Is the quality of LED displays the same in T400 and T500?

I realize that screens can vary within the models, depending upon manufacturer.

What I'm asking is are you as likely to get the same quality LED screen in a T500 as in a T400? My searching of threads seems to indicate that the LED screens in T500 ThinkPads have been more prone to the colors washing out than in LED screens in T400 ThinkPads.

Am I wrong about this? I'm leaning towards ordering a T500 WXGA LED but would probably order a T400 WXGA LED is that's not an issue.

Thanks for all the help you folks have been.

Bill

 

Does this answer your question?

T400
WXGA+ W/LED Backlight (1440x900, 129dpi, 200+ nit)

T500
WXGA W/LED Backlight (1280x800, 129dpi, 200+ nit)
(and the 500 has a much larger screen)

 

WXGA on a 15.4" screen is not 129DPI, it's 98. For that matter, WXGA+ on a 14" screen is not 129DPI either, it's 120. WXGA on a 14" screen is 107DPI.

I'm not entirely sure which LED screen you are referring to on the T400 - if you are referring to the WXGA High-Nit LED screen, that screen is supposed to be one of the nicest displays currently available on Thinkpads, with good viewing angles and color reproduction.

The T500's WXGA LED - although I have never seen it in person - seems to be generally regarded as lackluster, based on the comments of those on the forum that have that display.

 

I took the posted info directly from the lenovo "tech spec" page for the 400/500

http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrar...AF24034A0011B825513BCED&tab=3#tab-container-6

 

if you're ordering

T400 get the 1440x900 screen
T500 get the 1680x1050 screen

 

I am asking about the regular LED WXGA on both models, not the T400's High Nit or the WXGA+. Is the regular LED WXGA on the T400 better than the regular (the only?) LED on the T500 or are they comparable?

(The high nit is a very tempting option for those occasions when I would like to work outside. If the regular LED is brighter than the HP CCFL I have, however, the regular LED may work fine in the shade. Also, if the high nit LED on the T400 has better color reproduction than the regular LED, I could go with that one.)

Thanks,
Bill

 

Brightness is one issue and colour/contrast are another thing entirely.

According to most proper in-depth reviews I have read, neither of the LED screen on the T400 is offers good colour reproduction or contrast. In fact according to NotebookCheck, the screen is downright awful for color and contrast.

You would have to go to the T500 W500 (WSXGA+ on both) or W700 (WUXGA) to actually get top quality color reproduction on a Thinkpad screen.

 

Speaking as someone who has seen most of the recent ones in the last year and a half, they are all bad with the exception of the LG wsxga+ ccfl and the x200 tablets.

In my opinion, the T400 LED wxga+, the X301, X300, X200, and X200s screens are all bottom of the barrel screens. That's not a problem until you realize that these machines are have top-end prices. There's a disconnect for me there. Personally I find them to be screens that you'd find in netbooks and $500 deal of the week laptops.

Lenovos are very fine notebooks for those who don't care about the screen quality, and there are many. I actually think that the screens are fine for web browsing and word processing, chatting. But as I've stated before, online video is replacing the TV. As such, more and more of us will be watching video on our laptop. It only makes sense to pick a screen that can perform adequately in this situation. I'm really hoping that the next round of updates results in better quality screens in the T500 and T400. If they do, I'm getting one b/c that is the sole thing stopping me from getting a Thinkpad again. But I'm preparing to be disappointed.

 

I think historically prices of ThinkPads right now are very low, especially if you know how to work the system. In Lenovo's defense other than the FlexViews most ThinkPad screens of yore were fair at best. The question remains who's offering anything better on a mainstream notebook? The MBP perhaps, but it's considerably more expensive. I'd take the T500 over it. The RGB-LED offered on some Dells I hear is nice, but it's glossy, which means glare and it doesn't offer the angles of the FlexViews, nor does the MBP.

 

Have you actually seen the WXGA LED High-Nit display on the T400 (the 678 nit one)? The review of that T400 on this site gives it high marks, actually, for both brightness and color reproduction, as well as for viewing angles.

 

Indeed, which strikes me as odd since the few reviews that actually bothered to to do measurements as support for their conclusions came back with extremely low contrast and colour reproduction numbers on the T400 screen.

So what was the conclusion here based on? Low expectations? I prefer to see documented support for what reviews say.

Besides WXGA is rather lame on a 14" screen. Waste of size and space. You Gotta be looking at WXGA+ for that category of laptop. If all you want is WXGA, you can get it on a much smaller and lighter laptop with a better quality screen than the "high nit" anyway.