Thinkpads Forum

pianowizard wrote:

vkyr wrote:BTW, what was the 15" 2048x1536 (170.7 DPI) for a panel device, an external monitor?

Nope, it's a laptop LCD specially designed for the R50p. See my signature and this thread.

Could you show the thread where you talk about the screen itself and where you got it? OR is there info somwhere else? I'm getting the impression the entire top half of your machine was replaced including the case, but I can't be sure from that thread.

Can this be done to the A31 or A31P? 32-64 megs should support that resolution no problem.

Now you have me wanting a 15" QXGA Tablet The DPI isn't that different from my 12.1". I think it would be too heavy unless it was just a slate, with no keyboard, etc.

Well, even you can still get separate 15" QXGA screens (which are intended for the R50p QXGA models)...

--> http://www.screentekinc.com/IBM_ThinkPa ... reen.shtml

...of course a certain Thinkpad's GPU and inverter etc. would need internally also to be capable to drive a TFT panel with that high QXGA resolution. - AFAIK the A31p is usually able to address only max an UXGA resolution and may thus not be able to drive an QXGA panel.

proaudioguy wrote:Could you show the thread where you talk about the screen itself and where you got it? OR is there info somwhere else? I'm getting the impression the entire top half of your machine was replaced including the case, but I can't be sure from that thread.

I replaced just the LCD panel, the LCD cable, and the inverter. The Feb 21, 2005 8:33 pm post by jsfrank in this thread has the part numbers you need. I got the QXGA panel on eBay, and the online store selling the other two components can be looked up on Google (I forget the name of that store).

proaudioguy wrote:Can this be done to the A31 or A31P? 32-64 megs should support that resolution no problem.

In theory yes, but I don't think the cable and inverter would fit.

proaudioguy wrote:The DPI isn't that different from my 12.1".

Your 12.1" SXGA+ has 144.6 DPI.

Oh OK, I didn't realize the R50 came with a QXGA option. I thought it was a totally custom mod rather than a parts swap. It's still really cool. Had I known about that R50 bakc when they were new, I may not have been able to resist it.

proaudioguy wrote:Had I known about that R50 bakc when they were new, I may not have been able to resist it.

Back when the R50p was new, the QXGA, the inverter and cable cost over $1K total. Now, they cost only about $360, which is much harder to resist than $1K!

Yes, but it even possible to install those parts on your own - by hand? I'd love to see a blog or something about someone's attempts on that.

Pianowizard - I've made a post in that thread, if you wouldn't mind commenting =) [It's about the feasibility of an X61 upgrade].

The 1400x1050 panels are starting to trickle in on eBay, at a reasonable price too, no less:

eBay URL

Has anyone tried to retrofit one of these resolution panels into an X60/s? I have had a little bit of experience with swapping out different resolution panels on some laptops (none of them ThinkPads though)..

Upgraded a Dell D620 from 1280x800 to 1440x900.. it needed a special "WXGA+ Only" LCD ribbon cable to work at a higher res. I also tried a Toshiba Satellite M100 with the same two panels .. its ribbon cable worked fine for both, a simple panel swap was all that was necessary! Especially strange, as I don't think the M100 was ever designed for such a resolution.

I would give the above X60 Tablet panel a go myself in the interests of ThinkPad science, but unfortunately I no longer own the X60s in my sig. The low resolution bugged me so much, I now use the Dell D620 I mentioned earlier. You never know how much you rely on that middle TrackPoint scroll button until it's gone!

I am very interested in trying the upgrade out - and plan to once I get my X61s. However, I don't know anything about the process and what it entails. All I know is how to read the HMM, follow the directions, and remove the existing LCD (never done it before but if the directions say it's possible then it's possible.

What's really bugging me is, as I said, I don't know what the process entails. In pianowizards's link a few posts above it says that you need to replace the LCD cable as well as the inverter. This leaves me with questions as I don't know what the purpose of an inverter is, I don't know if I need to get an inverter, I don't know if the X60T inverter will work with the X60s (Im assuming you need the inverter that goes with the LCD), I don't know what size LCD cable the SXGA+ LCD uses, and I don't know if that cable will work with the X60s.

Rok: If you can help me out I'd appreciate it (or if anyone else can, too).

(Also: does that X60T screen come with the touchpanel stuff attached to it, or is it just the LCD screen - only the part I need).

Thanks.

Antioch wrote:Pianowizard - I've made a post in that thread, if you wouldn't mind commenting =) [It's about the feasibility of an X61 upgrade].

Antioch, I really don't know any more than you do, and am also interested in upgrading an X60s or X61s to SXGA+. IBM/Lenovo's HMMs usually list different inverters and cables for different LCDs, so I believe that one can't simply connect the X60s/61s's original XGA inverter and cable to the new, SXGA+ panel. Would you mind starting a new thread specifically about upgrading the X60s/61s to SXGA+? We might be able to get help from more people that way.

Sure thing.

on this topic, I got on my brother's 15" laptop last night after using my x61t w/XGA for only a week and the 15" screen (in XGA res) looked so ridiculously huge I was in awe.

I have zero complaint with my XGA resolution, and am glad that I got it because the SXGA screens are dimmer than the XGA ones on the x6x tablets.

Is there anyway to add that as a Plugin to XP ?

vkyr wrote:Does anybody with a X60T/X61T SXGA+ panel running Vista has tried out these --> Vista's DPI scaling <-- capabilities?

I did, briefly. It helped in Windows, but I am a bit neurotic and couldn't stand to see fonts of one size in my OS and of another size in other windows. A sensible person would have stuck with it to save his eyesight, or modified how his applications displayed fonts; I switched back to tiny everything.

I have awful eyesight and I bet the SXGA+ screen is making it worse, but I really like finally having a high-resolution screen, so I indulge myself and probably make steeper the endless downward spiral that is my visual acuity. As for ease of use, I got used to the small fonts pretty quickly, so it wasn't a big deal.

Using DPI scaling and zoom within applications, you could probably get all or nearly all of your text about the same size as on the XGA screen without much trouble. I didn't, just because I liked being constantly reminded of what a large number of dots my computer could make. I might muck about with it tomorrow to see if I could get reasonably-sized fonts and save my eyes.

Is there any way to add DPI scaling to Windows 2000 or XP as a plugin or driver?

I'm planning to get an X61T and noticed that the SXGA+ was no longer listed as a configuration on the Lenovo site. Should I try to find an older one that has it, or is the current multiview as good?
thanks. I can't foind one of these locally to play with.

I just realized that it wouldn't list them with the 1.8 processor only.

vkyr wrote:On the other side, as a software developer, I fear that the XGA resolution wouldn't possibly be very comfortable when working with a bunch of IDE and editor windows. - In other words, on a 12" SXGA+ display there should be enough space to arrange and fit many windows beneath or side by side etc. However, if text/source code etc. would be shown up too small here on a SXGA+ screen, it would hurt of course too when working longer time/hours on such a resolution.

I do all my software development on my X61t with SXGA+ (1400x1050) when I'm working from home. I love that I can see all the windows in my IDE and you get used to the smaller text size. With the right brightness level, I can work for hours on end and not hurt my eyes or get a head ache. I guess this is more of a per-user thing though.

When I bought my X61t I decided I wanted to be able to see more on the screen versus being able to touch with my finger.