Display issues, Intel graphics driver issues

[setspeed]

I've recently got hold of a second hand T410 as a replacement for my T41p. I have to say I'm slightly disappointed with the machine... The palmrest was creaky on both sides but I managed to fix that by inserting cardboard underneath it. The whole thing is just not a sturdy and solid as the T41p. The screen flexes at the bottom when you press it. The mute/volume/power button actions feel a bit cheap. Not a good first impression.

Anyway, those things aside, I have a couple of other issues. First off, although the panel has high brightness, the display contrast and viewing angles are shockingly poor. I use the laptop to watch movies quite a lot, and I'm hoping there is a better panel I can get for it than the one I have? It needs replacing anyway, since it has a deep gouge out of it near the bottom, and I bought it cheaply because of this reason. And at 1280x800 it's a bit too low-res for my liking anyway.
I gather there are a few different panels used in this model, can anyone suggest which is the best for contrast/viewing angles?

I would try and adjust the display settings a bit, but this leads on to my next problem:
When using the Intel HD graphics driver, the computer just crashes every hour. Looking at the Event viewer shows constant driver failures, like every minute, until eventually the display just goes black and then struggles trying to redraw the windows, and eventually after a few minutes of this I have to reboot the computer. Either that, or it just blue screens.
I know it's a problem with the driver since I'm now just using the generic driver that comes in Win 7 and it's absolutely fine - no crashing, and no problems recorded in the Event logs. Presumably this rules out any sort of hardware failure and so it would be pointless for me to send the machine to Lenovo to try and fix?
EDIT: I think I have now resolved this by ignoring the Lenovo-provided driver from System Update, and getting a more recent one directly from the Intel site. Seems to working fine, no crashes and no errors in the event logs

My final gripe is the speakers. I thought the speakers on my T41p were pretty poor, but this is a whole new level of hollow, tinny sound. I suppose that buying a business machine for multimedia use probably wasn't the best idea in the world, but I really liked the build quality of my old IBM Thinkpad, and assumed that that would be carried on by Lenovo, and that any shortcomings that 7yr old machine had would've been addressed in later years.

[TTY]

What type/model is your ThinkPad? You find the type/model on the bottom of the notebook, it's a seven character code.

What operating system do you use? Is it the original image, which was installed by Lenovo, or has the OS been installed by a user?

[setspeed]

It's a 2537-DQ8, dual booting Win7 Pro 64 (not a system image, clean install from upgrade media) and Linux Mint 12. It originally ran Win7 Pro 32.

[TTY]

If the Intel graphics driver acts up, i suspect that Windows might not have been installed correctly. I never used upgrade media myself, but if i remember correctly, upgrade media that are provided by Lenovo, consist of at least two discs - one OS disc and one disc for drivers and applications. I would suppose that installing Windows 7, using both discs, would result in a correct Windows 7 installation.

If you didn't use the Lenovo-provided drivers and applications disc, you might want to look at the instructions that the Access Help Online User Guide offers for installing Windows 7. If you don't have that user guide on the notebook already, it's available at Lenovo's support site:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... MIGR-74376

It's a program that has to be installed. It should contain instructions on how to install Windows 7 on your notebook. I believe that the order, in which additional drivers and applications are installed, is important. Some software, such as the Intel Chipset Software - Lenovo calls it Intel Chipset Support - and the System Interface Driver - it's part of a driver package called Hotkey Features Integration - needs to be installed at a very early stage. The Access Help Online User Guide should have all the information on this. You might have to re-install Windows.

[jayton4]

As far as the speakers go, it is not only the ThinkPads that have declined in quality over the years. With maybe just a couple exceptions, all of the newest consumer-level laptops have really crappy speakers, too. They just don't make them like they used to

The display on my T410 is a 1440x900, which is quite nice for my standards. The viewing angles seem to be a lot better than the 1280x800 screen on the T410s. I do not have a T410 with 1280x800 around to compare to.

I have the creaking noise on the left side of the palm rest. I will be doing the card board thing soon enough.

[setspeed]

The display on my T410 is a 1440x900, which is quite nice for my standards. The viewing angles seem to be a lot better than the 1280x800 screen on the T410s. I do not have a T410 with 1280x800 around to compare to.

Could you do me a favour and run Moninfo on your T410? I'd like to know the exact model of your LCD panel. If I don't just sell the thing, then I'm toying with the idea of replacing the LCD because it has some damage and I bought it cheap anyway because of this.
If your LCD is decent then I'm hoping it agrees with some other info I've found online that the best 1440x900 panel for this laptop is an LGPhillips one (don't have the exact number with me now at work).
I'd really appreciate it if you could

[setspeed]

@TTY - thanks for that, I will bear it in mind should I need to reinstall the OS again, but the Intel driver from their website seems to have solved the problem, for now.

[jayton4]

Just to warn you, I may not be as picky as others when I describe my screen as good. Here is the moninfo on it:


Monitor
Model name............... „‡00 6 [*CP437]
Windows description...... ThinkPad Display 1440x900 „‡00 6 [*CP437]
Manufacturer............. Lenovo
Plug and Play ID......... LEN4036
Data string.............. LTN141BT09001
Serial number............ n/a
Manufacture date......... 2009, ISO week 0
Filter driver............ Monitor
-------------------------
EDID revision............ 1.3
Input signal type........ Digital
Color bit depth.......... Undefined
Display type............. RGB color
Screen size.............. 300 x 190 mm (14.0 in)
Power management......... Standby, Suspend, Active off/sleep
Extension blocs.......... None
-------------------------
DDC/CI................... n/a

Color characteristics
Default color space...... Non-sRGB
Display gamma............ 2.20
Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.577 - Ry 0.338
Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.310 - Gy 0.563
Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.158 - By 0.157
White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
Range limits............. Not available
GTF standard............. Not supported
Additional descriptors... None
Preferred timing......... Yes
Native/preferred timing.. 1440x900p at 60Hz
Modeline............... "1440x900" 114.060 1440 1488 1520 2044 900 903 909 930 -hsync -vsync
Detailed timing #1....... 1440x900p at 50Hz
Modeline............... "1440x900" 114.060 1440 1488 1520 2204 900 903 909 1035 -hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported

Report information
Date generated........... 1/3/2012
Software revision........ 2.60.0.972
Data source.............. Registry-Active
Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

Raw data
00,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,00,30,AE,36,40,00,00,00,00,00,13,01,03,80,1E,13,78,EA,E5,95,93,56,4F,90,28,
28,50,54,00,00,00,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,8E,2C,A0,5C,52,84,1E,30,30,20,
36,00,2F,BE,10,00,00,19,8E,2C,A0,FC,52,84,87,30,30,20,36,00,2F,BE,10,00,00,19,00,00,00,0F,00,95,
0A,32,95,0A,28,16,09,00,4C,A3,42,54,00,00,00,FE,00,4C,54,4E,31,34,31,42,54,30,39,30,30,31,00,F0

[setspeed]

Thanks, I'll check up on that part number when I get home, although I seem to remember my current panel is an LTN number, making yours a Samsung like mine.
My main issue is the uneveness of it, even when looking directly at the screen (even with the laptop at eye level), there is a HUGE difference in contrast and lighting between the middle and the top/bottom of the sceen. It's pretty much nearly impossible to watch a movie on it. Maybe I got particularly unlucky with my LCD :-/

[TTY]

... I will bear it in mind should I need to reinstall the OS again, but the Intel driver from their website seems to have solved the problem, for now.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to install the Intel Chipset Device Software after other drivers have been installed. This is from the readme-file from Intel's support site:

" It is recommended that the Intel(R) Chipset Device Software
be installed onto the target system prior to the
installation of other drivers.
....
....
This software is designed for the latest Service packs
releases of above operating systems."

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/20019/eng/readme.txt

I suspect that installing software in the wrong order can cause any amount of problems.