Thinkpads Forum

I can't decide between a 14.1" and 15" model. I have had a T22 14.1" and T43p 15". I have liked them both.

I am thinking of getting a T60P and can't decide on screen size.

What are others ordering and why?

love the 15" inch - large screen, lots of real estate - if you need it

I have both a T42 with 14.1 SXGA+ and 64 MB dedicated memory and a T42P with 15 UXGA and 128 MB dedicated memory. I leave the T42p at home to serve as my desktop replacement and take the T42 out for travel and work. I found the 15" a bit cumbersome and heavy to use when traveling, especially with its 9-cell battery. Thus, when the opportunity presented to get a 14.1 SXGA+ T42 with a 6-cell battery real cheap I jumped on it and have not regretted it one bit. The 14.1" had the right balance of dimensions and weight to lug around during travel. However, the 15 inch screen was easier on the eyes and offered a bit more viewing real estate after several hours of work. So in the long run it depends on how much carry and travel you plan to do with the laptop.

i like the 14.1".

i carry my machine around with me all day, so size and weight are a consideration, especially since its in the bag with all my books and junk. i love SXGA+ on 14", and it saves battery power, another large consideration for me.

It's a decision you have to make for yourself. I am in the camp with people carrying a machine around everywhere with papers and other things. 14 inches is a large as I will go so far as I can see into the future.

I did say once a 240X was as big as I would go, but the lack of CD was too hampering, which is why I swung into the "T" machines.
... JD Hurst

I have the 14.1" which is a move up for me from my 12" Vaio. It already kind of seems large and heavy. So I definitely chose the 14.1" for the smaller form factor and would not want to go bigger for my mobile purposes (then again I see people lugging around enormous 17" widescreen laptops--so it really depends on the person).

The advantages, I think, to the 15", other than slightly more screen real-estate, are the option of 1600x1200 resolution, if you need that, and the brighter Flexview screen option, with better viewing angles.

The Flexview, to me, would be the biggest draw of the 15". The viewing angles on the 14.1" are nothing special. It's functional, I think, but that's about it. And the 14.1" doesn't get terribly bright either. Again, to me, passable, but nothing special.

I'm too getting the big screen pangs now. I just got the 2007-68U this week, and the machine is awesome. But seriously considering the 2007-76U now, which is the same as the 68U except for the screen size.

The 76U costs $135 more than the 68U, is this price hike justified for just the screen size? The laptop replaces a 15.4" widescreen desktop, I'm not very mobile and considered the z60m, but the dual core is not available there. And the 14" does look a tad small to me.....

I don't see what all the fuss is about with viewing angles. I would think that *most* people working with their laptop would be sitting directly in front of it, which is best from an ergonomics perspective. There are perhaps some people, who -- for whatever reason -- do not work directly in front of their laptop (network techs doing cabling, etc.) and would appreciate wide viewing angles. Otherwise, unless you're using it for TV/movies (why?), I don't see the point.

I personally like the fact that my TP has limited viewing angles, because it makes it more difficult for casual passers-by to view what's on my screen (I would think most business people work on in-confidence material) without standing behind me breathing on my shoulder.

getting the 14 inch one (all this goes for the t60p only as I had to decide between 15" and 14")

- the 1600 are too small for me. I know windows itself has scaling for fonts, etc. But there's still many programs who just ignore that, for instance games or programs that have to reinvent the windows user interface and bring their own. I just find it too much a strain watching a coworker use his dell with 1900 resultion where everything was very very small

- fonts, icons, etc are not as small on the 14" display as on the 15" one on the t60p models

- i work with a 1280x1024 tft at the moment and it's big enough. the 1400 is a tad bigger so it's good. I don't really need more space right now.

- flexiview...i can do without it. I use the notebook alone, so it will be right in front of me. I have a 3 year old fujitsu notebook and the screen is okay. If the thinkpad screen is just a little bit better, I'm happy.

- the notebook is smaller and lighter, just the same size my current notebook is

- if I really want to use 1600 I'll get a dell 19". However I don't really expect that I have or want to anytime soon.

I guess I generally agree that the lesser viewing angles on the 14.1" screen are not a big deal. For most of my purposes it is perfectly functional.

But I do notice it. Even with little movements. If I lean back in my chair or to one side, I can see the polarization of the screen taking effect. It's just a little thing, but I would prefer the screen not seem to change every time I shift around.

Also, sometimes I am working on something on paper in front of me with the computer to the side and the screen is harder to read. Not a big deal, again, just a small nuisance. Or on planes, sometimes (often) (always?) I can't open the screen as far as I'd like. Then I also have to contend with viewing angle issues.

And I do like to watch movies on my notebook, so that's also an issue for me.

It's a bunch of small nuisances. But they add up, for me a bit. And when I work on the high quality Samsung monitors I have for my PowerMac, it is just nicer, in a way that's hard to entirely put my finger on. I don't think I'm making a big fuss about it. It's just noticeable. And I guess I expected more of a difference between my 5 year old Vaio and my brand new ThinkPad.

I can see the the security issue. But that's just not a concern for me. And I don't think the viewing angles are so bad that it would stop someone from seeing what I'm doing.

I prefer the 14.1" because of the smaller overall laptop size, lighter weight and longer battery life. The 14.1" fits an airplane tray table better IMO.

Flexview doesn't really do anything for me because I'm the only person looking at the screen. Most of the time I don't want to make it easier for the guy sitting next to me to read my screen. I'm not doing presentations off of the laptop screen itself. If I need to do a presentation I'll use a projector.

The 15" Flexview screen is better. It's just better. The advantages of the viewing angles are of course more noticeable if you work with several people or watch a movie in a group (and yes, I have been watching movies on my laptop screen). Flexview makes a huge difference from movies.

But even if you are the only person using the laptop, you might find advantages to the increased luminance, the uniform brightness of the screen, the lack of color distortions when you move relatively to the screen, the overall richer colors and the increased size of the pixels (yes, 1400x1050 is nicer and easier to work with at 15" than at 14").

The biggest disadvantage, as far as I can see, is that the Flexview screen draws more battery. Noticeably more.

As for the size and weight difference, you will only feel it if you often carry your laptop around and it is the only thing you carry. Even then it will be noticeable, but not very bothering. If your laptop is in your bag with books and all, how is half a pound (or even a pound) going to make a difference, if the entire bag weighs 10-15 pounds?

I just started buying ThinkPads for work and chose the 14.1" XGA screens because they were cheaper and most people in my office (older folks) don't even like the small resolution. I have them connected to the mini dock and 17" lcds with the DPI set to large. It's great to use like that, but once you undock and the laptop screen is at 1024x768 and the font size is still set to large, it looks a little funny. At this point you have to chang the font size to normal (96 DPI) and then reboot. PITA. I am now thinking about sucking it up and buying 14.1" SXGA screens. Just something to think about if you plan on using an external monitor.

I have been an owner of T22 - 14.1", T42 - 15" and T43p - 15". Side by side the luminance of the t43P screen beats the T42 hands down.

The resolution on the 15" models is not issue to me. For the sake of my eyes I set it at 1024 x 768 with dpi at 96. Its just right for me and I get all the advantages of size, flex view and luminance.

As for mobility - I drive from my home to the train parking lot to downtown Toronto then walk 10 minutes to the office. I hardly feel its weight in the briefcase. My laptop is all I carry in int.

In the office I hook up with a 19" Lenovo LCD (model 192p). I use the two screens to work on multiple business software applications and databases.

When I chair a meeting - I unhook from the 19" LCD screen and take the laptop into the board room where a wireless connection (I use airport express) is waiting for me. I chair a meeting with staff across the country using Citrix gotomeeting. I use a 9 cell battery to go for at least 4 hours with no physical connections. Battery life is more than enough for a meeting. Here I go thought agenda items using sharepoint with all attandees - discuss and resolve and document resolution. I also access a many other database applications if I need to run a presentation or demonstrate something to them.

So 15" gives me the best visibility in terms of screen size and luminance. I only noticed the size differential the first time I moved to the 15" from 14.1". I got used to it right away and cannot see foing back to 14.1"

I have on order T60p 2007-93U. Just released In Canada yesterday and waiting for the wireless IBM C400 projector our department ordered.

Work is great with the right business tools to use.

Thanks for your input. I made my decision.

dr_st wrote:As for the size and weight difference, you will only feel it if you often carry your laptop around and it is the only thing you carry. Even then it will be noticeable, but not very bothering. If your laptop is in your bag with books and all, how is half a pound (or even a pound) going to make a difference, if the entire bag weighs 10-15 pounds?

I'm 5' 4" with back and shoulder problems. That half pound makes a lot of difference to me. It can mean the difference between straining to lift my computer bag in and out of the car and easily being able to life it. Don't presume to speak for everyone.

nonny wrote:I'm 5' 4" with back and shoulder problems. That half pound makes a lot of difference to me. It can mean the difference between straining to lift my computer bag in and out of the car and easily being able to life it. Don't presume to speak for everyone.

I presume that you object to me saying that it will be "noticeable, but not very bothering". Well, let me rephrase to "not very bothering in most cases". Yes, there are quite a lot people out there to whom the size and weight of the laptop is a primary issue. These people usually get ultraportables.

krusty wrote:I just started buying ThinkPads for work and chose the 14.1" XGA screens because they were cheaper and most people in my office (older folks) don't even like the small resolution. I have them connected to the mini dock and 17" lcds with the DPI set to large. It's great to use like that, but once you undock and the laptop screen is at 1024x768 and the font size is still set to large, it looks a little funny. At this point you have to chang the font size to normal (96 DPI) and then reboot. PITA. I am now thinking about sucking it up and buying 14.1" SXGA screens. Just something to think about if you plan on using an external monitor.

That's an interesting observation - when frequently working with multiple monitors, it's good to set them up so that you use the same DPI. However, I'd think that 17" LCD at SXGA (1280x1024) would not require one to run at large DPI.

movado wrote:I have been an owner of T22 - 14.1", T42 - 15" and T43p - 15". Side by side the luminance of the t43P screen beats the T42 hands down.

That's an interesting (and surprising) observation. By Lenovo's official specs and I think that by the specs of the panel manufacturers to, the 15" SXGA+ and 15" UXGA panels should have the same luminance. But we all know how the official specs differ from real life. I'll now try to find a T43p (or a T42p) UXGA 15" panel to compare with my 15" SXGA+.

If it's a desktop replacement, I would go for the 15" screen.

dr_st - You'd think that a 17" LCD at 1280 x 1024 wouldn't require to be set at large DPI, but like I said earlier, I work with older folks with I guess bad eye sight. The thing that gets me is that we just started switching to LCDs this year because I few people were complaining their CRTs were straining their eyes and giving them headaches. Of course once a few people got them, then EVERYONE wanted one. Then some complained the font was to small and wanted to run the screens at the same resolution their old CRT was running, which was 1024 x 768 (which looks pretty bad on a 17" LCD ). You just can't make people happy ; )

krusty wrote:Then some complained the font was to small and wanted to run the screens at the same resolution their old CRT was running, which was 1024 x 768 (which looks pretty bad on a 17" LCD ). You just can't make people happy ; )

Heh, yes. Some of the folks at our workplace have been running their LCDs at 1024x768. They were amazed how better it looked at the native 1280x1024 res. And with Cleartype.

I used to have a Dell M70 w/15.4" WUXGA screen. It rocked but I changed jobs and lost it.

Since then, I've used a dell d600 w/SXGA+ 14.1" and it's done pretty nice. I liked the res. got used to the 4:3 aspect again...

Yeserday I got my T60p and wow. I know now what an lcd should be. 15" UXGA and flexview make for one helluva screen. the 14' can't touch it. and I love the verticle height due to the 4:3 aspect. much nicer than widescreen IMO.

So, IMO, unless you're like some and the weight is a real issue for you, it's a no-brainer. The 15" is the way to go!

Thanks for the tip on cleartype. It worked for me.