Question on T 400 screen display.....

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elazarus · #1 Post by **elazarus** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:17 pm

My T 43 14.1" motherboard died and so I am going to order a T400/500 this weekend using the coupons available.

My T43 has/had a 1024 x 768 XGA display with a 4:3 screen. I saw the thread suggesting the WXGA+ having much better resolution than the WXGA.

I use this for travel and around the house to get away from my desktop (ergonomics) and I think the 15.4" is too big and heavy for mobility...

My question is: Will the WXGA+ at 1440 x 900 be too small for someone who really does use reading glasses all the time? My desktop 24" is at 1920 x 1200 and I increase it 5%.

The 1024 was fine on the T43 although the display was not as sharp as I would prefer.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Elliot

#2 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:04 pm

I don't think you'd have any problem with WXGA+, the native font will be smaller though. The kicker with T400's is that in order to get LED back lighting you need to order WXGA+ anyway. You want the LED backlit LCD, believe me.

The choices are;

14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight, Camera [add $30.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight [add $30.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight, Camera [add $60.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight [add $80.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera [add $110.00]

comptiger5000 · #3 Post by **comptiger5000** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:14 pm

Your desktop monitor is 94 DPI, the WXGA+ laptop display would be 120. You would most likely have to up the font sizes, but you'd have to try it to be sure. The WXGA screen is 107 DPI, FWIW.

#4 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:20 pm

I think another bit of good advice would be to go to a local retailer and see for yourself. It doesn't have to be a Thinkpad to get a general idea of what WXGA+ looks like.

elazarus · #5 Post by **elazarus** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:27 pm

Great input.....I appreciate it.

Harry, that was too logical for me to think up.....good idea.

I just looked at my desktop monitor and it is 105% 101 DPI....My T43 is 107 DPI at 107%....

I don't mind increasing the DPI.....but I will go to Best Buy tomorrow and see if they have a 14.1" WXGA+

One other question.....I am pretty used to Win XP....is there any advantage to switching to Vista on this thinkpad?

Thank you all.

Elliot

#6 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:29 am

I just took a quick look through all of the 14.1" laptops at bestbuy.com and I didn't see any WXGA+ models. At least you can see what WXGA looks like.

elazarus · #7 Post by **elazarus** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:32 am

I was just at the BB website and all they have are "Price point" ad specials....so LCD backlight and WXGA+ are foreign to them.....

Next I will look up Fry's....

I am in Austin, TX and we are somewhat limited for multiple choices when shopping.

Elliot

seanax · #8 Post by **seanax** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:04 am

14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight, Camera [add $30.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight [add $30.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight, Camera [add $60.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight [add $80.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera [add $110.00]

hi
where to buy above stuff?

#9 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 6:51 am

seanax wrote: where to buy above stuff?

T400 Line at Lenovo.com

elazarus · #10 Post by **elazarus** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 1:49 am

I went to Fry's today and they did not have any WXGA+.

They all had WXGA on the 13/14/15" computers and in many cases the WXGA was small enough...so I am not sure about the WXGA+ on the 14.1

I looked online at the Thinkpad 15.1" and it goes from WXGA to WSXGA at 1600.....

They sure don't make it easy...especially if you want the LED.

Elliot

#11 Post by **Harryc** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 6:32 am

Well now that you have an idea of what WXGA looks like, the WXGA+ LCD is slightly taller and wider, and the font is slightly smaller. So you see more screen RealEstate, but at the cost of smaller font and icons. I can take a picture of the T400 I have here (and post it) if you want to give me an idea of a good website to visit for your purposes. Also, I found this size comparison chart that may help you.

elazarus · #12 Post by **elazarus** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 3:49 pm

Thank you Harry. That is very kind of you.

I am sitting here with my T43 (14.1) next to an HP zt (1 year older, much brighter and clearer and 15.4).

The IBM is a much better machine but the clarity of the anti-glare of the HP is so much greater. The HP has a Radeon 9200 and the T43 has a Radeo X300.

I have decided that with the WXGA+ in a 14.1 I can adjust the DPI (thanks to the link you provided) to make it work and make it work just right for me.

Now this may sound crazy...but I am trying to see if I would be better off with the T500 at 15.4 over the T400 at 14.1.

My real goal is to be able to use the notebook away from my desk(I work out of my home)....and fix the ergonomics of not reaching for the mouse.....a notebook relieves the pressure.

I use the notebook for about 5 weeks a year carrying it through airports and hotels worldwide which is why I like the 14"...but I think the weight between the 2 is negligible.

I guess I took the long way around but thebottom line is that the Resolution is good, the DPI can be adjusted and am I better off with the 15" and not lose to much in the weight and mobility when traveling?

Thank you for putting up with my questions.

Elliot

Pilgrim · #13 Post by **Pilgrim** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:23 am

Hi,

what you say here sounds like pretty much the same choice I went through few weeks ago. Mine was spiced up a bit by the fact that for certain reasons (mainly taxes and paperwork) I'll have to buy in a country with limitted availability of LED screens on Lenovo (Czech Rep., EU).

My process went somehow like this:

So far I have an 12" standard ratio (4:3) at-the-time sub-notebook (Thinkpad X31). Reason for upgrade is, that however it's easy to carry around, it's too small to work longer than an hour or two (as you've said -> ergonomics) and quite bad screen (poor brightness and viewing angles).

1. Probably the best fit for my needs: T400 with LED screen, ATI GPU and P-series CPU (P8600 / P9500). LED doesn't seem to be perfect though. Never seen it myself on Thinkpad but according to various reviews / forum posts it seems to have generally a crappy viewing angles (wuite a pain for me) and the quality level seems to be very unstable (there's two manufacturers - Samsung and LG, where the later seems to be slightly better, but still not perfect). Still I'd probably take it, had I had the oportunity (I don't)...

2. Any other T400 with LED. Same applies as before, still - getting it here kind of sucks.

3. T500 as close as possible to the first, while sacrificing the LED screen. The weight difference is noticeable (about 0,5 kg), but I wouldn't think of it as of all that much of a problem. The size is not all that much bigger (about 1cm more around each side). The only pain seems to be the lower battery life, caused by more power-hungry CFFL (practical tests show about 4h however, which seems to be enough for me).

One more thing that affects me is that right now I've got with me in the lab three colleagues, all of whom use 14" laptop. Looking at them running some IDE (Visual Studio or Eclipse) actually pushes me more towards the 15" side. I seem to be one of the disappearing kind, who still much prefers 4:3 ratio (sorry, but code is mostly a top-down flowing text, therefore horizontal space is crucial). For all I can say, the 14" widescreen seems to match (for my needs) something around 13" of 4:3 ratio.

elazarus · #14 Post by **elazarus** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:14 pm

Thank you, Pilgrim for the great post.

Yes, there are still many uses for 4:3 as a lot of us do not play games or watch movies on a notebook.

Today is the end of the Black Friday sale and I need to order my computer and I am still up in the air as to 14.1 vs 15.4"

For the ergonomics I know the 15.4 would be OK around my home (I am trying to answer e-mail as I get 350 e-mails for my online business a day) while not using a mouse (neck and shoulder pain) but for travel I know a 14.1 is heavy enough.

Decisions, decisions.

Elliot

comptiger5000 · #15 Post by **comptiger5000** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:34 pm

My 15.4" W500 with the 9-cell battery weighs either 6.2 or 6.5 lbs. Doesn't seem heavy at all to carry around. My father's 14.1" 4:3 T60 is only 4.9 lbs, and seems much lighter, however.

#16 Post by **Harryc** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:37 pm

comptiger5000 wrote:My father's 14.1" 4:3 T60 is only 4.9 lbs, and seems much lighter, however.

That's because it is much lighter

.

rmendoza · #17 Post by **rmendoza** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:07 am

I just got a T400 with the LED backlight screen, and I can confirm that the resolution is pretty good - you can read it fine without straining, and you a good chunk of screen real state. Moreover, compared to my T60 (sxga+) and my X61, the T400's screen is considerably brighter. I really didn't regret paying the few extra bucks. Just my 2 cents.

elazarus · #18 Post by **elazarus** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:56 pm

Thank you everybody for the input.

I ordered the T400 with the WXGA+ in a 2.53 with 4gigs Ram ( I know about the 3-3.5 windows limits).

When I got to the Lenovo site on Monday evening at 11:05 Texas time the coupon was no good. The next day they had a 4 hour T500 special.......but I found a Holiday savings 10%...but it was worth giving up the extra 5% by learning about the screen and not ordering the "regular" WXGA.

Regards

Elliot

Question on T 400 screen display.....

Question on T 400 screen display.....

Thank you....

Thanks

bummer

I appreciate that.

Hi Pilgrim

T400

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