W700 GPU and Display

[taichi]

What is the difference in performance between the Quadro 2700M and the 3700M in the W700? Is it simple or difficult to swap the 2700M for a 3700M?

Are there CPU upgrades that are possible?

Also, if the screen is 1920 by 1200, is it the Flexview IPS display?

[ajkula66]

Are there CPU upgrades that are possible?

How high up are you interested in going? You'll be stuck with a decade-old architecture and 1066MHz speeds in any event.

Also, if the screen is 1920 by 1200, is it the Flexview IPS display?

No. And there are no IPS replacement options either.

[taichi]

So the W700s came with TN panels, not IPS? I thought it had a well regarded screen.

[ajkula66]

So the W700s came with TN panels, not IPS?

Correct.

I thought it had a well regarded screen.

For a TN panel of its era, yes. Nothing to write home about IMO, then or now.

[MisterB]

The GPU swap is easy. It will take all of 10-15 minutes. It is on its own board held in with two screws. I did the upgrade on my W700 which I sold a few months ago. The 1920x1200 Max Bright display is gorgeous but it is not Flexview. It is much better on the W701 which is one reason why I let go of my last W700. I've had a total of 3 W700s, all with the WUXGA display. It has a nice quality all its own. The color calibrator didn't really work on the W700 but it does on the W701. The only issue with the color corrected display is that it is the opposite of IPS and you get color distortion if viewed at even a slight vertical angle. I never used the color correction on the W700, it looked better without it. Both displays live up to the Max Bright label and I never set them anywhere near full brightness.

The CPU on the W700 can be upgraded to a core duo quad. Unfortunately, the memory can't go beyond 8gb. Another reason I went to a W701 and sold the W700. That and the much better first generation i7 quad processor.

Due to their size, the W7x series are among the easiest Thinkpads to work on. I've done lots of parts swaps to get the one I wanted. None of the W700s and W701s I bought came in fully working condition. Some were just for parts and some worked but had something broken or missing. The total is 3 W700s and 2 W701s plus a huge box of parts that was almost enough to build another W700.

[taichi]

The GPU swap is easy. It will take all of 10-15 minutes. It is on its own board held in with two screws. I did the upgrade on my W700 which I sold a few months ago. The 1920x1200 Max Bright display is gorgeous but it is not Flexview....

Thanks for the comprejensive response.

Are either the W700 or W701 screens flicker free? I imagine not, as both are TN, and probably use PWM.

[MisterB]

I've never had any issues with flickering. As I said, while not IPS, the W700 and W701 do have high quality displays. They have RGB backlights which allows for color adjustments. The W701 has an LED RGB backlight which is probably why it looks so much better. The actual specs of the different Thinkpad displays are here.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display

The W701 display has a lower brightness rating but that is not what I found in practice. It might be the super high contrast rating compensates for it or it just might be that the LEDs age better than CFL backlights. Both have the same DPI rating which is the same as the 15" T60p Flexview. I use the Flexview with the brightness adjusted all the way up but the W701 is set at the half way point and I rarely adjust it up.

[taichi]

Thanks, MisterB, for that comprehensive panel list and description.

Apparently, sometime in March of 2010 Lenovo changed the CCFL WUXGA panel on the W700 to the LED version that was then used in the W701. A machine I'm thinking about has a manufacturing date of "2010\03", so it's right on the line. Is there some way for the vendor to tell from system information, device manager, etc. which display it has?

Thanks!

[bit_twiddler]

I believe that the panel used on the W701 is actually an 8-bit per color TN panel.
Can anyone confirm this?

http://www.panelook.com/LTN170CT08-L01_ ... _8843.html

Anyway, I use mine for software development and running business applications, and it's great
for that. It might work for photoshop or something like that, but with so many used external IPS monitors
available for practically no money, you might want to plug one in for that kind of work. HP used
to make a lot of 24" 1920 x 1200 IPS monitors that would probably work fine with your W700.
I think you need DVI-D (single link) to make that work.

[taichi]

I think you're correct that it is a TN panel, but it has RGB LED backlighting as opposed to the initial panel on the W700, which is CCFL/