no more 4:3?

[dcouzin]

Have I missed one, or it is now impossible to buy a new, high performance Thinkpad with 4:3 shaped screen: SXGA+ or UXGA? I'm surely not alone in being grossenated by the 16:9 shaped screen.
Eventually there will be an important reason to buy a new, rather than a used, laptop. For example USB 3.0 is coming. What screens will be available then?

[Harryc]

Have you missed anything?, well yes you've missed a years worth of discussion on the same topic as well as the release of a new Thinkpad line with no 4:3 aspect ratio LCD's. You will not see another 4:3 aspect ratio Thinkpad. Same applies to most other laptop manufacturers. I just bought the T60P in my sig. It arrived yesterday. Ask me why... .

...and then there are the rumors - http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=74340

[ssd_thinkpad]

I just bought the T60P in my sig. It arrived yesterday. Ask me why... .

Do you prefer your new T60p over your T400?

[Harryc]

Yes for LCD quality, no for function. The T400 is a faster machine with a brighter LCD and more features, but the UXGA Flexview LCD on the T60 is legendary. I really prefer them both, but for different reasons.

[dcouzin]

Nice to see my anti-16:9 sentiments shared, for like reasons. It was easy to miss your yearlong angst while enjoying my T42, which is holding up well and is hardly obsolete. Lenovo Germany does still sell a T61 (UI278GE) with 14'' SXGA+, http://www5.pc.ibm.com/de/products.nsf/ ... eb_express.

To put this in perspective, 4:3 originated as the silent film 35mm format (Academy aperture is actually 1.37:1). Hollywood went widescreen in the 1950's. The 4:3 format had carried over into TV, which was thus trumped for the past 50 years by widescreen Hollywood. Widescreen originally catered to a stagey, jamboree aesthetic. However, as movie theater screens all became wide, all theatrical filmmakers adapted, some very well. Poor little TV has only now splayed out into 16:9. People watching movies made since the 1950's on their HD-TV's are sooo... happy. Laptop monitors would seem to address different needs from TV screens, BUT: people do watch movies on their laptops; as widescreen displays become dominant website design will follow. Hollywood wins! Soon you'll open a business letter and find it must be read "landscape".

[killer]

Am I allowed to say that I prefer 16:9 for TV? The reason is not only for watching films, but also 16:9 is much better for watching field sports, such as Rugby. The wider the screen the better the view of field positions.
However, when it comes to a computer screen I actually prefer the 4:3 ratio.
My tuppence worth.