Wide Screen Thinkpads

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jank0003 · #31 Post by **jank0003** » Wed Nov 24, 2004 2:09 pm

If there were a thinkpad equivalent of the sony ultralight widescreen (keyboard and screen only ) I would definitely buy.

However I just bought a T41 which I expect will seem very huge 2 years from now...

66GTO · #32 Post by **66GTO** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 11:42 am

A 14.4" widescreen format Thinkpad could be done very nicely, and its footprint would be just about right. Not as large as the 15.4's but just
a bit nicer than the 14.1.

coolsilicon · #33 Post by **coolsilicon** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 3:35 pm

OK, and now for something completely different

What *I*'d like to see is a replacement for the -IMHO - aged XGA on 14.1"-displays. How about a 1280x960 (4:3!) 14.1" FlexView? That would be a nice upgrade, right? Well, I bet that one won't come. XGA on a 14.1" is a waste of space since the resoution is in fact to low - just IMHO of course..

saleen · #34 Post by **saleen** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 11:24 pm

I'm sure IBM will make a widescreen thinkpad. It's only a matter of time. Virtually all new notebooks are widescreen. It's true, there has been an illusion of larger workspaces when in fact most of the wide resolutions provide a much smaller space. That's why it's important to say that we want WUXGA on a 17" and 15.4" and WSXGA+ on 15.4" and smaller.

This has nothing to do with watching DVDs. I mean, sure it's better for watching DVDs but I want it for the aspect ratio. 1900 horizontal pixels mean easier side by side windows. If you don't like the wide asspect you can fill the left and right side of the screen with toolbars for quick access to things without diminishing the space that you are used to.

Also, widescreen leads to notebooks that use full size keyboards. If that's not a business need, I don't know what is.

It does have the downside of being wider and harder to use on airplanes and cramped spaces but most people use the X series for that.

My ideal thinkpads would be:

1: 17" WUXGA identical to the T4x series, just wider
2: 15.4" WSXGA+ tablet convertible

monty cantsin · #35 Post by **monty cantsin** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 8:17 am

saleen wrote:Also, widescreen leads to notebooks that use full size keyboards.

What do you mean by "full size"? According to the ISO definitions, even the small 12" X-Series machines already have a full-size full-stroke keyboard:

"ThinkPad X Series notebooks have alphanumeric typing keys that are spaced 18.5 mm vertically and 18.2 mm horizontally, which is defined as full-sized by ISO/IEC 15412 and key displacement (stroke) is 2.5 mm, which is defined as full stroke by ISO/IEC 15412."

http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/fnotes.html#go11

Elhabash · #36 Post by **Elhabash** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 9:10 am

"full size"=(In this case) with numeric keypad. This would be nice indeed. You don't always have an USB pad with you...

Ghostrider · #37 Post by **Ghostrider** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 9:24 am

What you mean is 102keys instead of 84keys.

But both at "full size"

saleen · #38 Post by **saleen** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 3:36 am

yes yes, a keyboard with number pad is what I meant by full size.

Picture a 1" thick thinkpad with a 17" UXGA, a 104 key keyboard, and the fastest Pentium M. That's what I want.

http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... &storeId=1
It's basically the same as the T42 keyboard but with 104 keys.

Ghostrider · #39 Post by **Ghostrider** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:45 am

That's 15.5" wide... Too much for me.

jeroenp · #40 Post by **jeroenp** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 11:29 am

Albert wrote:Do any of you know if now that almost every other laptop maker has come out with wide screen laptops, IBM will eventually follow suit?

Would you be interested in a 15.4" wuxga model?

Definitely. Having an IBM quality transportable with a 1920x1600 15.4" screen would be great!
Having those 20% pixels extra makes life so much easier when developing software...

--jeroen

Esteban · #41 Post by **Esteban** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 6:27 pm

Hello, I'm a Newbie-to-be to Thinkpads. Learning a lot from thinkpads.com. Thank you all!

I Googled ThinkPad T43 and found a web page from Asia that seemed to describe one. I started a new post: T43 details? where I asked for and received help translating the info.

In part it mentions a T50 widescreen, according to edmonton who translated and wrote:

>>> Probably in 2006, IBM will introduce wide screen T-series -- T50:

14.1 Widescreen
Yonah CPU (Dual core)
Calistoga Chipset (Including ICH7-M)
Built-in Mic and Camera
Advanced Li-Polymer battery
PCI-Express: miniPCI-Express, ExpressCard*2, SATA-II HDD
New ThinPad Port Replicator and Dock (support PCI Express)

Blah, blah, blah... <<<

Kenn · #42 Post by **Kenn** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:29 pm

saleen wrote: That's why it's important to say that we want WUXGA on a 17" and 15.4" and WSXGA+ on 15.4" and smaller.

This has nothing to do with watching DVDs. I mean, sure it's better for watching DVDs but I want it for the aspect ratio. 1900 horizontal pixels mean easier side by side windows. If you don't like the wide asspect you can fill the left and right side of the screen with toolbars for quick access to things without diminishing the space that you are used to.

Also, widescreen leads to notebooks that use full size keyboards. If that's not a business need, I don't know what is.

It does have the downside of being wider and harder to use on airplanes and cramped spaces but most people use the X series for that.

Actually, WSXGA+ on a 15.4" would in some ways be a downgrade for current 15" WUXGA t42 owners. I'd want WUXGA on 15.4" which would at least maintain parity with the 15" Dells.

It's also arguable that it would be EASIER to use a widescreen on a plane - since the form factor is lower and shallower, widescreen would be easier to place on a tray table at a usable viewing/typing angle (at the expense of having a place to set your drink).

There's a good argument for keeping 4:3 for "business" uses for the vast majority of users who use apps like MS Word full-screen, since widescreen results in even more gray space on the sides. People just need to learn how to multiitask and work with multiple windows

Wide is also not ideal for the many powerpoint users out there, though the argument can be made that that's an application just dying to go widescreen.

Personally, the whole wide/standard debate isn't ruffling my feathers much. I'll go with whatever t-series has the highest resolultion, but I also prefer having 1920 horizontal pixels for the added real estate (though I'd just as easily choose 1920x1440) and native HDTV output, though now I guess I am talking about wide for the sake of wide!

Myung · #43 Post by **Myung** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 11:04 pm

This is fun to read.

And, after all, why not? Unless widescreen thinkpads devalue the ibm brand image (and I don't think it will), aren't more choices better than less choices?

It would be fun to see what IBM can do with widescreens. I wonder what can be fit into the Dock that might come with widescreen thinkpads. ^^

beeblebrox · #44 Post by **beeblebrox** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:54 am

Widescreen definitely makes sense in business applications.

It helps keeping the format of powerpoint slides just to A4 and you don't have to switch between screen and paper layout.
Besides, with Windows Longhorn and its Desktop sidebar there is definitely some screen cutting on the right side, that's where the wide screen comes into play.

In addition, there is nothing better in word or acrobat than having 2 readible pages at once on the screen for formatting the layout and reading the contents.

In addition, a widescreen does not mean more weight und bulky size. A 15.4" widescreen has less display space than a 4:3 15" display, the notebook would just be more "paper-like" and fir better into samsonites.

saleen · #45 Post by **saleen** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 6:43 am

So what are the real business reasons for 4:3?

Kenn, I didn't think about that on a plane. I guess for jets it would make sense. I've had trouble with the seat back + the height of my laptop. I was thinking the wide machines would be a problem on smaller planes where the seats are really close together... but I think it would have to be a really wide machine for it to be a problem. A 17" wide notebook appears to be fine.

WUXGA on a 15.4" may be too small for me but I know lots of people in business who prefer it. As for business people who use Word... they will use whatever and probably aren't knowledgeable enough to know the difference... these are the same people who say widescreen gives them more space - not knowing it's the resolution not the aspect of the screen :0) They are also the same people who would trust IBM for business machines. Kind of a catch 22 I suppose. IBM makes business machines so if they made a widescreen it would instantly become a business machine :0).

It seems as though powerpoint users would love them b/c their screens would basically match the tvs they use in conference rooms. Business's by and large have switched to widescreen lcds and plasmas for conference rooms so whenever I see a powerpoint on these displays it's either vertical black bars or in panoramic mode. Kind of funny. Projectors are typically 4:3 I guess but I'd rather see projectors die off unless they can work in bright rooms.

Kenn · #46 Post by **Kenn** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:49 pm

Most companies I've seen still rely on projection systems for pp presentations, which are larger and more portable for most uses, and those are still 4:3. Matching a widescreen plasma makes sense, but I guess it doesn't really matter either way as long as the software supports the format (you could have bars across the sides or the top on your laptop, but nobody is looking at that.

Yeah, in the end it wouldn't make much difference for me whether my next machine was a widescreen or not. Either aspect ratio has distinct benefits, and in reality they're not at all incompatible with each other nor that big of a difference in the first place.

You're right in that most "business users" work in a single document full-screen and don't take advantage of widescreen (or 4:3 for that matter), but to each his own.

Just as a note, 4:3 UXGA allows me to run two 100% 8.5x11 pages in Word side by side, and without the useless white space of the margins, there's plenty of room for extra side palettes if necessary. I did this as well on 1024x768 at 75%. So I think the number of readable pages side by side can be looked at as a function of resolution and scale rather than widescreen/nonwidescreen, though I don't doubt that wide can give the impression of having more space.

davidspalding · #47 Post by **davidspalding** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:45 pm

Haha, looking at this thread a year later ... both the Z-series widescreen Thinkpads and a X41 TabletPC are reality this Christmas.

Thanksgiving indeed.

firestarter · #48 Post by **firestarter** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:25 pm

I have seen the Z series widescreen sitting along with the t-43 and the Z widescreen didn't look huge at all. It seemed really well built too. Is there a way of knowing which Z series model comes with the MAXBRITE (300nit) screen? I know it's not the high res 1680X1050.

flake · #49 Post by **flake** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:41 pm

I would absolutely love a wide screen for Illustrator and Photoshop work. Extra screen real estate is also quite convienient for sound editing/DJ applications and various programming and development tasks.

I think the extra size would rather suck on an airplane unless one had a first class ticket

flake · #50 Post by **flake** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:51 pm

firestarter wrote:[...] Is there a way of knowing which Z series model comes with the MAXBRITE (300nit) screen?

Looking in the tabook, instead of saying "WXGA" it would say "W MaxB".

firestarter · #51 Post by **firestarter** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:11 pm

Thanks Jason.

davidspalding · #52 Post by **davidspalding** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:33 pm

In the lab I was working in until recently, Z's were side by side with T4x, R's, etc. I can tell you that the screen does not seem "bigger." It's wider ... but frankly, I felt a little cramped. And, as I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere, the Windows keys on the otherwise conventional keyboard, interfered with where I was used to finding CTRL and ALT.

Since there are one or two ways that you can program the Windows keys with your Touchpad buttons, or areas of the Touch pad, who needs 'em?

If I was concerned with screen real estate, I'd get the 15" T43 or -42. I've seen one o' them 1600x 15" and it's kind of amazing.

Wide Screen Thinkpads

Would you buy a Widescreen thinkpad?

Re: Wide Screen Thinkpads

DVD watching and entertainment aside...

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