Thinkpads Forum

I have always thought that my T42p screen was not very bright, so to the fact that I thought it was horrible quite frankly. I Have learned to live with it but not too happily. It has been this way since new and I had 2 T42p thinkpads and they were both the same brightness so there is no defect.

I was thinking about jumping into a T61 but I NEED a brighter screen but which screen is the brightest? From what I have been reading the 15.4" WSXGA+ screen seems to be brightest but I picked that up on heresay from all over.

So based on your experience which screen size and resolution is the brightest of the T61 line? A comparison to the T42p 14.1" SXGA+ screen would be terrific. Thanks.

The answer is, none of them

Just kidding...but sadly, I have heard all the current T61's are supposed to not have very bright screens. Mine hasn't bothered me, but it's kinda my first laptop so I don't have anything else to compare it to, it looks good to my non-picky eyes.

Where do you live? Maybe someone near you could let you look at their T61 and see. I have a T61p with the 15.4" WSXGA+ screen but I have no way of letting you know how bright or dim it is in a measurable way. I only know it's not as bright as my Dad's older HP zv6000 screen, but that screen is extremely bright. I think since it's a matte screen that doesn't help, plus I have heard some recent screens are dimmer by design to use less power.

Hello,

I think you will find it interesting and informative to read the Tabook as it lists detailed specifications of the more current Thinkpad models.

Tabook does not list the T42p 14.1" SXGA+ model but it does list the T43p 14.1" SXGA+ as having a display brightness of 150 nits. So I think the T42p 14.1" SXGA+ is probably the same in terms of brightness.

In regards to the T61 brightness, here's the break down:

T61 14.1" WXGA (1280x800), 185 nits
T61 14.1" WXGA+ (1440x900), 200 nits

T61 15.4" WXGA (1280x800), 200 nits
T61 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050), 200 nits

T61p 15.4" WUXGA (1920x1200), 175 nits

I've had opportunities to examine an R61i 14.1" 1280x800 (7732 model type), which has a display brightness of 185 nits, and it is noticeably dimmer when placed next to a Toshiba U305 13.3" notebook. But when i tried it out by itself without having any other notebooks next to it, i found that the R61i's 185 nits brightness was very usable and bright enough to be comfortable for normal use. I think the issue is not so much the brightness, but the viewing angles that make the display look subpar most of the time.

Just my opinions. Hope someone else can weigh in with their thoughts.

Intersting info. Well I took the plunge and ordered a T61 15.4 with WSXGA+ screen. Brightness says 200nits so should be brighter than my T42p. We shall see.

None. Brightness is an unknown world in Lenovo´s world... Some pundits over there think we business people like dullness.

I would suggest if LCD brightness is important, consider something other than Thinkpad. When my T42 and T61 site with a Sony laptop with xBrite LCD, the Sony has significant edge on brightness, color richness, contrast and clarity. The difference is night and day.

Well I went with the 15.4" T61 WSXGA+ and yeah its not as bright as a macbook pro but its not that bad either. I can live with it happily seeing as how this computer is so incredibly badass. Very happy with it. Thanks guys.

T23_Owner wrote:Well I went with the 15.4" T61 WSXGA+ and yeah its not as bright as a macbook pro but its not that bad either. I can live with it happily seeing as how this computer is so incredibly badass. Very happy with it. Thanks guys.

I'm glad you are happy with your T61. I think mine is badass too. Mine had a problem though where it wouldn't handle using 4 gigs of RAM so it is at the depot right now being repaired. I still am really happy with it though, I'm sure when I get it back it will be fixed and still badass.

What OS did you choose? Vista 64 bit works very well on this machine.

Hellbore wrote:

T23_Owner wrote:Well I went with the 15.4" T61 WSXGA+ and yeah its not as bright as a macbook pro but its not that bad either. I can live with it happily seeing as how this computer is so incredibly badass. Very happy with it. Thanks guys.

I'm glad you are happy with your T61. I think mine is badass too. Mine had a problem though where it wouldn't handle using 4 gigs of RAM so it is at the depot right now being repaired. I still am really happy with it though, I'm sure when I get it back it will be fixed and still badass.

What OS did you choose? Vista 64 bit works very well on this machine.

Yes, installed vista 64 bit. Oh, just let me tell you though. I have the sd card reader in the front like you probably do. What I did was disable the built in turbo cache and install a 4gb class 6 SDHC card in the sd slot and activate readyboost for that card. WOW this machine FLIES. Try it. Just click properties on the sd card and select readyboost and use the whole card recommended space. Nice.

T23_Owner wrote:Yes, installed vista 64 bit. Oh, just let me tell you though. I have the sd card reader in the front like you probably do. What I did was disable the built in turbo cache and install a 4gb class 6 SDHC card in the sd slot and activate readyboost for that card. WOW this machine FLIES. Try it. Just click properties on the sd card and select readyboost and use the whole card recommended space. Nice.

Mine is already set up this way