Thinkpads Forum

I bought it anyway.

Background: T43 was in need of repairs last year, put it on the shelf for a while and used my son's castoff MacBook, partly to see what all the brouhaha was about the mac. Now, months later, I find myself in the market for another TP and see a great deal on a T520, pretty basic specs including the 720p screen.

42404AU
i5-2520M(2.50GHz),4GB RAM,500GB 7200rpm HD,15.6in 1366x768 LCD,Intel HD Graphics,CDRW/DVDRW,Intel 802.11agn wireless,Bluetooth,Modem,1Gb Ethernet,UltraNav,Secure Chip,Fingerprint reader,Camera,6c Li-Ion,Win7 Pro 64

It did have almost 4 years of of onsite warranty, camera, BT, and finger print reader so I tell myself, "how bad can it be" for $400?

I unpack it, fire it up and think "not too bad after all" but then I start up the T43 (IPS screen) to start transferring some things over and Oh my.

Questions:

1) Is there anything I can do to improve the situation (probably not)
2) Will I get used to it if I never look at the T43 again.

The T520 is bright and the T43 is darker, splotchy on all white backgrounds, but the clarity is stunning in comparison.

Thanks for any tips

Well, you can hook it up to an external monitor and ignore the internal screen...
You can upgrade the LCD to a HD+ or FHD but that will likely void your warranty unless you have a certified tech do it...
You can sell it (and maybe even make a profit that was a good price for $400) and buy another with a higher resolution / better panel now that you know...

Other than that, I think you're kind of stuck sad to say. It sounds like a nice machine otherwise.

In this case, the 4-year warranty (how much remains?) is a curse because it prevents you from replacing the LCD. I agree that you should just sell it right away for >$400 to make a profit, and start looking for another laptop. It's well-known that the vast majority of 15.6" 1366x768 screens are awful, for all brands of laptops, so don't make the same mistake again.

pianowizard wrote:In this case, the 4-year warranty (how much remains?) is a curse because it prevents you from replacing the LCD. I agree that you should just sell it right away for >$400 to make a profit, and start looking for another laptop. It's well-known that the vast majority of 15.6" 1366x768 screens are awful, for all brands of laptops, so don't make the same mistake again.

+1 and then some.

Sell it, get a similar machine with FHD and call it a day...

Actually, I can return it for only shipping charges and be done with it. A pity, as I am delighted with the build quality, the keyboard, etc.