Thinkpads Forum

Hi,
I´m not a photographer, but like many others on this forum I love/prefer decent screens in terms of color accuracy and image clarity. So, I was wondering whether the differences between the W500 WSXGA+ and W700 WUXGA screens can be considered that noticeable (I suppose in favor of the W700 screen) for/by a non-photographer that one would be willing to get a W700 monster (aside from screen size and pixel density, aside from the other hardware differences and provided 17'' aren´t that much of a problem).

Although not my cup of tea by any means, W700's WUXGA LCD is as good as it gets these days for non-tablet LCDs...

My $0.02 only...

George, thanks for the opinion! I guess I might then start considering a 17'' laptop soon...Not to mention that this seems to be the only way nowadays to get some decent vertical space on a laptop...

Before you buy go and look at a 17" laptop so you can see just how big it is! I went back to a W500

And the W700 is definitely on the bigger side of 17" laptops!

I have recently bought two t61p's with the WSXGA+ and WUXGA displays plus a W700 WUGXA. I also have a t61p with the UXGA boe-hydis IPS screen.
I got samsung screens in both t61p's by the way, and WSXGA+ one was exchanged under warranty because of a fading back light.
In regards to viewing angles and contrast, the worst one is the WSXGA+. However it is somewhat brighter than both the WUXGA t61p and the IPS t60p.
The UXGA t61p isnt half bad, but it is too dim and WUXGA on 15" makes text too small with native resolution/DPI settings.
The W700 is one h... of a machine - I regret that I was put off by fear of its size and weight for so long, before I took the chance and bought one. The screen is fantastic - color depth is quite a bit better than old IPS panels, viewing angles are fine and with the built in calibrator you'll get rid of the annoying "blue/cool colorcast" that most panels emits today.
Also, the antireflective coating of the display is nothing short of fabulous. I would describe it as 66% matte and 33% "glossy" - and completely transparrent - no trace of annoying silvering sparkles that I was plaqued with on both the WUXGA t61p but also a SXGA+ IPS t60 in the past. The mix between glossy and matte takes out the worst reflections but still gives color vibrance and nice deep blacks.

The W700 obviously wont work in busses, planes or other crowded places - but it is very comfortable to have on the lap in the couch - plenty of rest for the hands, good balance - but you'll need to adapt to the off center keyboard and trackpoint.

Also , if it matters to you , the w700 not only look like Hummer of laptops, but also feels like it - except for the keyboard which feels flimsy on the right side, it is as tough as the A21 and A31 from the past - definately sturdier than everything I have had in between.

Hi San
Your thoughts about the W700 are very useful.
I'm a little afraid about its size but,for me, the most important is the height of the palmrest.
May be the incoming Calpella W710 will be thinner !?

I opened up the W700 yesterday to exchange the keyboard with one of the old "non-flexing" models. The roll cage construction is very impressive, but I doubt that they will be able to make it much thinner if they keep the enourmous footprint, without sacrificing overall stability of the construction.
I am not bothered by the palmrest height at all - its a very comfortable and ergonomic machine to use on the table or on the lap.
In contrast, I briefly had a Macbook Pro unibody 15" that wrecked my wrists in a matter of days. The (otherwise excellent) touchpad forced me to twist my right hand to reach it plus the sharp edge of the aluminium case would get very annoying very soon.

I have no reservations about recommending the beast except maybe for price.
I'll use mine for software delopment, photo and video editing and music production, so the 4 core extreme cpu, 1gb fx3700m and fantastic display will give me some real benefit that simply will leave any other choice of laptop in the dust.
Also, beeing a recent "SSD convert" , it is invaluable to have a larger traditional "data disk" permanently onboard.

Hi San
"...if they keep the enourmous footprint..."
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No matter, for me, the footprint'n the weight (it's a 17') coz I put it in a suitcase ....and I'm strong enough to carry some Kgs
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"...The (otherwise excellent) touchpad forced me to twist my right hand to reach it plus the sharp edge of the aluminium case would get very annoying very soon..."
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The TP shape is very comfortable with their broken edges (on the contrary of MacBooks & HP EliteBook 8730 )
How high is the palmrest ?
Is your SSD not limited by SATA 150 ?
I'm waiting for the W710 specs .
Have a nice day ,San

not sure .. but I did read somewhere in this forum ;
about a 'substiture keyboard' from another thinkpad , that fits W700

My W700 , for me the keyboard is not a bother , as often I use wireless input devices. but I do agree , keybaord and few minor things they ought to fix in W710 coming up - lets hope so!!!

cheers!

ausmike wrote:keybaord and few minor things they ought to fix in W710 coming up - lets hope so!!!
cheers!

Hi Ausmike
Being the Lenovo flagship we can hope those improvments on the incoming W 710 !?
Can you show me your raid benchmarks with CrystalDiskMark 2.2 ?
Thanks a lot

Rochefort wrote:How high is the palmrest ?
Is your SSD not limited by SATA 150 ?
I'm waiting for the W710 specs .
Have a nice day ,San

its about 2 cm (less than one inch) - its no problem though because of the palm rest beeing "deep" enough to support your palms and wrists at all times... hard to explain, but it is really a joy to use ergonomically.
The SSD runs full speed SATA300 in the W series. The stupid 150 cap, was on t61p. Not really much difference in real life speed though.
If you can wait do it. Even if the only real improvement is the i7 it will be well worth it - looks like a killer CPU.

its about 2 cm (less than one inch)
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Perfect
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hard to explain, but it is really a joy to use ergonomically.
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I understand coz I love big notebooks like the A30 one of my most beloved TP alongside a T600 1998 bought after a boxy 380 !!!
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The SSD runs full speed SATA300 in the W series
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Fine
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Not really much difference in real life speed though.
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I disagree coz I've an Intel X25E SLC for the OS and a 128 GB Falcon SSD MLC for the datas and the difference is obvious .
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If you can wait do it. Even if the only real improvement is the i7 it will be well worth it - looks like a killer CPU.
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I'll wait for the next news about the incoming W710.
Anyway it fits me like yet it is .
It's the 17',the digitizer and the color calibrator which make me dreaming .
According some reviews,Arrandale permits a thinner case...wait'n see but my next notebook will be a W7**
Cheers

umm......I be desperatly waiting for i7 from Lenovo ,,,, purely as workstion repacement purpose....

The 'latest' HP with i7(supposed to be i7/920 Equiv),,,let me tell you with the SAME TWIN SSD ( intel 256;sin raid) its still seems slower than the Q series W700..... Am sending it back after some testing!

Will do some benchmarks soon ,,,,, as soon as load MSQL database etc ,,,and both laptops have same Apps, memory, and SSDs etc to get a good /decent idea of Apple2Apple compare....

I Still think OSX with W700 is the best solution for "colour" sensetive people AND in my view "speed" is relative on laptops,,,,,,and if speed is needed I would jump on a WORKSTAION, 4 true BURLY thruputs !!

What other keyboard fits, and did it make a big improvement? I'm not finding the keyboard too bad, but it seems like it has some flex. Maybe it needs extra support, but perhaps it just lacks stiffness. Is there a stiffer keyboard?

A T6x/R6x/Z6x keyboard will fit. The keypad is separate from the keyboard on W700.