BEST X301 screen?

[beaker]

There has been some discussion in the archives about whether some particular X301 screen was better than the X300 screens. I am interested (as I am sure there are others) in identifying this specific part number (FRU) of the best screen that comes with the X301 and ordering it with an 1.6Ghz processor.

Who here has an opinion about what this particular screen is, if in fact, it does exist? I am waiting for either a good matte X301 screen or for Apple to have matte screens on their 13" laptops.

[csv96]

Unfortunately, there's no way to specify which FRU/screen you get in your X301. There was some discussion about this previously and if I remember correctly, all X301 screens have the same FRU even if they come from different manufacturers.

[archer6]

The display on my X301 is acceptable. However I would certainly like to see Lenovo get serious and stop procrastinating when it comes to better displays. The latest ThinkPads could all benefit from better displays. Especially the top of the line models in each series. Even something as simple as offering LED backlighting to all T, W, and X series machines would be a start. Recently when ordering my new T500, an LED backlight was only available on the WXGA & not the WSXGA+ an unacceptable limitation.
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Yet in a similar show of questionable decision making Apple removes the choice of a matte display when ordering a MacBook Pro. Now all one gets is their super glossy mirror like panel which is another unacceptable choice, and their downturn in sales is proving that. They stubbornly insist that it was due to consumer demand. Just goes to show that both these companies have their eye off the ball. Only time will tell if Lenovo stops dragging their feet and wakes up to their loyal users request for high quality displays.
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Cheers...

[akitaen]

Hey Beaker, as others noted there's only 1 FRU#, and when I got my x300 I noted that the display had been sourced from the 'better' manufacturer though I don't remember the exact details now. Also I've seen x301 & it looked just the same as mine, so I'm doubtful about real differences; I don't believe if you order a replacement Lenovo has stacks of good ones with the same FRU# for x301 owners & worse ones for x300 owners...

That said, though I'm supposed have the 'good' one, it loses every comparison to the worst screens I have available to me (ie last gen MacBook, TN SXGA+ t60). Coming from desktop displays & IPS laptops, I used to think of those as unacceptable, but by comparison they look saturated & have wider viewing angles.

In practice, my feeling about the x300 display is that it's ever a minor annoyance, but not necessarily a deal breaker where you would be carrying a light laptop. It has decent resolution by todays standards, it's plenty bright everywhere, it's low power and thin, and it's fine for programming, text entry, & surfing. It could be called crisp & sharp, though perhaps not moreso than other laptop displays of similar resolution.

It's not acceptable for graphics work, not fun for googleearth due to contrast, and poor for movies because of the angles, and it has all the problems of your least favorite displays, and classes of problems you haven't seen on any other display.

If you like what the x30x brings, I haven't seen a more compelling package; when you carry it there's nothing to it, but when you use it, you've given up very little. Just don't expect the display to compare well to anything else; if you need that that look to another model or wait for another generation.

[beaker]

Thank you everyone for clarifying the X301 screen FRU question I had. At the end of the day, I want everything to be perfect for a $2000+ laptop which will my main laptop for the next 3-5 years.

[gene303]

Coming from a t60p with a uxga flexview display I am also disappointed in the screen, however two weeks into using the x301 I am getting ever more used to it.

The best piece of advice I have for you is that you should not use a good desktop display and/or a thinkpad flexview display close in time to using the x301. This will make you notice the differences that much more.

For example, I'm typing this on my x301 and 5 minutes ago I was using my desktop display, on which a black is really black and not this washed out gray that I'm looking at on my x301.

On the bright-side the x301 is an amazing laptop. It is my third thinkpad and i love it. The build quality is superb. it has no distinguishable flex. I can take it at its corner-most edge with one hand and it does not feel like I'm tempting fate. With a 128gb ssd and 4gb mem on Windows 7 rc1 it feels snappy and is a great performer. I hardly have to wait for anything to load. I can run browsers with all the tabs I please. The adobe sweet runs well as well. Cheers.

[archer6]

Thank you everyone for clarifying the X301 screen FRU question I had. At the end of the day, I want everything to be perfect for a $2000+ laptop which will my main laptop for the next 3-5 years.

In the last two months I have purhased a ThinkPad W500 and a MacBook Pro, both with the same processor, memory, and hard drive, so they are as identical in configuration as possible. The MacBook Pro cost $3,198 and the W500 $1640. The ThinkPad is far superior than the Apple (and I like Macs), the point I'm making is that even for the astronomical price of the Mac, it's far from perfect (nasty glossy display).

There _Is No Perfect Notebook Computer_.

So that said, we as serious computer enthusiasts and users must choose the one with the best combination of compromises and simply enjoy it.

I'm very happy with my X301 and use it far more than I expected to. I bought it with the idea that I would use it as a secondary machine for traveling as my daily needs are a workstation class ThinkPad. And yet I find that whenever I don't need to carry the workstation, I take the X301 with great delight.