nNeed help deciding on screen for a new T61P

[chadwick02]

Hey everyone,
Great site! I’ve been doing a lot of reading here lately.
I am going to be ordering a T61P within the week. I am fairly confident on what specs I want the computer built with, but I am having a very tough time with the screen resolution. I’ve been on an acer laptop for the last year with a 15.4” screen running at 1280x800. This is just not enough work space for me. I need a higher resolution than that, which is the sole reason for buying a new computer. I am having a very hard time deciding between WSXGA at 1680x1050 and WUXGA at 1920x1200. My gut instinct says go with the WUXGA (bigger is better after all!), but I am afraid that everything on the screen will just be too small. The WSXGA will be a significant improvement over what im running now (WXGA), but im afraid it just wont be big enough.

Before I had the acer, I had a sony viao with a 16” screen that ran 1600x1200 and I LOVED that screen. It was awesome. Going from that to the acer (1280x800) was painful at best. I just don’t have enough work space on the acer screen to do 12 things at once.

I realize that if I get a WUXGA I can always set the resolution lower, but I have read that running a screen at anything lower than its native resolution will degrade image quality?
I also realize (duhh) that you can change the settings in windows to increase text size, window size…etc. In that case maybe there is absolutely no disadvantage in going with the largest maximum resolution? The extra $200 it costs for the higher res screen is not a problem. I am building this machine to last me for quite a while, so I don’t care if it costs a little extra now.

I’ve looked at the various posts that have screen shots of laptops running different resolutions. Its just really hard to tell from those pictures (especially on my 1280x800 screen that wont fit the whole image to begin with) what looks the best. I’ve also done some looking at local retail stores, but no one has got a laptop running anything near 1920x1200.

I am in my mid 20’s, and do have good eyes. I will primarily be using the machine for excel, word processing, email/internet, some photo editing and maybe a little movie editing. I do not plan on doing much gaming or movie watching.

So, for those of you who are running either WSXGA (1680x1050) or WUXGA (1920x1200) what are your likes and dislikes about the resolution you run for every-day computing? Resolution aside, is there any other differences (manufacturer, quality, brightness, crispness…etc) between these displays that would influence my decision?

Thanks!
Chad

[eecon]

Please see my comments at this nearby thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=56938

[chadwick02]

Thanks,
I did see your thread. Some good info in there, but I wanted to do a poll and get some oppinions on the actual screen.

I spent hours yesterday driving to 3 different computer retail stores. NONE of them had any computer with a 15.4" screen running anything higher than 1280x800! Not even on the higher-prices models. A few of the high end models had 17" screens, but the resolution on thoes was only something like 1440x900. To me that seems pretty poor for such a large screen!


Anyone else running 1680x1050 or 1920x1200? How do you like it?

[pianowizard]

It really depends on how good your eyes are. I've used or at least played with virtually all screen sizes and pixel densities, ranging from the the X20's 12.1" 800x600 (82.6 dots per inch) to the Toshiba Libretto U100's 7.2" 1280x768 (207.2 DPI!), and have found the 15.4" 1920x1200 (147.0 DPI) to be a perfect balance between screen size, image size and real estate. I upgraded from a 15.0" 1600x1200 A31p (133.3 DPI) to a 15.4" 1920X1200 Dell Inspiron 6000 and it took about a month for me to adjust. After adjusting to it, I felt very comfortable using it. I was "greedy" and further upgraded from that Dell to my current R50p's (two of them -- see my sig) with 15.0" 2048x1536 (170.7 DPI); it has been 9 months and I still haven't fully gotten used to how small things appear. To overcome this problem, I hook up each R50p to an external monitor -- a 20" 1600x1200 at work an a 20" 1680x1050 at home -- and view things that are hard to see on these external monitors.

[tuan_nguyen]

I agree with the OP that it's difficult finding new Laptops at the store with anything other than 1200x800.
Sure you can go online and custom order something with higher screen resolution, but this is a time where you really need to see it in person to really help the person making the purchase.

I think the highest screen resolution 15.4" laptop I saw at a store like BestBuy is an Asus G1S-B1 that had 1680x1050.

I was lucky enough to found a used T60P with 15.4" IPS Flexview screen running at 1600x1200. I think I have decent eyes, but I wouldn't want to go with 1920x1200 on a 15.4". 1600x1200 is getting small on a 15.4"

I suggest finding an Asus G1S at your local BestBuy or Costco to check out how the screen look at 1680x1050 on a 15.4" if they have one on display. 1920x1200 is really better suited for 17".

Hope that help.

[SnakeJW]

I just happened to have 4 t61p on hand, 3 with WUXGA and one with WSXGA. I have to WSXGA is way better than WUXGA, it's brighter and the fonts are much more readable.

[chadwick02]

Thanks guys.
Im over at a buddies house right now (on his computer actually), and noticed that his laptop, with a 15.4" screen, is running 1680x1050. I like the resolution alot. I would like to go even higher if I could, but I think it would just be too small.
Thanks for the comparison in brightness of the two!
Anyone one else running either res and have imput? I think im going to order it tomorrow...

[mdblanton]

I have the WSXGA running at 1680 x 1050 on my 15.4" T61p and have been very happy with it. At work I have it on a dock running dual display along side a 19" LCD at 1024 x 768. Any higher resolution is hard for me to read (icons/fonts too small) from the distance I sit from the monitors.

[TheCynical1]

Like mdblanton, I have the WSXGA screen (specifically the Samsung panel) on my T61p. I like this panel, although it does have a bit of backlight bleed on the bottom, however in actual use it's relatively unnoticeable.

Personally, the WUXGA screen is a little too high-res for a 15.4" screen, and from the reports I've seen around the web, it's a bit dim, as well.

[chadwick02]

Thanks guys!
I just ordered a T61P tonight with a WSXGA (1680x1050).

I just missed out on a coupon code that expired yesterday . I'm sure if I had waited there will be one coming out in the near future, but I need the machine badly, so waiting any longer inst worth a small savings. I was able to get a pretty hefty discount on it from the purchase program.


Thanks again!

Chad

[eecon]

Like mdblanton, I have the WSXGA screen (specifically the Samsung panel) on my T61p. I like this panel, although it does have a bit of backlight bleed on the bottom, however in actual use it's relatively unnoticeable.

Personally, the WUXGA screen is a little too high-res for a 15.4" screen, and from the reports I've seen around the web, it's a bit dim, as well.

How do we determine which manufacturer made our 15.4" 1680x1050 screen? I have an external 22" WS Samsung and know exactly what you mean about the backlight bleed along the edges, but I do not notice this on my T61 15.4" LCD.

Thanks!