Thinkpads Forum

Kenn wrote:...at CC and BestBuy. Do they have tyically carry Ts and Xs in-store?

I saw a 15.4" T60 at a Best Buy store in Houston TX (Hwy 6 near Bellaire) last month. It was by far the ugliest laptop on display at that store!

Kenn wrote:[While I recall someone mentioning Costco had T60s briefly, I don't remember seeing anything other than Z-series consumer models at CC and BestBuy. Do they have tyically carry Ts and Xs in-store?

Both Bestbuy and CircuitCity carry select models of T60. I might be wrong but I don't think X series ever made to these stores. T61 could be a possible next candidate but there is no news from lenovo so far.

We will be waiting for a long time for ThinkPads to have competitive screens. Why they can't do like a Sony , or even hp is beyond me. I had a Z with a 15.4 Max Brite that was grreat but I sent it back as networking didnt work and it was the size of a Buick.
Come on already... lets get some real screens... It's really the only downside to the ThinkPad in my view... why can't I give 'em up?

ibm meister wrote:We will be waiting for a long time for ThinkPads to have competitive screens. Why they can't do like a Sony , or even hp is beyond me.

At least two reasons:

1) Flexview screens are getting so hard to get that Lenovo decided to stop offering it as an option.

2) Lenovo doesn't want to switch to gloosy screens.

Lenovo has glossy screens on their consumer line. Also on Z series as I mentioned. Why the top of the line T series suffers with comparitively weak lighted lcd's in today's market is beyond me. Except that they sell plenty without the added expense is probably why........

ibm meister wrote:Lenovo has glossy screens on their consumer line. Also on Z series as I mentioned. Why the top of the line T series suffers with comparitively weak lighted lcd's in today's market is beyond me.

Sorry for being unclear. I specifically meant that Lenovo doesn't want glossy screens for their "business" Thinkpads. The Z series was "consumer" oriented.

We're not even talking glossy, just bright, the MAXBRIGHT I had on my Z was not glossy, just brighter by far. It's an obvious weak point but people keep buying them because of all the other reasons that make a ThinkPad a ThinkPad. But the screens are still weak in comparison to HP for example, forget glossy, just bright.
AND... IPS is nice but a 15" Think Pad is the size of a plank. Had one, not portable, maybe for a desktop replacement.

By the way, does anybody have a t61 14.1? sxga+? What are the viewing angles like? How bright is it. I don't know if I can part with my T60/2g/120Hitachi/Vista enterprise. But I am tempted!

ibm meister wrote:By the way, does anybody have a t61 14.1? sxga+? What are the viewing angles like? How bright is it. I don't know if I can part with my T60/2g/120Hitachi/Vista enterprise. But I am tempted!

I'm curious, too. The specs from the tabook for the T61 14.1" 4:3 screen are not encouraging -- a dismal 150 nits brightness and a miserable 200:1 contrast ratio. And that's for the 8889 model with discrete graphics. I suspect viewing angles will be as bad as those figures suggest.

This is what I mean. How can anybody argue with this reality. I was hoping that the 14WS would be better than the 15WS I actually gave up a T60 WS because the screen was so bad. Hoping the smaller size would compensate. If those are the specs... forget about it. Maybe next year yhey will return to a maxbrite screen... it really was great compared to these.

ibm meister wrote:...

By the way, does anybody have a t61 14.1? sxga+? What are the viewing angles like? How bright is it. I don't know if I can part with my T60/2g/120Hitachi/Vista enterprise. But I am tempted!

I have one- it's my first thinkpad- been using Toshiba's for years. It's a noticeably dimmer then my toshiba's could go but not
pathetic. I have used it outside on my deck in full sun and it was usable so it's not so bad. My neighbor came over with her HP consumer laptop yesterday in the sun and it was almost unusable so it's not the bottom of the barrel for sure.

It kind of gets compounded though because apparently the current vista drivers have no OSD for brightness adjustment. I think I read someplace that there are 25 levels of brightness but without an OSD I find myself always trying to hit back-light up key hoping it gets brighter but never really knowing for sure if it's as bright as it can be. Hopefully they address that with new drivers soon.

I have no complaint's with the viewing angles actually- seems fine to me. In fact I actually wish it was narrower so I could get more privacy in open office environments. No better or worse then the toshiba's I've been using for years.

Sorry I can't speak to compare to other thinkpads but compare to the general population- it's not the brightest and not the dimmest but usable. And the angles seem fine.

Hope that helps.
Mike

Thanks... anybody else have one with some comments. That's the usual reply... useable...

My problem with thinkpads-in-the-sun is how hot the black finish gets! I can sit there and watch my CPU temp meter rise degree by degree!

michaelk wrote: I have one- it's my first thinkpad- been using Toshiba's for years. It's a noticeably dimmer then my toshiba's could go but not pathetic.

Other than being jealous that someone has a 4:3 T61 (!) I'm also curious whether the vertical brightness is as inconsistent as my T43 and T40. Both of them had decent enough screens but there was a huge differnece in brightness form the bottom to the top of the screen, so much so that i could never get the right angle to get consistent-looking color from top to bottom.