Color Accuracies on the Z60M

[BuddyWill]

I never had a need for color accuracy until I started building my website. After countless hours hashing away code and photoshop'ping my graphics and choosing color schemes through trial and error.....I finally completed the website with full of glee and a great sense of accomplishment. I launch and go live.

My very first website left me with much joy. But when I recalled the first time I visited my website from a friend's desktop LCD monitor, I was nearly BLINDED!

Not so much in the sense of design integrity and aesthetics, or course, but in the significant variations in color rendition from what was displayed through my Z60M's monitor versus what was displayed through a desktop LCD monitor. What a HUGE difference!

I purchased my Z60M with a ATI Radeon Mobility X300 video card and the best monitor option (1650x1050) and would figure that this would not even be an issue but it is. What suggestions does anyone have for me to rectify this?

A color calibration tool would not work as there are no settings and features to change (contrast, RGB values...etc). Am I stuck with a laptop that renders color poorly by comparison? ATI has a utility called "Catalyst Controller" for my video card but even that has limitations. Is this a fault for laptops in particular or is it specific to the video card???

[dr_st]

What brand/model of desktop LCD monitor did you use that left you so unhappy? I would try the website on multiple monitors before concluding that it is the Z60m that renders colors poorly.

[BuddyWill]

My office has about 5 LCD panels ranging from Mac's 24" to Sony's 21" to Dell's 19".

We do CAD work so color is not absolute but I also use my office pc's for my prosumer photography and now for my own website. I am inclined to feel that the colors are slightly off but mostly is a birghtness issue. I found that my ATi vid card does in fact have its own softeware "Catalyst Controller" that allows me to tweak individual color options and are currently awaiting for my color calibration tool to come in so I can start work on this.

By comparison, the laptop looks grimmly dim even though I read reviews saying that the Z60's display was 'bright' before buying 2 years ago. perhaps for notebook standards? This is my first laptop.