Is the Samsung T60 WS LCD that bad?

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dav1129 · #1 Post by **dav1129** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:36 am

Hi I'm in Australia and have as good as committed to buying a WS T60 from a US seller on eBay but after googling the model number read the posts here about T60 owners who are unhappy with the Samsung LCDs, have determined that the T60 I am about to buy has a Samsung LCD and unfortunately not it would seem the preferred LG Philips LCD.
1. Would anyone like to comment perhaps favourably about their 15.4" Samsung T60 LCD?
2. Are the Samsung LCD's really going to disappoint; or
3. Is the LG Philips LCD that much better?
On one hand I don't want to or can't spend the time to find another WS T60 or seller prepared to ship to Australia and on the other don't to end up obsessing over with a dodgy LCD? Any replies in the next few hours would be appreciated as I need otherwise to proceed with purchasing the T60 with Samsung LCD.
Thanks

Chrispy · #2 Post by **Chrispy** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:20 am

I believe that Samsung LCD is also used in the MBP. I had a few MBPs from October - November and all of them had some pretty major backlighting issues. I'm not sure if this is as noticeable on the T60 as it was the MBP, but in my experience those screens are not very good.

ms · #3 Post by ms » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:34 am

Sorry this may be a bit offtopic but how do I find out the manufacturer of the LCD in my T60p without disassembly?

#4 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:31 pm

what are MBP's..?

there is, or was, a site on the ibm site that you could enter your machine serial number and get all the component info..

start here and read..

http://www-304.ibm.com/jct01004c/systems/support/pc/

#5 Post by **ryengineer** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:36 pm

BillMorrow wrote:what are MBP's..?

there is, or was, a site on the ibm site that you could enter your machine serial number and get all the component info..

start here and read..

http://www-304.ibm.com/jct01004c/systems/support/pc/

MBP= Macbook Pro

I have two T60's one with LG-Philips Widescreen 15.4'' LCD screen and other with Samsung 15.0. The former is better.

dav1129 · #6 Post by **dav1129** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:44 pm

Thank you to all who posted a reply.
Unfortunately none were in time to dissuade me from buying a T60 WS (87414BU) which unfortunately has a Samsung LCD.
Unfortunately I am in Australia and finding a US site or eBay seller who will ship to Australia AND accept PayPal is fairly difficult. I am reluctant to use Western Union and so forth. So I decided to take the chance on the Samsung LCD as I had already invested a lot of time online and was reluctant to start all over again.
I hope it won't be something I overly live to regret.
I wonder if anyone would care to comment on my chances of getting Lenovo to replace the LCD if it is really that bad (disappointing) and how Lenovo's criteria might apply to an LCD which is perhaps working but has the faults many here have been reporting?
Thanks again.
In case you're wondering why I didn't buy a ThinkPad from Lenovo in Australia - they tend to be very corporate driven and I am a sole trader/Thinkpad fan without especially deep pockets. Morover the configurations offered here are always about 6 months or more behind the US and even then much more expensive. For example, high resolution model WS t60s have only just been introduced and about twice the price I have just paid.
But they do have a repair centre in Sydney

dav1129 · #7 Post by **dav1129** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:54 pm

ms wrote:Sorry this may be a bit offtopic but how do I find out the manufacturer of the LCD in my T60p without disassembly?

No it isn't really but it has been described in other threads by others more competent than myself. You need your model and serial number to look up the part number here

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

The LCD part number should appear in a table of other parts. Take I think, the FRU (Field Replacement Unit) number and search for it on any ibm.com page. This search will throw up hopefully only one but perhaps a few pages. Follow the link which best suits and then Control F to find the part number in a list of LCD components - it will either be a Samsung or LG Philips LCD.

#8 Post by **ryengineer** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:03 pm

dav1129 wrote:Thank you to all who posted a reply.
Unfortunately none were in time to dissuade me from buying a T60 WS (87414BU) which unfortunately has a Samsung LCD.
Unfortunately I am in Australia and finding a US site or eBay seller who will ship to Australia AND accept PayPal is fairly difficult. I am reluctant to use Western Union and so forth. So I decided to take the chance on the Samsung LCD as I had already invested a lot of time online and was reluctant to start all over again.
I hope it won't be something I overly live to regret.
I wonder if anyone would care to comment on my chances of getting Lenovo to replace the LCD if it is really that bad (disappointing) and how Lenovo's criteria might apply to an LCD which is perhaps working but has the faults many here have been reporting?
Thanks again.
In case you're wondering why I didn't buy a ThinkPad from Lenovo in Australia - they tend to be very corporate driven and I am a sole trader/Thinkpad fan without especially deep pockets. Morover the configurations offered here are always about 6 months or more behind the US and even then much more expensive. For example, high resolution model WS t60s have only just been introduced and about twice the price I have just paid.
But they do have a repair centre in Sydney

hey, its not that bad and come on its still Thinkpad T60, no matter what kind of LCD it has.

Also, when I got my first T60 (with samsung's lcd) I loved it because I had nothing to compare with. Trust me you'll love it too.

pianowizard · #9 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:06 pm

Are Samsung's 14.1" LCDs supposed to be inferior as well? My 14.1" T60 has a Samsung LCD and it looks as good as any of the >20 other Thinkpads I have used. It's bright, crisp, and the colors look natural.

#10 Post by **ryengineer** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:12 pm

pianowizard wrote:Are Samsung's 14.1" LCDs supposed to be inferior as well? My 14.1" T60 has a Samsung LCD and it looks as good as any of the >20 other Thinkpads I have used. It's bright, crisp, and the colors look natural.

In general if you compare Samsung with LG-Philips, it is.

dav1129 · #11 Post by **dav1129** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:39 pm

ryengineer wrote:hey, its not that bad and come on its still Thinkpad T60, no matter what kind of LCD it has.

Also, when I got my first T60 (with samsung's lcd) I loved it because I had nothing to compare with. Trust me you'll love it too.

@ryengineer, thanks so much. it's difficult to assess how the perception of another might compare to one's own or how critical there are being.

But I have only ever owned ThinkPads (not even ever a desktop). Starting with a 365XD, a 600X and finally a T23 whose LCD has finally failed completely this will be ThinkPad number four. So I guess I am basing my expectation like a junky wanting the experience to bigger and better than before.

nonetheless yours was the reassurance I was looking for before I went ahead and paid. thanks again

jlr18 · #12 Post by **jlr18** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:18 pm

Chrispy wrote:I believe that Samsung LCD is also used in the MBP

Really? Then that would explain why I noticed it there too... my uni store swore that "Apple has their own exclusive parts", but that sounded quite fishy to me.

Well... I'm returning my T60 for a refund, now it's just down to trying the Asus W3J or getting the T60 off buy.com and praying for a different panel!

dav1129 · #13 Post by **dav1129** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:47 pm

jlr18 wrote:I'm returning my T60 for a refund, now it's just down to trying the Asus W3J or getting the T60 off buy.com and praying for a different panel!

@jlr18 so you have T60 with a Samsung screen? If so, could you please describe the problems or inadequacies and how bad they really are?

I have one such T60 winging its way to Australia and I just can;t stand the suspense that I perhaps should have ordered another. Thanks

#14 Post by **ryengineer** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:58 pm

jlr18 wrote:Note from Moderator: Snipped overly long, nested quote.

MBP has alot of display problems lately, but I won't solely blame the lcd screen.

dav1129 wrote:Note from Moderator: Snipped overly long, nested quote.

You're very welcome.

jlr18 · #15 Post by **jlr18** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:53 pm

dav1129 wrote: @jlr18 so you have T60 with a Samsung screen? If so, could you please describe the problems or inadequacies and how bad they really are?

Well, the brightness is pretty low, but the real killer is this "sparkly" finish (?) on the 15" matte screens that make it look like there is very faint soot on the screen - combine that with the dimness and "white" looks more like "gritty grey". The best descriptions I have seen are in this MBP thread (not the pixelation/x1600 issue). Also, there is some uneven backlighting and leakage near the bottom, but that's tolerable (for me; it wasn't for others who returned theirs). I can't say for sure if it's a Samsung/LG issue, but unofficial evidence from these boards shows the biggest complainers tend to have Samsung panels and the satisfied people seem to have LGs... it probably won't be a concern for you if you don't have color dependent work, or don't have to stare at it for hours. I just happen to be annoyed because while I expect a matte screen to be washed out compared to a glossy, and a Thinkpad to be dimmer than a Sony, I don't expect any new $1800 display to appear "grittier" than my old matte Dell...

tvsjr · #16 Post by **tvsjr** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:51 pm

I have a T60p widescreen with the Samsung panel. It really doesn't bother me.

JLR18 - go into the BIOS and increase the backlight from low to high. The T60pWS units ship with the backlight limited while on battery... you'll lose battery life (I get about 3.5hrs with a 9-cell) but you'll be able to turn the screen all the way up. I do not have the "gritty grey" issue.

I do have some backlight leakage along the bottom, but it's quite tolerable.

I have a 2623DDU 15" UXGA IPS as well as the 8741C4U WSXGA+... I prefer the 15" UXGA, but the WSXGA+ is still better than most other screens on the market. And, it's still a T60.

mikesugar · #17 Post by **mikesugar** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:59 am

ryengineer wrote:
I have two T60's one with LG-Philips Widescreen 15.4'' LCD screen and other with Samsung 15.0. The former is better.

Can you describe how it is better?

I had a 87414BU that I sent back because I couldn't stand the screen, even though I loved everything else about the machine. I subsequently found out it had the Samsung screen by looking up the serial number. I would really love to have a widescreen, but the samsung had bad colors, and very bad off axis performance.

The biggest problem I had with the Samsung was that the brightness changed in disorienting ways during normal head movements in your workspace.

Does the LG have these problems and to what degree?

Is the picture stable during normal head movements ?

What are the model numbers of your two machines and which has the LG / Samsung?

Does anyone know how to get the LG screen? Is it based on model # or luck of the draw?

Thanks.

#18 Post by **ryengineer** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:47 am

mikesugar wrote:Note from Moderator: Snipped overly long, nested quote.

It's more sharper, crisper and a bit more brighter. If you compare the two LG wins by some numbers.

I have never experienced any head movement problem, no matter where I move the display and colors stay the same. Even another person can read from my angle of writing. [Talking about LG panel]

The model I have with LG panel is 8744-5BU and the other with Samsung is 1953-D7U.

You should know the serial number of T60 or any other Thinkpad in order to get the one with LG panel.

Is the Samsung T60 WS LCD that bad?

Is the Samsung T60 WS LCD that bad?

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