T61 screen - dump or???

[pauliewalnuts]

I picked up a T61 on ebay recently, and I'm incredibly impressed with the rock solid build quality, the superb keyboard, the looks (yes, i even like the way Thinkpads look, what is all that nonsense about them being boring?) and the performance. The size of the machine is just right for me in terms of thickness, weight etc, I've always liked Thinkpads and always wanted to own one.

I do, however, have a gigantic issue with the screen.

it is a 14.1 1440 x 900 screen, the part number is 42T0427, which makes it an LG screen, I believe.

I'm happy at that resolution for that screen size, but the quality of this screen is really, really poor. I don't know, maybe I'm being picky, but it looks like the sort of screen I'd have expected to get on a laptop 10 years ago, and really not in keeping with the quality of the rest of the machine. The colours are washed out, it is impossible to calibrate to make it acceptable, it can be made "bright", but in an all or nothing sense - it is either not bright enough, or too bright.

For example, I have three laptops in front of me, a 2 year old MacBook, a Sony SZ71 (which incidentally is an unreliable piece of junk, but that's another discussion) and the T61. The T61 has the worst screen by an absolute mile.

I'm a bit gutted by this. I love everything about the laptop except the screen, which, let's be honest, is a pretty important link in the chain.

My question is, is there somewhere I can buy a better screen which I can then fit myself / get someone to fit?

Given the chance, I'd like to keep the machine but pay 100 quid or so if necessary to sort the crappy screen. If it isn't do-able then it'll have to go, which will be a real shame.

Any ideas?

Oh, and supplementary question - what is the quality of the T400 / T500 line compared to the T61? I'd be interested in one of those should I move this one on, but don't really want to find myself lumbered with another crap screen!

[sktn77a]

See my post in this forum on my T61p displays. They're pretty p_ss poor also! I can improve things by going into the nVidia control panel and increasing brightness, contrast and luminescence; maybe the ATI control panel has similar adjustments. I'd be very surprized if replacing the existing display panel with another 150 nit Lenovo OEM panel will improve things any.

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

You actually have a better amongst two screens...LG is nice compared to a Samsung...

I'm sorry to say that there isn't much anyone can do about the screen quality on the given machine...so I guess you'll be letting it go.

As for the newer ThinkPads, LED-lit LCDs do look better and are significantly brighter, but viewing angles and colour reproduction leave a lot to be desired IMHO...

Hope this helps.

[pauliewalnuts]

Thanks for the input, chaps.

Maybe I'm used to "better" screens (the Sony, I mentioned, despite being a piece of junk otherwise - in just about every other way, in fact - has an excellent screen).

So disappointing. As I said, I love the laptop other than the screen, but it's the most crucial part, so I'm going to have to flog it.