Thinkpads Forum

Is there any reason why the Thinkpad T61 14.1" widescreen has thicker bezel on the left than on the right? Would it really have been that difficult to make it symmetrical?

It bothers me, as in, every time I see it something looks wrong.

Is something built into the left bezel to justify this? Otherwise, it pretty much ruins the original designs I've come to love in the T42.

It's pretty common for laptops to have the LCD off center. There's several reasons why but typically, it involves the structural build or wiring.

In the T61's, wireless antennas are run up the side of the screen.

I completely agree that it ruins the look. My favorite design is the T60 due to its symmetry. The T4x was not symmetrical due to the nonuniform lip around the LCD.

It's widely understood that people psychologically find symmetry attractive, so I don't understand where Lenovo was going with this one.

haha, that's funny, i was originally going to mention the human tendency to find beauty in symmetry too. while i understand that perhaps they might need to run an antenna inside, most notebook computers i've seen are symmetrical, including many of the older thinkpads i've seen.

that probably meant that someone along the line decided to sacrifice symmetry to fit something, and the fact that plenty of other computers today with the same features don't have to resort to off-centering means that this isn't inevitable.

Actually, it's off-center on the T23 I'm reading this on and on the T42.

I want to say that the screen is also off-centerd on my 600x as well.
Scott

My wife's T40 is a hair off center but her T23 is symmetrical, SXGA. My HP (actually I have two models at the house right now) are both symmetrical. Now I have to run upstairs to check the X32 but I can't believe I would have missed that with all of the X3*'s I've had! They must all be symmetrical...

Mike

I'm not aware of any other laptop (than the thinkpads) that has its screen off-center (?)

cxls wrote:In the T61's, wireless antennas are run up the side of the screen.

I completely agree that it ruins the look. My favorite design is the T60 due to its symmetry. The T4x was not symmetrical due to the nonuniform lip around the LCD.

It's widely understood that people psychologically find symmetry attractive, so I don't understand where Lenovo was going with this one.

T60 is off-center too. Not by much, but you will see it if you look closely

The reason for the asymmetry is due to antenna placement. By putting the antenna(s) alongside the screen and thus elevating them when the lid is open, it logically would seem to provide enhanced wireless reception. I'll take that over symmetry.

Looking at the parts manual for that model it looks like the WWAN is running under that side. My t60 had the WWAN thing sticking out the side which was just as annoying as the off center bezel.

Actually, it's off-center on the T23 I'm reading this on and on the T42.

You're right, about 1/4", never noticed that before. My X31 is off a little too.

I have that very T60 now and I agree. The off center bezel is just as bad as the wart hanging off the side of the display. Still, I look at the screen, not the bezel around it.

T60p, offcentered by 1 mm. Why?
The LCD inside has an asymmetrical metal metal frame. They're all like that. Instead of wasting precious space by re-centering it, it's it's off centre by a small margin.
The antennas don't really explain it i think. They're all patch antennas of about zero depth, so there's more than enough space.

That wouldn't explain the larger offset on the T61/ps though.
The LCD matal frame is a little bit larger on these vs. the previous series. Another thing is, that in order to have the roll cage, you'd have to give up on the side mounted and fastened LCD. That's what i have against most of the companies who waste bezel space - they're mounting the LCD and fastening it from the front by screws. It takes up more space. See the lenovo service training videos

I’m definitely not intending to start a flame war but in all honesty Thinkpad devotee’s praise the fact that their laptops are superior to other brands due to all kinds of functional features such as the matte screen, no-nonsense looks, etc. But why do we get so caught up on the simple miniscule “off-centerness” of the screen?

If you read the posts from the actual Thinkpad designers at www.lenovoblogs.com, they provide all kinds of information on the “why” of their products. So I trust that there is a legitimate reason the screen isn’t center, without actually knowing why.

I'm sure we're all glad they chose not to make the entire laptop wider to make the right side of the bezel equal to the left.

If a Dell owner looks at your laptop and says “why’d you get a Lenovo when they’re screens are off-center?”, are you going to respond with “you’re right, I should have went with a Dell instead”? I hope not.

DesertSilver wrote:But why do we get so caught up on the simple miniscule “off-centerness” of the screen?

I think this is probably an issue only for a small minority of customers. Our company has all thinkpads and I've never heard anyone remark about the screens being off center.

I personally emphasize function over form and couldn't care less about the asymmetry. I wouldn't want to give up a dollar in cost, or any network performance, or size, just to have the screen centered.

G

GeorgeP wrote: I think this is probably an issue only for a small minority of customers. Our company has all thinkpads and I've never heard anyone remark about the screens being off center.

You're correct. Sorry, I didn't intend to make a blanket statement towards everyone getting caught up on the screen, even though that's how it came out.

Like I said previously, we just need to trust that there was a valid functional reason for the big and little quirks of Lenovo products.