What's your favorite resolution on a 12.1" laptop screen?

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pianowizard · #1 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 1:24 pm

This poll was inspired by the thread "Size, Body, Layout Preference x61s vs x201s". In that thread, the X61s got slightly more votes than the X201s, which led some members to think that 1024x768 is actually more popular than 1440x900 but I suspect that result may be better explained by the X201s' poor design. If the X201s had a much thinner display bezel, the footprint of the laptop would be much smaller and the laptops' weight would also be a bit less, and more people would probably prefer the X201s over the X61s.

In this poll, let's only consider the resolution and size of the screen. I have purposely left out 1400x1050, because officially it was only used in tablets (i.e. the Thinkpad X6* and the Toshiba M20*) and was never available for laptops. Among the resolutions listed, which one do you like the most?

My pick: 1440x900. It's frustrating that the X200s and X201s remain the only 12.1" laptops to have this great resolution. I was hoping that Dell, Sony etc. would start using this panel but they never did, and considering that the industry is migrating to 16:9, they probably never will. A Dell Latitude E4200 with 1440x900 would be really nice.

fatpolomanjr · #2 Post by **fatpolomanjr** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 1:42 pm

I picked 1280x800. It is the resolution my first laptop came with, a 3000 N100, but I've tried 1068x768 on a T60 (too narrow) and 1366x768 (too short) on the 1830T I sold, but I still much prefer 1280x800, despite the somewhat awkward aspect ratio.

1440x900, though I've never typed on it, would be too small for me on a 12.1" screen. Even on the X201 I have to zoom in on every page to read comfortably for several hours. Any smaller would not be fun; thank goodness for multi-touch zoom.

#3 Post by **erik** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 1:50 pm

1280x800.

while i would buy a 1440x900 tablet in a heartbeat, we'll never see them with 16:9 upon us. i liked my 1400x1050 X61T and X61s models but the resolution stressed my eyes after prolonged use (and my eyesight is impeccable -- for now). plus, i grew to dislike the 4:3 aspect.

16:10 is my preferred aspect ratio and 125 PPI is a good balance. this puts 1280x800 as the best combination for my usage pattern.

jdrou · #4 Post by **jdrou** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:40 pm

Picked 1440x900; unfortunately that was not available for the X201 and I was not willing to give up the CPU power to get an X201s.

#5 Post by **bill bolton** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:45 pm

pianowizard wrote:that result may be better explained by the X201s' poor design.

There is nothing poor about the X20x design as far as I can see.

pianowizard · #6 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:24 pm

bill bolton wrote:There is nothing poor about the X20x design as far as I can see.

I am sorry you can't see it but plenty of us can. Look at how many people have complained about the very thick display bezels of the X20* series. Even if you don't think that's "poor", there is no argument that the much thinner display bezel of the X6* is better suited for an ultraportable laptop. So, relative to the X6*, the design for the X20* display bezel is indeed poor.

erik wrote:i liked my 1400x1050 X61T and X61s models but the resolution stressed my eyes after prolonged use (and my eyesight is impeccable -- for now). plus, i grew to dislike the 4:3 aspect.

That's also how I felt about my R50p's and T43's 2048x1536 screens. They were good for bragging, but not much more.

erik wrote:16:10 is my preferred aspect ratio and 125 PPI is a good balance. this puts 1280x800 as the best combination for my usage pattern.

For me, my favorite pixel density is around 150 DPI, which gives the best compromise between ease of viewing and packing a reasonable amount of pixels into a small space.

killer · #7 Post by **killer** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:25 pm

@Bill Bolton: We may have our differences over Cricket and Rugby, but I agree with you on the X201. It is a beautiful and very practical piece of kit; well-made, very serviceable, and very portable.

ThinkRob · #8 Post by **ThinkRob** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:26 pm

My personal preference is SXGA+, but that doesn't seem to be an option...

pianowizard · #9 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:32 pm

ThinkRob wrote:My personal preference is SXGA+, but that doesn't seem to be an option...

That would be my preference as well but like I explained in the original post, it's not a standard LCD for non-tablet laptops, and so I excluded it from the poll. However, in practice, I am not ready for an X60s/61s modded with SXGA+ because it would cost a lot and I don't like to walk around with an expensive laptop. My $237 HP Mini 5101 is a far better choice for an on-the-go ultraportable. When the prices of SXGA+ X6* Thinkpads fall below $300, I will be ready to buy one.

ThinkRob · #10 Post by **ThinkRob** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 8:37 pm

pianowizard wrote: That would be my preference as well but like I explained in the original post, it's not a standard LCD for non-tablet laptops, and so I excluded it from the poll. However, in practice, I am not ready for an X60s/61s modded with SXGA+ because it would cost a lot and I don't like to walk around with an expensive laptop. My $237 HP Mini 5101 is a far better choice for an on-the-go ultraportable. When the prices of SXGA+ X6* Thinkpads fall below $300, I will be ready to buy one.

Indeed. My comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek -- I wasn't referring to the lack of a poll option as much as the lack of a market option.

In practice, 1440x900 is great -- for me, the higher the resolution the better.

codek · #11 Post by **codek** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:11 am

ThinkRob wrote:My personal preference is SXGA+, but that doesn't seem to be an option...

ditto

I voted for the 1024 x 768, because I just want a SXGA+ 4:3

codek · #12 Post by **codek** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:16 am

ThinkRob wrote: Indeed. My comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek -- I wasn't referring to the lack of a poll option as much as the lack of a market option.
In practice, 1440x900 is great -- for me, the higher the resolution the better.

I agree more resolution is always better.

My other thread was just about my wishes and other's wishes, not what is currently out there.

Bottomline is Lenovo should have offered an SXGA+ option with x61s and newer portables.

#13 Post by **bill bolton** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:52 pm

pianowizard wrote:I am sorry you can't see it but plenty of us can.

Plenty?

A few seems more like it!

pianowizard wrote:Even if you don't think that's "poor", there is no argument that the much thinner display bezel of the X6* is better suited for an ultraportable laptop.

That's just your strongly held belief. It is certainly very aguable, and has indeed already been argued here without any definitive result.

Cheers,

Bill B.

pianowizard · #14 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 5:33 pm

bill bolton wrote:Plenty?

A few seems more like it!

You have consistently shown that you are obsessed with arguging about word choice, especially with regard to quantitative adjectives. What gives? For such adjectives, only four are well defined: "none" (i.e. 0), "minority" (i.e. <50%), "majority" or "most" (i.e. >50%), and "all" (i.e. 100%). For all others such as "a few", "quite a few", "many" and "plenty", everyone has his/her own criteria for using each of these words, and it is counter-productive to be constantly debating over the choice of these subjectivey defined words. It's not much different from debating whether 10 degrees Celsius is cold or not.

pianowizard wrote:That's just your strongly held belief. It is certainly very aguable, and has indeed already been argued here without any definitive result.

You are making things up here. I agree that people have argued whether the thick screen bezel of the X20* looks ugly or fine (and such arguments are obviously totally subjective and thus will never go anywhere). But no one has argued whether an *ultraportable* laptop should be small and light -- of course it should be, by definition. The thick bezel of the X20* makes the laptop both larger and heavier. An X20* with an X61s-like bezel would be much smaller and slightly lighter, and would still have a keyboard that's bigger than the X61s'.

billp117 · #15 Post by **billp117** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:32 pm

I had both and settled on the 1280...the 1400 was fantastic but a little hard for me to read. The X200s uses a slower processor and the X200 runs faster with a just slightly inferior display. It was a tough choice to make but only wanted to keep one unit.

dsvochak · #16 Post by **dsvochak** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 7:59 pm

For all others such as "a few", "quite a few", "many" and "plenty", everyone has his/her own criteria for using each of these words

If that is the case, such words convey no information and have, therefore, no meaning. "Best", in the context of discussions like this one, is another meaningless word.

pianowizard · #17 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 8:46 pm

codek wrote:I voted for the 1024 x 768, because I just want a SXGA+ 4:3

But let's say you are not allowed to do the SXGA+ mod, which of the resolutions in this poll would you prefer? Still 1024x768?

dsvochak wrote:If that is the case, such words convey no information and have, therefore, no meaning. "Best", in the context of discussions like this one, is another meaningless word.

These words aren't meaningless, but they are subjective, and should be understood to be subjective whenever they are used. I could add the phrase "in my opinion" every time I use these adjectives, but who would want to read posts in which that phrase appears dozens of times?

On the other hand, "best" can sometimes be objective, e.g. if we are comparing three ultraportables that are identical except that they differ in weight, then the lightest one is the best as far as weight is concerned, obviously. Thus, the context is important.

Being a musician and having participated heavily in online forums about musical performers and recordings, where almost *every* statement is subjective, I have learned to never take these adjectives too literally. For instance, when someone says "Horowitz was the greatest pianist" or "Thinkpads are the best laptops", I understand that to mean "Horowitz is my favorite pianist" or "I like Thinkpads more than all other laptops". But on a technical forum like this one, I can see why such statements may lead to misunderstandings, sometimes even arousing antagonistic feelings.

Okay, here's one more example. I have 5.9k music CDs. For lots of people, a collection with 1,000 CDs is huge, but for me, it's pretty small.

ajkula66 · #18 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 11:28 pm

I voted for 1440x900...

Now, having that resolution in IPS/AFFS form on a non-tablet would be something really great IMO...

Yes, I know I'm dreaming...

rek · #19 Post by **rek** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:52 am

Vertical resolution is everything. Any less than 1000 pixels and it starts feeling like not enough. Less than 900 and it's really constraining for serious productivity.

I voted for 1440x900 - though for the reason above I'd prefer 1280x1024, 1600x1024, 2560x1024.. I don't care so long as I get more vertical resolution

codek · #20 Post by **codek** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:25 am

pianowizard wrote:But let's say you are not allowed to do the SXGA+ mod, which of the resolutions in this poll would you prefer? Still 1024x768?

of course not

1440x900

jdrou · #21 Post by **jdrou** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:00 pm

codek wrote: 1440x900

Few more resolutions for your already large sig:
HDTV 720 1280x720
HD 1366x768
HD+ 1600x900
HDTV 1080 1920x1080 (a.k.a. Full HD)
WQXGA 2560x1600 (QWXGA or WQXGA+ might be more accurate names)

#22 Post by **bill bolton** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:44 pm

pianowizard wrote:You are making things up here......

.... whether an *ultraportable* laptop should be small and light -- of course it should be, by definition.

By your own measure, you are doing the same thing!

codek · #23 Post by **codek** » Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:13 am

jdrou wrote: Few more resolutions for your already large sig:
HDTV 720 1280x720
HD 1366x768
HD+ 1600x900
HDTV 1080 1920x1080 (a.k.a. Full HD)
WQXGA 2560x1600 (QWXGA or WQXGA+ might be more accurate names)

Thank you! I just got sick and tired of looking it up so I put it in my sig...haha

I'm gonna try to fit that in but there is a 300 charcter limitation. but Thanks!

I was also gonna put in which speed ram goes with which thinkpad. Only if I could find a list like that