Is there ever going to be 4:3 thinkpad?

[mattbiernat]

I really miss 4:3. I just got a new X300 and I use it for school and a T60 as a desktop replacement. at home I find myself using more of T60 mostly due to its bigger 4:3 screen. i know i just got an x300 and that it will take time to get used to the widecreen ratio but every time I look at the T60 it just seems so much more practical.
So is there any real chance of the 4:3 aspect ratio coming back?

[ajkula66]

I'm going to say "no". The last manufacturer offering 4:3 LCDs on laptops is Panasonic...and let's see how long will that be the case...

[TTY]

In Europe, notebooks with 4:3 aspect ratio displays are available on some markets. In Austria, Lenovo offers T61 ThinkPads with 14.1" (4:3) SXGA+ and XGA screens. These are available with processors up to at least T9300 (2.5 GHz). They also offer T60 ThinkPads with 15" XGA and SXGA+ screens. Lenovo also offers R61 ThinkPads with 15" (4:3) XGA and SXGA+ screens and with processors up to T7300. English (US and UK) keyboards are available as service parts. Fujitsu Siemens Computers sell the Lifebook E8310 with 15" SXGA+ and XGA screens and processors up to T9500 (2.6 GHz).

[Marin85]

@TTY: Do you know if 15'' T60p (yes, those with IPS screen ) are still offered in Austria (I mean new machines with warranty etc.). In Germany there are still a few stores offering them but they all have hell of prices 3k+ €, some of them are even more expensive than a full-speced W700 here

Thanks,

Marin

[lophiomys]

I say yes, the 4:3 form factor is going to come back, as
managers and manufacturers will regain their sense for the
practical needs of their customers, and because Widescreen
on a 13" or 14" or 15" laptop is -IMO- simply useless. It
just makes it wider than the full sized keyboard and you are
loosing vertical display space.

[Troels]

Uhm no, and never.
Samsung, AUO and CMO has sucessfully introduced 16:9 laptop displays, and they do seem to sell, and they are even cheaper for the manufacturers to produce. I am still very doubting that any research is going on in the 4:3 department, no matter how much Samsung claims on their sites, which don't hold in practice for some reason. Also netbooks sells too well, to justify introducing a netbook with a 4:3 resolution - They NEED the width of 16:10 or 16:9 for the keyboard.
I believe that they still can produce 4:3 if the price is right and the order is of a certain size though.
Why didn't IBM just buy IDtech completely when they had the opportunity, and sell this and the staff to Lenovo. It's not up-to-date or anything near that, but the buyers of Thinkpads could get their 4:3s.

But that being said - I hope we'll see 4:3 Thinkpads re-appear

[TTY]

Do you know if 15'' T60p (yes, those with IPS screen :) ) are still offered in Austria (I mean new machines with warranty etc.).

Check http://www.geizhals.at and click the EU Flag (top, left). Geizhals is a price search engine which links to dealers. You'll find 10 different 15" T60 Models with SXGA+ panels. From what i've heard, all T60s with 15" SXGA+ panels are FlexView. The least expensive is € 1.851. It has a Core2Duo T7200 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD and Vista Business. You might have to add some RAM, but otherwise this model seems to be good news :-) If you consider ordering one of the other models, check Lenovo's German or Austrian homepage for that model. If it's listed on Lenovo's German or Austrian homepage, i would suppose that the model is available. If it's not listed on any of Lenovo's homepages, it might be an older model that isn't available any longer.

[Marin85]

Thanks for the idea. I have almost forgotten that I can use geizhals and the like to search EU-wide.

Thanks again and enjoy the nice weather today

Marin

[rleo25]

Never mind... There are black clouds in the Thinkpad future... one good news would be to have new high quality TP models coming next season ... times are hard for the industry.