Thinkpads Forum

I am looking to replace my Z61m with a newer model. I am considering a new T410, but I read tons of bad opinions about the screen.

The native resolution of my Z61m is 1280 x 800 and I would like to get a T410 with a WXGA+ (1600 x 900)* screen.

The Z61m has by far the least bright screen I've ever seen on a laptop and I realize it may be a long shot, but does anyone have the two models and could compare the screens on both?

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* Yes, my bad, I meant 1440 x 900

Welcome to the forum. I have a few comments.

Since LCD panels are sourced for each machine from multiple sources, it is going to be somewhat hit or miss on quality, since quality will vary slightly.

That being said, I have had many WXGA Z61m's and the LCDs have been generally very good. So I'd say you happened to get a lower quality panel.

Regarding T410's the few WXGA units that I've seen had average LCDs, bright, but poor colors. You mentioned a resolution that is not available on T410's, so I will assume you mean WXGA+, or 1440 x 900. On the few T410 or T410s units that I've seen, those screens look very good, bright with good contrast. I've also noticed that on T61, R61, and T400 models, the WXGA+ panels generally are higher quality than the WXGA panels.

So, I would comfortably guess that a T410 with a WXGA+ LCD will look better than your Z61m with a lower qualtiy WXGA display. (The fonts will be much smaller, too.)

Thank you for the welcome and your reply.

I bought my Z61m at Sam's Club and I certainly hope that mine came with an exceptionally bad screen or I am going to be very disappointed if I find out that my brand new T410 doesn't have a brighter screen and better viewing angles.

As for the fonts being smaller, I am aware of that and I do want everything to be smaller. I am a programmer and I want to go with the higher resolution panel to be able to see more code at a time when I'm using the laptop.

Thanks again for your input, underclocker. If anyone has something to add feel free to chime in; it will be at least a few days before I order a T410. I am going to come back and post my thoughts about the screens when it arrives.

OK, I know I'm returning late and I do apologize. I've been having a bunch of issues with my T410 and I just forgot about this thread.

I took pictures but they do not accurately show the difference in brightness between the two computers.

T410 is *a lot* brighter than my Z61m. At 9 out of 15 it's about as bright as the Z61m at maximum brightness. Z61m also looks more yellow-ish than the T410. Also, if anyone has a mid-2010 MacBook the screen on that computer is only slightly brighter than the T410.

sunshine wrote:T410 is *a lot* brighter than my Z61m.

The Z61m has a CFFL backlight, which can fade and yellow over time. It's also probably five years old.