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Not my forte, but to the best of my knowledge, virtually all modern laptops use LCD screens, with CCFL and LED refering to the type of backlighting used. LED is brighter and more energy efficient (and maybe thinner?), but is usually only available in high-end models (a la X300).
Yep, that's it exactly. To clarify a little bit further, CCFL is essentially a very thin fluorescent tube that lights the screen. Large displays will sometimes use more than one, but most laptop screens 15" and below will just use one. Since they have been used for a while, most manufacturers seem to have them figured out fairly well and do a decent job of evenly lighting the screen.
The LED lit screens should be more energy efficient, and should have the ability to be brighter and have fairly even lighting across the screen as well. However, since they are fairly new technology, I would expect that you may see some that are not brighter (should have used more LEDs) and they might not have figured out the best way to make the backlight even across the screen (multiple point sources to spread over an area versus the long tube of light from the CCFL).
I fully expect the LED lit screens to be superior in a few years, and they very well could be great right now, but I am simply guessing that it will take a little while before they are GREAT screens.
I would pick it now, but I think the quality will increase over the next year. I don't require the absolute best in picture quality, so I have no problems with them at all. I haven't even seen reviewers complain about uneven lighting or anything yet, but I have got to think that they aren't perfect yet.
After trying to replace the CCFL in an old laptop recently, I don't see how it could be lighter. Maybe the inverter tips the scales more than the tube itself.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
