X40 Screen -- Why not a Flexview?

[tbessie]

I got my X40 yesterday, and in setting it up found that the screen is your usual, fade-when-not-looking-directly-at-it kind of screen.

After a year and a half using my Thinkpad A31 with the Flexview screen, I was surprised that IBM would put a less-than-great screen on one of their more expensive models.

Do Flexview screens eat up a lot more power or something? Why didn't they use that great screen on the X40?

- Tim

[csv96]

Thickness, weight, power consumption, price.

I'm actually surprised with the horizontal viewing angle of the X40. It's quite readable even at 150 degrees (although brightness drops off).

[n3il]

There aren't 14" Flexview LCD panels available - so I seriously doubt any manufacturer would produce a 12" Flexview panel before that.....

[cynic]

As csv96 said, thickness, power consumption and weight are probably the big issues. Since the X40 is first and foremost about mobility, those would all be seriously hurt by a FlexView screen. I doubt price was an issue (as with anything on the T or X designs, I doubt price hampers progress to make the best possible laptops) Look to the fact they are using a 1.8" hard drive just for its slightly smaller form factor and less energy consumption, and you get the answer to why certain decisions were made. As for smaller FlexView screens... Sony uses a 10.6" Xbrite in some laptops which is supposedly an IPS screen. If IBM wanted to commission such a screen, they could. (I'm sure they'll sell more X laptops than Sony will sell of the TR3AP1)

Of interest for power consumption (and why the processor's usage is become less and less important in the global scheme of things), I noted this recent breakdown on laptops power usage:

according to Benini et al. in "Policy Optimization for Dynamic Power Management," the breakdown of power consumption by subsystem is:

1. 36% display
2. 21% digital circuitry (CPU, RAM, etc.)
3. 18% Hard disks
4. 18% Networking
5. 7% Non-critical components

[BILLCROCKER]

We're forgetting the original purpose of flexview screens: to help an engineer show a model around a crowded group. The x40 is an ultraportable and not a mobile workstation.