ZT3000 WXGA, WSXGA+, or WUXGA ?'s

I am going thru the options available to custom order the ZT 3000 and I have a few questions. What are the benefits/drawbacks on the different screen options. I keep hearing about eyestrain with the higher resolution screens. Can't you just set the res lower when working with text. What do people think the best choices are and why? Also when ordering the Intel(R) Pro Wireless 2200 802.11b/g & Bluetooth config. is this an internal card and one that does not take up a pc slot?

Thanks,
Mitch

 

Hey bedangerous, I have also been looking into the zt3000. As far as the screen goes, I have the same issue. I can tell you that the WUXGA is probably out altogether for me. I have heard mixed opinions about the WSXGA+ as well. I think if I go with that notebook I will probably get the WSXGA+, but I want to take a look at the WXGA first. As far as changing the resolution, that is a horrible idea. If you change an LCD to anything but it's native resolution, the display looks horrible, especially for text. If you do find text too small, you are best to play with the zoom settings in Word and the text sizes for windows icons and stuff. I'm sure that if you read around some more you can find a way to adapt any program to a higher res screen. As I said before, I am torn. I want a lot of screen area and that's why I want the higher resolution. The problem I have is that I have heard that the WSXGA+ is not quite as sharp as the WXGA. I to would like some more opinions on this issue.

As far as the Intel Pro Wireless and Bluetooth, they are both INTERNAL cards. They do not take up the PC Card slot. I know this because I would not even consider a notebook without built in wireless. Bluetooth is also internal in this system and to me this is a non-essential bonus. I like where bluetooth seems to be going.

I hope I answered some of your questions and if I confused you, please feel free to ask for clarification.

-Kyle

 

Thanks Kyle.

Mitch

 

Bedangerous-
kf_man beat me to you. Just to reiterrate what he said. You for sure only want to run the screen in its native resolution if at all possible. You will be greatly dissappointed if you do otherwise. My display on my zd7000 is a 17.0" WVA WXGA+ (1440x900). I think the WXGA is perfectly fine. Images and text are clear and sharpe. I also don't need a microscope to see the screen. I would personally advise against the WUXGA resolution for all the reasons you have read.

The cards you mentioned are internal and that is probally what you want. Hope this just re-emphasised kf_man's points

HP zd7000 :: 17" WVA WXGA+ (1440 x 900) :: P4 3.06 GHz with HT :: 512MB DDR :: 64MB GeForce FX Go5600 :: 54G Wireless :: 60GB 5400 RPM HD :: XP Pro

 

HOLD ON!!!!

I run my Dell Inspiron8000 at full tilt, 1600x1200 and the screen resolution is both clear, legible, enjoyable and easy to read, even on tired eyes. I need as much screen real estate as possible, and when a variable text/font page comes over NSCP (Netscape) or IE (Internet Explorer) I just simply change the sizing on the Font. Otherwise, I'm able to run two instances of any browser or same browser side by side and full page length, 2 on a screen. Imagine how fast and content rich your surfing will be getting that much seen and done on 1 screen.

Switch over to the www.opera.com Opera Browser and you'll really ROCK!

Don't be afraid of the density, run towards it.
eMachines M6805 & M6807 offer the Athlon64 but on pitiable SXGA resolutions. Dell Inspiron 8600/9100 offers an eye popping 1920x1600 resolution. I have a hard time finding a reasonable compromise between these two machines, as the laptop is the machine, not the desktop. When I saw the HP Athlon64 offering WSXGA resolution at 1680x1050 for the zv5000z model seems like a reasonable compromise, and yes, I will opt for the highest screen density possible.

Seeing 800x640 block text waists money and the purpose behind getting these desktop replacement machines.

 

kronie, I'm not quite sure what you mean.

It's not the density that bothers me at all. It's more that I have heard that the HP WSXGA+ screens are blurry. I have heard this from multiple places (can't remember right now where). Maybe at http://www.x1000forums.com. Either way, this is my concern. I like high density displays. I'm just concerned about what I have read about this specific one. Right now on my desktop I am running 1280x960 and that's not enough space for me. If I were to get an IBM for instance, I would definately get either the SXGA+ screen or the UXGA screen because the quality is legendary (at least it was, haven't heard much lately). So, just to sum it up, I'm only worried about HP's SXGA+ and UXGA displays, not that type in general. But I must note that the average user should not waste the money on a high density screen, as they probably will never put it to it's full potential.

-Kyle

 

I didn't know that the HP quality didn't exist. Sorry to hear this, and glad that you brought this out. My suggestion to anyone, experienced and novice alike is to kick the tires on the company machines. Perhaps you won't always find the exact model that you want at the big box retailers or the BestBuys or CircuitCitys or Frys, but at least you can see the screens, resolutions, clarity issues, speed issues and performance issues with your desired operating systems.

That's the best solution that I can offer about worrying about the quality issues. At the same time, know BEFORE you purchase, what the "unconditional" return policies are. Restocking fees only say "caution", "beware of doing business here". On the other hand, reasonable compromise in buying a floor model, return "certified" model or otherwise helps retailers offer "no restocking fees" policies. Which ever way to Sunday, there are solutions.

Oh, IBM laptops, well, legendary or simply hype, not sure, however it goes the quality of almost all the mfgrs since they all use the same three primary fabricators out of Taiwan, has improved significantly. IOW (in other words) IBM doesn't have such an edge over the others anymore, and most have surpased IBM laptops overall usage experience, quality, stability, restore ease and general operational usage-experience.

Oh, when other basic users learn what they can do with full screen real estate, then they never go back, unless there's an eyesight problem.

 

2 Questions[?]:

1. Is the external vga port allow for dual screen support (ie have an extended desktop across 2 screens) or does it just simply replicate what is on the laptop screen?

2. What is the quality of the SVideo output? Does the SVideo port allow for dual screen or just simply replicate what is on the laptop screen?

Thanks

 

every LCD I've ever seen had problems with non-native resolutions... that is until I started using a Dell D800 with a 15.4 WUXGA... I have run it at 1280x800, 1680x1050, and the native 1920x1200... everything is clear at all of the resolutions... I haven't been able to find even one case of fonts looking bad or anything even close to that... take a look at the highest density screen you might be interested in and see how it stacks up before dismissing it...

 

I bought a sony grx 550 from compusa about 2 years ago and it has a 1.6 p4 400 mghz fsb 30 gig ultra ata 5200 HD 15.1 in. XGA TFT display 32 MB radion mobility 7500 for 2250 and then I found this site check out the systems, they do not come preinstalled with windows but are cheap http://www.internetishop.com/Laptop.asp

 

I am trading my zd7000 with its 17.0" WVA WXGA+ (1440x900) mostly because I think the screen resolution is inadequate. The images and text were not sharp and things looked washed out. I ran it side-by-side with my new 15.4" SXGA+ HP zv5000z and the difference is striking. I almost did not buy the zv5000z because it did not have a UXGA option, but the SXGA+ is good enough for me.
As others have pointed out, you can easily increase the size of text and images with a high res. screen, and in doing so you reap the benefits of the increased density of the pixels. With a low res screen you are stuck with low pixel density and the resulting low image quality.
Before you buy a low res screen, do yourself a big favor and compare it side-by-side with a high resolution screen. If I had I would never have purchased the low res zd7000.