Thinkpads Forum

I am about to undertake the most invasive procedure ever, which is to replace my T60p's 15" SXGA+ LCD with a 15" UXGA one. (thanks erik!!) I know, I know, I'm being dramatic, but I live in Hollywood so what can you expect.

Sooooooo...I hear there are no more IPS Flexview panels on any of the T61/p's? How are the screens for those of you who have a basis for comparison to maybe a T60/p, or a T4x/p? What's the actual difference?

Take care everyone!

i've used 15.0" UXGA panels since 2001 (both non-IPS and IPS) and am extremely happy with the 15.4" WUXGA (samsung) panel on my T61p.   it took a few weeks to get used to the viewing angles but helped that i stayed open-minded about the switch.

it's been a few months with this panel and i don't want to go back -- IPS or not.   the added resolution (320 pixels on the wide end) absolutely rocks for palleted applications like photoshop, illustrator, lightroom, autocad, and solidworks.   i was apprehensive about widescreens until i watched an HD-DVD in full resolution on a colleague's WUXGA external display.   after that i became hooked.

IPS is no longer available but times will change.   fwiw, lenovo recently released the thinkvision L220x (which is the first 22" WUXGA panel) and it uses S-PVA technology.   they know we want it -- it's just a matter of finding a manufacturer who can keep up with demand if and when they offer it again in thinkpads.   so, i look at the loss of IPS as temporary.   with the L220x now on the market (and it's only $499 retail!), an external display is a viable option for any color-critical work.

the only caveat to the new non-IPS displays is that they need to be color calibrated as they tend to have a blue cast to them.   this can be quickly corrected by pulling back the blue channel gamma or by using a hardware colorimeter and creating a custom ICC profile.

other than the viewing angles and slight color cast, i can't say much negative about this panel.   it is, in my opinion, pretty darn good and i work with color all day long.

(edit; switched IPS with S-PVA)

erik wrote:snipped

Interesting. I do absolutely nothing with graphics. But I'm a resolution junkie. When I went from my first Thinkpad with XGA to SXGA+, I was wow'd. I LOVED it. The extra screen real estate, the sharp pictures, and movies in high quality. As I am currently overseas in Europe, my T60p has become my TV, theater, DVD player, etc. lol...And when I briefly had the T43p w/UXGA, I was stunned. Shell shocked. Pictures made for 1600x1200 looked so razor sharp and life-like, it was like looking through a window...Everybody told me to get a Core Duo, so I only had it for a month, and the insane deal I got on this LOADED baby was simply too good to pass up. Whenever I get my next Thinkpad, I'll definitely sell it and make money!

So DVD playback should be greatly improved, too, huh? The L220x sounds HOT. You mean to tell me there will be laptops with 22" screens??? Do we have an approximate ETA for those babies?

/drool

Crunch wrote:The L220x sounds HOT. You mean to tell me there will be laptops with 22" screens??? Do we have an approximate ETA for those babies?

/drool

Haha
I think you misunderstood. The L220x is a 22 desktop LCD by Lenovo, and i think it is S-PVA based. I haven't seen a 22" laptop yet, but it wouldn't suprise me if Acer (eww) would make an attempt as a followup on their 20" lapt... desktop replacement.

I have a new T61 14.1" 1440 x 900 and the very first thing I noticed was how bad the screen was. My eyes got VERY tired after only 30 minutes. It's very bright though.

After a little color calibration, clear type tuning, and choosing a different default font for webpages, things looked much better.

Viewing angles are terrible. Like REALLY terrible. For me, +- 5 degrees vertically and the picture changes. I got a glossy conversion done on my screen for $100. This improved viewing angles by about 25 degrees with higher contrast.

Honestly, I love looking at the screen now. The glossy makes for a stunning display in the right lighting. I have to admit though, the reflections suck. Since I use my laptop 95% of the time in coffee shops, the indoor lighting is perfect for glossy.

rxblitzrx wrote:I have a new T61 and the very first thing I noticed was how bad the screen was. My eyes got VERY tired after only 30 minutes. It's very bright though.

what's the native resolution on your panel?   stating this might help others.

erik wrote:

rxblitzrx wrote:I have a new T61 and the very first thing I noticed was how bad the screen was. My eyes got VERY tired after only 30 minutes. It's very bright though.

what's the native resolution on your panel? stating this might help others.

Original post has been edited.

erik wrote:fwiw, lenovo recently released the thinkvision L220x (which is the first 22" WUXGA panel) and it uses IPS technology

Yes, I was just about to mention this when i saw the title of this thread, but,

Troels wrote:The L220x is a 22 desktop LCD by Lenovo, and i think it is S-PVA based.

Yes, it is S-PVA, not IPS. Funnily enough i've come accross this yesterday:
http://lenovoblogs.com/designmatters/?p=180

Still, as Lenovo is apparently the first to propose such a panel in 22" *maybe* one could dream they would get around to release a comparable PVA or IPS WUXGA panel in 15.4" too...

Oops...my bad...22" seemed a little high for a laptop.

So no more IPS for a good while, huh? Wow...Seems like the minute Lenovo gets the Thinkpads, it goes backwards. Are they gonna be recalled for lead problems, too? lol...Does anyone know why IBM really sold to Lenovo in the first place?

All circuit boards contain a fair amount of lead. The higher the lead content, the better the soldering job.

IBM's personal computer division was bleeding IBM's profits dry, that's why IBM sold it to Lenovo.

Crunch wrote:Are they gonna be recalled for lead problems, too? lol...Does anyone know why IBM really sold to Lenovo in the first place?

furrycute wrote:All circuit boards contain a fair amount of lead. The higher the lead content, the better the soldering job.

IBM's personal computer division was bleeding IBM's profits dry, that's why IBM sold it to Lenovo.

Crunch wrote:Are they gonna be recalled for lead problems, too? lol...Does anyone know why IBM really sold to Lenovo in the first place?

I was only kidding. Although the massive export of jobs and opportunities under our currupt, mass-murdering administration is not funny.

Would you be willing to pay $6000 for a T61p?

Crunch wrote: I was only kidding. Although the massive export of jobs and opportunities under our currupt, mass-murdering administration is not funny.

furrycute wrote:Would you be willing to pay $6000 for a T61p?

my first thinkpad was north of $6k but that was around 13 years ago when everything was that expensive.   there's no way i'd pay that today if the exact same performance and quality could be had for 1/3rd the price.

Crunch wrote:Wow...Seems like the minute Lenovo gets the Thinkpads, it goes backwards.

This has been discussed over and over, actually, and the reason why there's no more IPS flexview is that Lenovo or IBM did not manufacture those panels, and the producer (IDTech) stopped making them... unfortunatly down at Lenovo they're not magicians and can't pull them off the hat...

I was just trying to say something positive about the fact that they've just released a PVA WUXGA 22" panel, something no one has ever done, so there are *some* things going forwards, not backwards...

S-PVA panels are quite nice. My new Sony LCD HDTV uses an S-PVA panel, colors look gorgeous on that screen!

When is the new Lenovo 22 inch LCD going to be available for sale on their website? I don't see it on the U.S. site yet.


And oh about paying $6000 plus for a laptop... I paid over $4000 plus for my Mac clone desktop over 10 years ago. Man, I never thought prices would come down this much! I should have invested that money in Microsoft stocks at the time...

furrycute wrote:When is the new Lenovo 22 inch LCD going to be available for sale on their website? I don't see it on the U.S. site yet.

it's available now for $499 retail and slightly less at EPP.   shipments should go out starting 11/16.   specs in PDF format can be found here.

i was going to buy a new 30" WQXGA panel but might end up with this instead.   it's a killer value for the money.

furrycute wrote:And oh about paying $6000 plus for a laptop... I paid over $4000 plus for my Mac clone desktop over 10 years ago. Man, I never thought prices would come down this much! I should have invested that money in Microsoft stocks at the time...

yeah, and that was a clone!   my first mac was an SE/30 back in late '88... it was $5500 and had a B&W 640x480 display.   i still have it!

kamaleon wrote:(snip) and the reason why there's no more IPS flexview is that Lenovo or IBM did not manufacture those panels, and the producer (IDTech) stopped making them (snip)

IDtech was a joint-venture between Chi Mei Optoelectronics and IBM, earlier it was called IBM's Display Business Unit (DBU). They had their own plants for manufacturing - so in a way, they did manufacture them by themselves, but decided to quit it since IBM sold off it's PC businness assets, so there was no need to have a display factory any more. It probably didn't make any profit either at it's last years, when notebooks began to sell like hotcakes. They only had 450 employees.... In comparison LG Philips has ~19,000, Chi Mei has ~36,000.

Yes, i understand they were bougth by Sony. Anyway, by the time Lenovo started discontinuing flexview panels, IDTech didn't really co-belong to IBM anymore.

rxblitzrx wrote:I got a glossy conversion done on my screen for $100. This improved viewing angles by about 25 degrees with higher contrast.

What exactly do you mean? You changed something about the screen (cover or something) or replaced it or... ?
Was there any difference in brightness? ("feeling", I don't suppose your lamp would suddenly give more light )

I remember someone (maybe you?) swapping his/her screen with a glossy one but can't seem to find the thread anymore.

snessiram wrote:

rxblitzrx wrote:I got a glossy conversion done on my screen for $100. This improved viewing angles by about 25 degrees with higher contrast.

What exactly do you mean? You changed something about the screen (cover or something) or replaced it or... ?
Was there any difference in brightness? ("feeling", I don't suppose your lamp would suddenly give more light )

I remember someone (maybe you?) swapping his/her screen with a glossy one but can't seem to find the thread anymore.

I took my laptop to ScreenTek (http://www.screentekinc.com/pixelbright-lcds.shtml) and had them repolarize the LCD panel for $100. According to their website, it's the same technology that Dell, Sony, etc use on their laptops (TrueLife, XBRITE).

It's the same LCD that came with the T61, they just took it off and repolarized it in a clean room. It's freaking awesome for people who can live with glossy. I personally use my laptop indoors 100% of the time; typically with ideal lighting conditions, and it looks outstanding.

These panels still need calibration though. I can't get it anywhere near my desktop S-IPS panel. I guess it'll do for now though.

What is the minimum memory and drive support I would need to buy to support a 15.4" WUXGA screen for T61? I am looking a Lenovo site and don't see this screen option- now looking at part 6459CTO with some upgrades.

Part # 6459CTO ?? Correct??
Kindly advise re minimum specs for good performance
Thanks
mj

msol77 wrote:What is the minimum memory and drive support I would need to buy to support a 15.4" WUXGA screen for T61? I am looking a Lenovo site and don't see this screen option- now looking at part 6459CTO with some upgrades.

the WUXGA panels are backordered again.   you'll need to call a sales rep at 800-96-THINK to order a T61p with this panel.