicony. Fairly acceptable if not quite as good as the T23 I used to have a few years ago. This T43 has the Alps. Feels spongy, and as soon as I try to type fast certain overlapping key combinations elicit a BEEP from the system. Again, a known issue and I just turned off the beep, but I wasn't getting this with the other keyboard. Presumably I wasn't overlapping 3 key presses with the better quality feel of the other keyboard.

Please excuse any typos as I fumble over the Alps keyboard, as I can't see clearly enough to correct them

smugiri · #6 Post by **smugiri** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:05 pm

misterbean wrote: (a) Live with it
(b) Have Lenovo swap the unit or LCD. Problem is, by the time they've done this my 30day return-for-refund will have passed and I'll be stuck with it.
(c) Send it back for refund, and reorder (anyone know approx cost to ship unit back?)

#1 is out: you pay that much for a machine, you need to get something that you are happy with.

#2 You are right, this is not a good idea.

I say go for 3, return and re-order and you will the opportunity to get another 30 days to try out your new machine. You can also get some of the stuff that you did not order that you now realize that you can not live without or you can get rid of components that you now know that you do not need.

Chrispy · #7 Post by **Chrispy** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:26 pm

misterbean,

I have a T43 with an SXGA screen as well. The screen is vrey bright and crisp but I too find it hard to read if I'm not right in front of it...and I'm only 22 so I'm not going to say I'm old yet haha! I do have a dead pixel at the top of my screen but since the res is so high I almost never notice it due to the pixels being very small. If it would have been in the middle of the screen I would have returned it.

My right palm rest creaks as well when I push down on it. Tapping my touchpad also makes a little noise but not too bad.

Finally, I also have the APLS keyboard but I called IBM and asked to have it swapped out for the NMB keyboard. They agreed without a fight and shipped it out overnight to me today (I called at 10 pm last night)! I say give them a call on that keyboard. Ask for part number FRU - 39T0519 as that is the good model keyboard. Enjoy your T43 and try not to worry too much about noise and creaking. If the creaks are really bad then have the palm rest replaced. Repairs with IBM only take about 3-5 business days from door to door.

Chrispy · #8 Post by **Chrispy** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:29 pm

And the APLS keyboard does suck compared to others used in Thinkpads... anyone who has one should get it swapped out.

hoya · #9 Post by **hoya** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:10 am

I agree that SXGA+ on a 14.1" is a bit of a strain, so I use Liquid View. they have a free trial so check it out and let us know what you think:

http://personalcomputing.portrait.com/u ... rview.html

misterbean · #10 Post by **misterbean** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:43 pm

Chrispy:
Glad to hear its not just me

I removed the keyboard to see what is the deal with the palm rest. The left side is supported, but the right side just flops in the wind. Its only support is the keyboard itself. This is a bad design, as the tabs which link the palmrest to the keyboard _would_ sit on the DVDdrive-cage, if some rocket-scientist hadn't made cutouts in the cage to clear the tabs. A piece of card between the palmrest and the dvd-cage removes a lot of the movement. However I have an issue with spending 1.5k and having to reengineer the product with a torn-up business card. Anyway, the T42 seems to have the same arrangement, and I didnt really notice it moving much. Maybe the keyboard is stiffer and supports the palmrest. Dunno. I noticed a dead pixel today, but turned out to be one of those phantom ones which moves around and displays a scrollbar if you put the cursor on it. Thats been discussed in the forums before, I need to search for the fix.

Hoya:
Thanks for that link. I'll check it out. I mostly like the SXGA+ and I don't think I want to go back to XGA, even though I'm straining a little to read some stuff. This might be a solution.

Looks like I'm coming to accept the hi-res screen, I can improve the palmrest flex, and I can probably swap-out the keyboard for NMB. The one major issue then is the fan. For comparison I left my wife's T42 on for a while and monitored temps and fan. The fan came on at a fairly low temp, just like my T43. But it was so quiet I could barely hear it. No whirring, and no pulsing every 5 seconds. Its a slower machine (1.6Ghz), but who the heck is going to notice the difference. I guess what I really need is a T42 with SXGA+, and Lenovo don't list those anymore. Maybe I'll try earplugs

Thanks all!

- bean

T42 LCD quality

T42 LCD quality

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