How much better are LED Backlights than normal?

I was just about to buy an M50Vm-A1 today, but now i'm starting to consider the N50Vn-B1B because it is almost identical except it has a better display (and marginally better CPU).

I'm not looking for the highest spec'd model, I don't need it for high frame rate gaming. I just need some decent power for solid modeling and finite element analysis for personal design work.

Battery life would be a plus for me. The N50Vn looks nice, does anybody have any stats on how well it actually improves battery life under normal usage?

There is a $100 rebate on the Asus M50Vm- series this month, so I can pick one up for $1095.00 from GenTech or $1099 from ExcaliberPC. The N series would end up costing about $200 more, and as far as I know the only thing that $200 is paying for is the LED Backlight (and marginally better specs on a few other components).

Is the $200 investment worth the gains I might get from the newer model? Perhaps it doesn't have the keystroke problem people complain about with the M50?

Thanks,


Kevin

 

Hey there, I see that you're still looking at the Asuses, but I see most of them only have the GS variant of the cards even if this one has 1GB VRAM it might not be as up to snuff as you might want.

Over on the MSI board they have a post about the GX627 that is coming out with a 9800 GS, so you might want to wait and see if that fits into your budget as the 9800 will be WAY better than either of their 9600s. (I went ahead and ordered the 1651 from avadirect a couple days before the 627 news came up, but I expect it to be above what I had budgeted anyways.)

As to the LCD dunno, haven't seen one. I'd try to find a store that has display models of notebooks with LED LCDs (e.g. Apple store) and see how they look compared to other LCDs...

 

Well from what I've read, LED backlights produce better image quality. LED's should also consume less battery power, as they produce light more efficiently. I haven't seen a side-by-side comparison, though, with such similar models (M50Vm vs. N50Vn).

The GX627 has the same heinous looks as the GX620 and the Asus G50v. Some people like it, but it is a little over the top for me. I currently have a GeForce 5600FX that pretty much satisfies my graphical needs. The 9600M probably has more than enough horsepower for what i'll need it for, so the 9800 vs. the 9600 is like choosing to have $1,000,000.00 or $1,000,001.00 --- sure, the extra buck would be great, but in reality I really won't notice it.

I'm still somewhat considering the 1651, but with the cost advantage of the Asus right now with the $100 off MIR, the Asus is looking like the winner. That and the keyboard on the MSI is a little awkward to me... but I might be able to live with it if it comes down to it. Don't know.

Anyways, cutterjohn let me know how you like your MSI. I'm still considering it.. but man.. that little tiny shift key on the right and the CTRL/FCN keys being switched would irritate me I feel like, not to mention the miniature period key. Honestly --- what was going through that designer's head when he decided to miniaturize the period key? Who uses periods!? Let's shrink it and save some space! Let's get rid of the 'E' key too, while we are at it... it's only the most used vowel in the English language.

 

Properly designed, there should be no difference in image quality between two identically speced LED vs. CCFL backlight.

LEDs tend to produce light in a much more narrower beam, but it is typically back scattered by a white background.

The big advantage is much lower heat / power consumption that is immediately noticeable to an user.

On a longer term, LEDs should not "wear out" and darken like CCFL tubes do, but do expect a few LEDs to fail over time (and leave screen slightly darker).

All things considered, I would pay at retail a premium of about $75 max for a LED backlight 15" screen vs. a CCFL.

Now... i bought a bargain basement eee PC 1000, where every one comes with LEDs for $500 or so.

 

I NEVER use the right SHIFT key, and (runs to check) all of my Apple notebooks had the exact same Fn/CTRL key configuration and it never bothered me. Even played Unreal Tournament on them, but the VAST majority of the games that I play are RPGs which don't usually use the CTRL key. Period key: hmmm dunno, probably a fairly low annoyance thing. Bad thing about MSI is that we're unlikely to see a display model outside of a show which I have no intention of going to just to see the keyboard. I'm expecting it to be something that I will get used to, as if this works out as expected I'll probably primarily use the new notebook excepting for new/demanding games in which case I'll use the desktop after I get around to a GPU upgrade for that. (Currently only have a eVGA 7600GT KO which is still holding up fairly well, although it does show signs of struggling occasionally now... also need more drive space for my desktop... amazing how fast 500GB disappears even with regular backups and cullings, of course I'm also triple booting OSes...)

This time around, I'm planning on having my entire STEAM collection on it, plus a whole slew of games so I'll let you know how it works out for Teamfortress Classic, Fortress Forever, and Day of Defeat. It could take up to another week or so for me to get it, as avadirect says to allow 7-10 days for building & testing, then however long shipping takes (went for ground as according to UPS I'm in a 1d delivery area to ava).

Have 10, 8, and 6y old notebooks, CCFL still fine although I tend to use lower brightness settings as I find anything past around medium to be WAY too bright for me, and if I'm somewhere so brightly lit that I try to use max backlight it usually just doesn't help at all which means I need to find some shade some how to use it comfortably. That said he's right the LED should last longer than the notebook, IS/should be MUCH lower power, and virtually no heat and displays are one of the main eaters of portable device battery life, along with wireless, drives, and CPU/chipset.