LCD vs LED Display

I didn't find any article that gave me a good LCD vs LED comparison with emphasis on battery life. How much more time would I get on, say, an M1330 with a 9 cell battery that has an LED screen?

 

I don't have any numbers, but I don't believe LED's would be better than fluorescents in continuous full brightness applications. I think LED backlighting would save the most power when switched off frequently, such as when using extremely aggressive power saving settings. It'd also be able to achieve lower brightness settings than fluorescents.

My opinions are solely based on articles I've read about applying LED's for office lighting. For office lighting, fluorescent is still the brightest and most power efficient.

 

This really isn't correct though.

LED-backlighting saves power regardless of whether it is used continuously or switched off frequently.

To answer the original poster - it seems like from most reviews and comparisons I've read, LED-backlighting vs. CCFL seems to give anywhere from an extra half hour to an hour of battery life.

Aside from that, there are some other benefits. LED-backlighting can generally produce more even and brighter lighting (look at a Sony SZ non-LED backlit model next to a backlit model, for example, to see this difference). It also doesn't have the "warm up" time associated with traditional CCFL-backlighting to get to full brightness.

Finally, LED-backlighting will not show the same kind of long-term fading out that CCFL-backlights are known for. If you've owned a CCFL-backlit laptop for a couple of years, you'll notice that over time they lose some of their brightness.

With LED-backlit screens, we don't see this (and this can be demonstrated by Sony's LED-backlit screens, which have been on the market for a while).

-Zadillo

 

My D630 on the 9 cell gets better battery life than my XPS WLED w/ 9 cell. Both running XP Pro. Specs are in signature.

Maybe the XPS M1330's 8400GS is quite a bit more power hungry, negating the power efficiency of the LED screen.

But for what its worth, I don't believe LED screen would save any more power than a CCFL. Its just the esthetics that matter more.

 

Thanks for teh half hour to one hour estimate - that's what I was looking for. I don't really care about any of the other pros, since I think I can deal with it. Now the main question is should I plunk down $200 on an LED screen if I do get teh M1330. It's going to be suicidal. I think I'll keep looking for something else. Thanks again

Edit: Just read jaycee's post. That's interesting, now I'll keep reading up lol. I am not too keen on LED at the moment, just because it's too expensive. I think I'll get a used ultraportable, like the Sony's 10" one, that has like a P-M lol.

 

The X3100 is significantly less power-hungry than the 8400M GS. What you need is the M1330 with X3100 + LED backlight. Initial reviews of the M1330 indicated that the LED backlight saved power and/or gave a brighter display.

John

 

It's fine to not "believe it", but LED-backlighting has specifically been demonstrated to not be as power hungry. There's a reason the industry is slowly moving towards it, and it isn't just for aesthetic reasons.

On every machine where side by side comparisons can be done, improved battery life is seen. The easiest is with Sony's SZ series, which has been on the market for a long time, and has been available with both LED-backlighting and without. The SZ models with it show on average an extra half hour to hour of battery life.

Similarly, the MacBook Pro saw a similar boost in battery life when it switched to LED-backlighting; it's difficult to do a side by side comparison, since the LED-backlit MBP's also got an 8600M GT instead of an X1600, but the results seem to speak for themselves.

So again, aside from better power efficiency, and better and more even backlighting, the other big benefit is in the long term wear. Laptops with traditional CCFL backlighting see their backlighting become duller and wear out over years of use. LED-backlighting should not wear out at nearly the same rate.

-Zadillo

 

See my post above. The extra expense for a model with LED-backlighting is worth it.

To summarize again, here are the main benefits;

1) Better, brighter, more even backlighting.

2) Improved battery life and power efficiency.

3) Long term, LED-backlit screens will not wear down and become duller and less bright as quickly as CCFL backlights do.

LED-backlighting is slowly moving towards becoming a standard feature. I don't think Sony is even offering a non-LED backlit SZ model any more, for example, and Apple standardized on LED-backlit screens for the MacBook Pro (and has said the entire line will eventually move to LED-backlighting). HP has pledged to switch completely to LED-backlighting.

Dell is showing greater adoption, with them being a reasonably priced option on the XPSM1330 (I think it only adds like $150 to the price of an XPSM1330, which is more than worth it for the differences) and apparently an option on the new XPSM1530.

-Zadillo

 

Okay, I think I'll go with the X3100 with LED backlight (but it adds about $250 w/o a cam ), and get the 9 cell battery (It still comes up to like $1684 ). I probably shoudln't be asking this here, but maybe later on I can change the mobo and get an 8400M installed? Then again, running a game on an 8400 is probably just as bad as not running it at all (I jest, I jest)

 

Pretty sure you can't add a GPU later; if you really want the 8400M, you should probably get it now.

Trust me, I think the extra $250 is worth it; the screen, IMO, is clearly one of the most important components of a laptop, and being able to use it at brighter settings and get more battery life out of it, and also to be able to retain brightness for a much longer period of the laptop's lifespan, makes it worth the investment.

If battery life is a concern for you, your best bet is going to be the LED-backlight plus the X3100 integrated graphics. The 8400M is worth it if you want to play some games (and as long as you're realistic about what it can handle), but otherwise it might interfere with your desires for the laptop.

 

check out the dell part of this forum for more info about the 1330. Just so you knwo the 9 cell sticks out the bottom back, sorta angling up the laptop in the back. there are lots of posts with pictures for comparisions between the 2 screens and the different batteries also.

 

Yeah, I'm going to drop the 8400. I'll game on my Clevo if I have to. I mean, I can run Tohou (a vertical shmup) on a GMA950 so an X3100 shouldn't be a problem. Now the question is - biometric fingerprint scanner or no