Down to 2: Lenovo W700 or Alienware...please help me decide?

[Crunch]

Hey folks,

I've owned nothing but Thinkpads, and if I order the W700, it would be #13, in 10 years.

Alienware has caught my eye. Why? Because it has something called Clearview LCD's. Here's the main page of the maker of these LCD's:

http://www.clearviewdisplays.com/home.html

Can the more graphics-inclined folks amongst you please tell me if this might be a way to go for me? I don't like the idea of purchasing anything other than a Thinkpad, but I am now so used to these incredible IPS displays since I first got my T42p a few years back. And this FFS technology from Hydis is sick.

I can also wait. If I have some kind of assurance that anything like IPS will be back from Lenovo.

Thanks everyone...

[qviri]

As I read it, the clearview stuff only improves the display in direct sunlight. Not to sound rude but I don't see how that relates to IPS. Are you going to be using the W700 outside?

[Crunch]

As I read it, the clearview stuff only improves the display in direct sunlight. Not to sound rude but I don't see how that relates to IPS. Are you going to be using the W700 outside?

I thought that, too. The mostly in direct sunlight part, and no I virtually never use my laptop outside, and IPS is probably just as good as this "Clearview" as far as using a laptop outside, as they advertise that as well (the renamed Hydis company that is).

Is this picture,

http://hometown.aol.com/Natas22000/Clearview.JPG

I've highlighted in yellow that Clearview is supposedly excellent for 1200p(!!) viewing of HD and Bluray's, which I do all the time.

Is Clearview at least significantly better than any currently available laptop from Lenovo?

When I got a message alert that you had responded to my thread, I was co-incidentally just doing that, watching a Bluray (a 720p one) on my T60p. It still blows me away every time that I put one on.

Maybe I can just get a flatscreen monitor with FFS? My T7600 CPU is certainly more than sufficient for what I do, and it'll likely last me another year, maybe longer. I tried 1080p Bluray's, too, and it plays those as well without hiccups. However, that appears to be the limit, as I can't multitask well when I view one of those.

The T60p also has no HDMI out. Is there a way to use either the PCMCIA, or Express slot to put a card in that gives me the HDMI for a possible monitor?

Thanks again for the fast reponse.

[erik]

Is Clearview at least significantly better than any currently available laptop from Lenovo?

clearview is probably better but it would be difficult to quantify this without two displays side by side for direct comparison.   IPS will still blow them both away though.

Maybe I can just get a flatscreen monitor with FFS? My T7600 CPU is certainly more than sufficient for what I do, and it'll likely last me another year, maybe longer. I tried 1080p Bluray's, too, and it plays those as well without hiccups. However, that appears to be the limit, as I can't multitask well when I view one of those.

an external monitor sounds like the most logical way to go.   your T60p has more than enough power for what you do.

[Crunch]

IPS will still blow them both away though.

Argh...'Tis what I thought.

an external monitor sounds like the most logical way to go.   your T60p has more than enough power for what you do.

...and that way I'll be able to get like a 22" Widescreen, or even bigger...alright.

Hydis (formerly BOE-Hydis), newly renamed, and financially restructured, what can we expect from them? They're still around. Their site is still being updated on a quite regular basis. Where can I find products from them to purchase? Can they be found in TV's mostly now, or medical equipment?

Also, is there a single laptop manufacturer that has IPS, or IPS-like screens?

Thank you.

[ZPrime]

Go buy a Thinkpad Advanced mini dock (so you have DVI) and then a Lenovo L220x LCD. You will be very pleased with the setup.

Alienware is slinging BS, there's no such standard as "1200p." What they're saying is that the notebook has 1200 horizontal lines of resolution i.e. something x 1200. Most likely in a 17" widescreen, it's WUXGA which is 1920x1200... which is exactly what you have on your 15" T60p, although if yours is a square/4:3 screen you are standard UXGA at 1600x1200.

I don't know why in hell anyone would punish themselves with a 17" "laptop." At that point it really isn't a laptop anymore, it's a portable desktop machine with a built-in UPS (the battery that would be lucky to get 2 hours of life).

[freakwave]

Sorry guys,

but I think you are exaggerating a bit with the IPS. There is no way that you can use the UXGA Panel in the T60p in the sunlight. I tried it and you can not read anything. If you are under a umbrella on a Sunny day, then it is somehow possible, but really hard to read. The display is just not bright enough.
Yes, it has great viewing angles and overall it is a great display, but it is not very bright.

Wolfgang

[MTWIZARD]

I currently use Thinkpad Advanced mini dock and a Lenovo L220x LCD and could not happier, I use the hueyPro to color calibrate both screens, so switching to a W700 and a L220x is a bigger better faster version of my current setup.

[Greg Gebhardt]

Think really hard before you buy a 17" laptop. They are huge and I would never own one again.

I guess it is what you want it for but I replaced my 15" laptop for one and it was not worth it to loose the mobility.

[Crunch]

Hey guys, thanks for all your input!

As for the 17" size. I don't really travel a lot with the laptop, and it's virtually always plugged into the wall. However, 15" IS a nice size, and 4:3 UXGA's are in strong demand for some reason. I suppose that's the mobility you guys were talking about.

I also don't need the "working with it in the sunlight" part, it's just that I want an awesome screen again, and apparently, that will be impossible. Then again, maybe not.

As for Alienware, the only reason I brought that up was this ClearView technology, but just like the entire site looks to be, it may just be another one of their gimmicks. And, naturally, I don't want to get anything other than a Thinkpad.

I actually have an Advanced Mini Dock, and it has the DVI port, yes. Three of you have mentioned the Thinkvision L220x widescreen monitor. So I looked it up and I see the screen has something called PVR. I read that the order in which the screens go up in quality goes like this:

TN --> VA --> PVR --> IPS --> FFS

I can attest to the latter two of these being true, so how good is this PVR standard?

So maybe that's actually a "best of both worlds" solution, since a bigger screen would be nice for movies and watching my Slingbox anyway, and the widescreen part, too, of course.

What do you think of these points?? I thank you in advance!

[no_man]

Alienware provides maximum public attention, and, a league of it's own.
Specs are second to owning, just like Voodoo PC, real attention grabbers.

[Troels]

what can we expect from them? They're still around. Their site is still being updated on a quite regular basis. Where can I find products from them to purchase? Can they be found in TV's mostly now, or medical equipment?

Humn well, they're under PVI now, which mainly focuses on e-paper and small screens overall. 8.9" is probably as large as they want to go. This is just a guess, since hydis could take over the larger displays market.
Something seems to be true about the larger displays, since Hydis recently introduced the HV320WX1 - which is a 105% color gamut, LED backlit FFS 32" LCD:
http://aving.net/kr/news/default.asp?mo ... SP_Num=172

I don't think you can find any of their offerings anywhere right now - they have to restructure, so my guess is that it will take some time before rolling out a product portfolio.

Also, is there a single laptop manufacturer that has IPS, or IPS-like screens?

Nope, but the best 17" laptop LCDs is where the decent image quality is at at the moment.
Not sure how much you really invest in this. You can now get wide color gamut backlights such as LED and special type CCFLs, but it doesn't help at all in a laptop, when the panel is still 6 bit, and very susceptible to banding, even with 45% gamut.
One reason why higher bit depths is not used could also be because that the increase in power consumption would mean that it doesn't really matter if it's LED or CCFL any longer. Who really knows, in a business where no one wants to explain anything at all to the public.

[Crunch]

Gotya everyone, and thanks for all the replies.

Man, I guess I'll get a monitor, as I have an Advanced Mini dock, which has a DVI port. There's one that has PVR technology, which is supposed to be better than TN and VA panels.

I don't like going "back in time" as far as technology goes. And now I'm super duper spoiled with this almost one-of-a-kind 15" UXGA beauty that Hydis made for only 3 months for Lenovo, and only for very specific 15" models. I guess I'll wait to see if they ever come back with IPS, and/or Super IPS, as my baby is still under warranty until mid-2009.

Can anyone comment on the PVR screens?

And finally, being that Lenovo just came out with new laptops, when can we expect the next offerings? I forget how long the T61/p series lasted. Was it one or two years about?

Thanks to everyone who responded! This has been an interesting discussion. Let's see what the future holds.

[Wentworth]

My cousin just bought a Alienware top of the line machine for $5000 fully optioned, and all i can say apart from some fancy lights like the XPS 1730 that i had (partly explained by Alienware owned by Dell) and some touch sensitive controls. The external design of the case and chassis is very bad, it is extremely prone to scratches and the keyboard leaves a lot to be desired, and structural rigidity is pretty bad too. The screen on the machine is nothing much to be looked at compared to the Flexiview.

But one thing is for sure that manufacturers for laptop screen are staying away from the screens like Flexiview IPS for laptops due to the small profit margin. And right now the LCD supply is larger than the demand, and many large manufacturers are slowing down their production and cutting future production for the foreseeable future. More money to be made in the large TV screens business.

You probably are using the last Flexiview screen for a long time, before some new cheaper display technology takes over or something.

[Crunch]

Yea, that has been the consensus when IBM/Lenovo discontinued the IPS screens with the T60p widescreen version.

I think the upgrades I've made so far to my machine, as well as the ones that are still outstanding, all will last me well into next year, if not even all the way into 2010.

So the technology, while it's been unavailable for a while now, may very well come back (or something similar at least) before I upgrade to my next laptop. I'm not worried about it anymore, as a few folks here have convinced me to get a dock with the DVI port, and an external widescreen monitor. I already have the dock, and a lot of people like the Thinkvision L220x, so I will likely ust get one of those. Alternatively, I might as well get a big 50+" HDTV and use the dock to connect to it. I'm fine with watching movies on this gorgeous screen.

[cad3]

Something seems to be true about the larger displays, since Hydis recently introduced the HV320WX1 - which is a 105% color gamut,

Which color gamut? sRGB? Adobe? ProPhoto? Somehow I'm thinking it is sRGB or a small gamut and that is giving them their claim of 105%.

[Crunch]

Is it still true that Hydis does make the best LCD's, period? Not just notebook screens, but large-size HDTV's, and monitors??

[erik]

Something seems to be true about the larger displays, since Hydis recently introduced the HV320WX1 - which is a 105% color gamut,

Which color gamut? sRGB? Adobe? ProPhoto? Somehow I'm thinking it is sRGB or a small gamut and that is giving them their claim of 105%.

none of the above.   it's 105% of NTSC.   LCD TV panels aren't measured in any other gamut.