Thinkpads Forum

I've been lurking around these forums for the past few months (itching to get a new Thinkpad) and this thread has motivated me to register and post.

Like I said, I'm planning a Thinkpad upgrade in the near future (end of this month at the latest) and the only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on the T61p right now is the 15.4" form factor (and recently the screen quality).

If it isn't too much to ask, Garry, would you mind posting some more comparison shots of the T61p vs. T43p (14.1", correct?). It's really a matter of all dimensions (I was trying to prioritize and I can't) so any comparisons of depth/width/height/thickness would be greatly appreciated.

I was also wondering if you've had a chance to calibrate the display and whether it helped improve the image quality.

Thanks!

jlachesk wrote:would you mind posting some more comparison shots of the T61p vs. T43p (14.1", correct?).

No, it's 15.0".

pianowizard wrote:

jlachesk wrote:would you mind posting some more comparison shots of the T61p vs. T43p (14.1", correct?).

No, it's 15.0".

Thanks for that clarification, not sure why I was thinking it was 14.1".

Either way, more pictures of the pretty computer would be wonderful.

pianowizard wrote: The mismatch between my QXGA R50p and WUXGA Dell 2407WFP is even worse! I don't find it too hard to adjust though. And having 1920x1200 + 2048x1536 = 5,449,728 pixels is unreal!

Hey, are you that crazy guy who ordered the QXGA screen and self-installed it 3 years ago?

After reading that account, I was set on doing the same thing with my T. I was told the screen wouldn't fit though. And, the FireGL2 in my T42 couldn't do hardware video at QXGA res. Sigh!

Kenn wrote:Hey, are you that crazy guy who ordered the QXGA screen and self-installed it 3 years ago?

No, I am Crazy Guy #2, and was inspired by Crazy Guy #1.

pianowizard wrote:No, I am Crazy Guy #2, and was inspired by Crazy Guy #1.

LOL! You have every right to the post of #1, since you have 2 QXGAs!

Would anyone have pics of a 14" 4:3 vs a 15" widescreen? Current owner of a 14" T43p, and looking to upgrade, but I'd like to know what I'm getting into.

wuffers wrote:Would anyone have pics of a 14" 4:3 vs a 15" widescreen?

This review has photos comparing a 15.4" T60 with a 14.1" T43.

All us Crazy Guys and wannabes hijacking the thread

I'd also like to see a couple more pics showing direct size comparisons with the 15" T43p. Specifically, it'd be nice to see if there's any height difference between the two, and a straight top-down shot to see changes in profile.

Thx for putting up with all this Garry

Gary, this tool, PC Wizard 2007, works great at identifying the screen model number. Just copy and paste the number you find and google it.

barrywohl wrote:Hooray for the headphone jack and microphone jack on the left and not on the front. Somehow I had missed that the front location was only for 14 inch T61 computers. For watching movies on your lap top (pun intended), the left is better for the headphones.

What is the story on "UWB"?

I forgot about the travel bezel. This is my first T. My previous ThinkPads were 755CX, 760CD, A21p, R50p and (briefly) Z61p.

Yeah, imo it really sucks that the audioports are in fron of the T61. I have one and it's really annoying when watching a film while laying in bed with your knees up and you notebook on your lap. One movement and the jack will crack..

Maybe use a headphone extension cable with a 90-degree connector?

This is a top down picture, it shows the T61P being 30mm or so wider and 10mm narrower

Well, I ran into a few problems with compatibilty with x64, enough to scare me back to 32 bit, I don't want to find something doesn't work in a months time after I've got everything installed and settled down.

I've also managed to calibrate the display using s spyder express 2, this made a BIG difference, before picture was very bright and very blue, now looking a lot more natural.

I've also noticed when it's dark in the room and the screen is blank (i.e. booting) that there's a lot of light leakage along the bottom, might try and get a pic of it if I get time. All in all I'm still happy with it though.

Also someone asked about height, the T43P and T61P are both the same, no difference I could tell with them side by side

GarryF wrote: I've also managed to calibrate the display using s spyder express 2, this made a BIG difference, before picture was very bright and very blue, now looking a lot more natural.

I don't have any experience with hardware calibration of displays. We have a spyder 2 at work that I may be able to use. But in case I don't have access to it, is it possible to transfer one calibration setting to another. What files are involved?

Just asking out of curiosity,
when you calibrated the T43p with your Spider Pro or Spyder Express 2, did you have to do a lot of calibration?

I'm considering using it for my UXGA T60p, but spending cash for making no or very few calibrations, is a little waste of time and money IMO

If the light leakage is bothering you, you should complain to Lenovo about it. It's the only way they know that their LCDs aren't living up to the expectation, and they may complain to the manufacturer if there are enough complaints.

casper7777 wrote:I don't have any experience with hardware calibration of displays. We have a spyder 2 at work that I may be able to use. But in case I don't have access to it, is it possible to transfer one calibration setting to another. What files are involved?

It creates a monitor profile which I expect can be moved around, the problem is likely that every display is different and you really need to calibrate it with the device. It's unattended and takes 10 mins or so,

GarryF wrote:

casper7777 wrote:I don't have any experience with hardware calibration of displays. We have a spyder 2 at work that I may be able to use. But in case I don't have access to it, is it possible to transfer one calibration setting to another. What files are involved?

It creates a monitor profile which I expect can be moved around, the problem is likely that every display is different and you really need to calibrate it with the device. It's unattended and takes 10 mins or so,

Thanks for humoring our constant requests for updates, Garry!

I've never calibrated my monitor, mainly cause I don't have to do any precision color work. But I also wonder what it does to your display. I assume it adjusts the mapping of colors to compensate for differences in the backlight color temperature (mainly) and also differences between the RGB color elements used between different makers and between batches.

I'm a big fan of having the brightest display possible, especially at ~180 nits which can easily be affected by sunlight streaming through windows, working outside, etc. The idea of pure white being calibrated at 245 245 210 just makes me cringe...in that case, I'll take a cold bluish cast at 256 256 256 anyday

GarryF wrote:Well, I ran into a few problems with compatibilty with x64, enough to scare me back to 32 bit, I don't want to find something doesn't work in a months time after I've got everything installed and settled down.

I've also managed to calibrate the display using s spyder express 2, this made a BIG difference, before picture was very bright and very blue, now looking a lot more natural.

I've also noticed when it's dark in the room and the screen is blank (i.e. booting) that there's a lot of light leakage along the bottom, might try and get a pic of it if I get time. All in all I'm still happy with it though.

Also someone asked about height, the T43P and T61P are both the same, no difference I could tell with them side by side

GaryF. I dont know if you saw my previous post, but were you still looking for your lcd panels exact model number? If so, PC Wizard 2007 is a great tool, which will allow you to look up many of your notebook's devices without having to look up the FRU from the ibm site.

Here's the link:
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

hypertrophy wrote:GaryF. I dont know if you saw my previous post, but were you still looking for your lcd panels exact model number? If so, PC Wizard 2007 is a great tool, which will allow you to look up many of your notebook's devices without having to look up the FRU from the ibm site.

Here's the link:
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

ok ok, the answer is..........................

General Information :
Manufacturer : LTN154U2-L05
Product ID : LEN4055
Manufacture : 2007
Video Input Type : Digital in 0.7/0.3v
Max. Horiz./Vert. Size : 33 cm / 21 cm
Monitor Size : 15 inches (estimated)
Aspect Ratio : 16:10
Gamma Factor : 2.2
DPMS Active-Off : Yes
DPMS Suspend : Yes
DPMS Standby : Yes
EDID version : 1.3

Features :
Maximum Resolution : 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz

which googles as Samsung

GarryF wrote:Well, I ran into a few problems with compatibilty with x64, enough to scare me back to 32 bit, I don't want to find something doesn't work in a months time after I've got everything installed and settled down.

This sounds strange to me. I ordered my T61P today with the same specifications as yours it looks like, and it will be delivered with Vista Ultimate 64 (swedish).

GarryF wrote:Well, I ran into a few problems with compatibilty with x64, enough to scare me back to 32 bit, I don't want to find something doesn't work in a months time after I've got everything installed and settled down.

Ouch! Could you tell us what went wrong? I hope my getting 4 GB is not going to prove to be a useless...

GarryF wrote:I've also managed to calibrate the display using s spyder express 2, this made a BIG difference, before picture was very bright and very blue, now looking a lot more natural.

I quickly googled and it would seem that thhis spyder express 2 involves some hardware. Is there any pure software equivalent of that system? Otherwise, I want to think that you were just unlucky with your screen and got one that was badly calibrated. Could that be the case? I cannot understand why Lenovo (or their supplier rather?) couldn't have got it right in the first place.

GarryF wrote:I've also noticed when it's dark in the room and the screen is blank (i.e. booting) that there's a lot of light leakage along the bottom, might try and get a pic of it if I get time. All in all I'm still happy with it though.

Argh! I would be very interested in that picture showing the light leakage. I have upgraded to an onsite warranty, so I guess I could always take advantage of that, if necessary. Still, I wish I wouldn't have to!

agarny wrote:Ouch! Could you tell us what went wrong? I hope my getting 4 GB is not going to prove to be a useless...

Just old printers and stuff, I just decided I needed maximum compatibilty for now

agarny wrote:I quickly googled and it would seem that thhis spyder express 2 involves some hardware. Is there any pure software equivalent of that system? Otherwise, I want to think that you were just unlucky with your screen and got one that was badly calibrated. Could that be the case? I cannot understand why Lenovo (or their supplier rather?) couldn't have got it right in the first place.

spyder has made a reasonable difference on every monitor I've tried, if your working with photos it's essential. Even after calibration it's a lot brighter that the T43P. Spyder express doesn't work for multiple monitors though, they want loads more money.

agarny wrote:Argh! I would be very interested in that picture showing the light leakage. I have upgraded to an onsite warranty, so I guess I could always take advantage of that, if necessary. Still, I wish I wouldn't have to!

I've only noticed this on the screen when it's totally black, will try and get some pics over the weekend

Pascal_TTH wrote:Can you run some 3D Mark 2005

yep

T43P - 1650

T61P - 7678

hope that helps

GarryF wrote:I've only noticed this on the screen when it's totally black, will try and get some pics over the weekend

I've also noticed this on a solid black screen (i.e. during boot-up) on my T60 (Samsung screen as well). It's noticable in anything less than a bright room; however, during normal use I see no symptoms whatsoever. I'm actually rather pleased with the image quality on this screen (though I'm far from an expert) so I have high hopes for the T61p screens, even if they are Samsung.

Just out of curiousity, is the backlight leakage something to be concerned with if it doesnt affect actual usage?

GarryF wrote:

Pascal_TTH wrote:Can you run some 3D Mark 2005

yep

T43P - 1650

T61P - 7678

hope that helps

Whoa, that's awesome. However, a lot of other things influence the score, such as the CPU, and memory, so I'm not sure how reliable that chart is.

GarryF wrote:Just old printers and stuff, I just decided I needed maximum compatibilty for now

Ok, I will still give it a try. All my devices are relatively recent, so hopefully that will be ok... Fingers crossed!

GarryF wrote:spyder has made a reasonable difference on every monitor I've tried, if your working with photos it's essential. Even after calibration it's a lot brighter that the T43P. Spyder express doesn't work for multiple monitors though, they want loads more money.

Well, I just hope that I will happy with the colours of my screen. I do quite a bit of photography and like my colours to be 'right', but I can appreciate that this is a completely subjective feeling.

GarryF wrote:I've only noticed this on the screen when it's totally black, will try and get some pics over the weekend

Thanks.

I am very impressed with the QuadroFX 570M, because it doesn't look like it is an underclocked version of the GeForce 8600M GT. It is even faster! Maybe it's an underclocked version of the 8700M GT, in which case we could overclock it to the 8700M's level!

Hows the power consumption on that Quadro card? I've got a ATI x1400 128MB and its not too bad in sucking juice... wondering how your's compares to, say, the comparable ATI FIREGL offering.

Hi GarryF

I've never had a Thinkpad, but today got a formal quote from reseller for T61p. I was just wondering, what's in the box. Maybe you could post a pic of the entire box contents, if not too much trouble.
ETA on the quote is 3-5 weeks, after order.