Lenovo X200 tablet screen (confused)

Hello everyone.

I'm looking for a portable notebook with good display for working with photos on the go. Screen size isn't that important, but quality is. Now I'm using mid-2009 Macbook Pro 15" with 1440x900 LED anti-glare matte screen (TN panel). While its constrast and brightness are good enough for my needs I'm a bit dissapointed with viewing angles.

X200t has one of the best screens on the market according to recent tabook and this forum. So here're my questions:

0) Are there any guys who bought X200t mainly because of display quality?
0a) Are you satisfied with performance, build quality and portability (battery life, weight, thickness)?

1) What alternatives to X200t with comparable screen quality can you recommend (up to 15")?
2) How good are displays available for X200t compared to other laptops (IBM, Lenovo, Dell, Apple, Sony, HP etc.)?
3) Which display option would you recommend and why? (viewing angle, color accuracy after calibration, contrast and brightness are very important)
4) Does it have 3Gbs Sata II or 1.5Gbs Sata?

5) Why only tablets get better screens? Is it really that big deal to put high quality display in X200s or X301?

Thanks in advance!

 

I have heard of people buying the X200T due to the Outdoor readable display. , which are much much brighter than comparable laptop displays. I personally have one because it is a tablet.

It is the most capable tablet for its price range IMO.

There are a few other tablets out there with comparable displays. Motion computing, Fujitsu, Panasonic (I think), and Dell all have comparable displays.

As far as regular laptops, I personally haven't seen one that compares. I'll defer to those with better first hand experience.

Similar to the question above huh?

Depends on your usage needs. If all the above is important, I suggest you save your money, buy a T400. If you regularly use your laptop in the sunlight, then get the X200T.

3GB Sata II

Tablets don't necessarily get better screens. They do get brighter screens as their users are more likely to use them in situations where overhead glare is more common. When a tabletPC is in slate mode, overhead lighting becomes a bigger factor, thus the screen needs to be bright enough to combat this. Plus their form factor is attractive to those who work outside, so it also needs to combat sunlight.

 

So you're saying that T400 display is of higher quality than in X200t? Does it really has better viewing angles and contrast? Now I'm confused even more because I read T400 to have "crappy" screen (It's still TN!!) I thought X200t uses non-TN display and from my (though limited) experience IPS and even PVA panel are considerably better.

Some says X200t has IPS display (which is listed in Tabook almost everywhere) and I read that thread with arguing about whether it is mistake or not. Anyway, I'm interested in X200 as ultimate portable screen because I can't carry 24" IPS panel all day long

 

Ooops. I meant to buy a non-tablet and get a good external display with the T400 comment.

I'm not familiar with exactly what kind of displays the X200 tablet line uses, but it does have better viewing angles than other laptops in general.

 

I think tablets DO necessarily get better screens. It's necessary because of the way tablets are used. I mean, no one writes on a notepad by looking at the paper at a 90 degree angle by putting their head right above the pad; people write on tablets in the same way they naturally write on paper, i.e. by having it off-centre to their writing hand side and looking at the screen at quite an extreme angle. Also, the fact that most TN screens have barely acceptable horizontal viewing angles and abysmal vertical viewing angles (which compounds the tablet problem as the tablet will usually be reoriented into portrait) necessitates a better-than-basic screen for tablets.

For your other questions, OP, I've read some users on this forum say that the screen in the X200 tablet might be S-PVA if not IPS. Also, one user has purchased the tablet mainly for the screen but has been disappointed by the graininess it has due to one of or all of the digitizer/multi-touch/anti-glare coating.

 

Ah point taken. And welcome to the forums.

 

I'd like to have both high quality built-in display and external one

Yes, I'm worrying about this as well.

I have one very important question - does X200t without 2-finger multitouch (i.e. only digitizer) have same graininess as X200t with 2-finger multitouch?

 

Thanks for the welcome! I've just signed up since I've realised that this is THE place to be for notebooks and the like but I've been lurking for a while now.

BTW, on second thought, I must admit that while the Lenovo X200t, Dell XT2, HP 2730p and other business/premium models should have a better than usual screen, the recent trend of netbook tablets and perhaps even HP's consumer tablet line pokes holes in the rationale I gave for the need for better screens as a non-TN screen will no doubt be more expensive than most consumers care to pay.

I haven't had the chance to compare both side-by-side. All I can say is that I have an X200t without any multitouch and I have a screen protector put on it which effectively made it as glossy as my MacBook Pro's screen. In day-to-day use the thought of graininess never crossed my mind despite using a MacBook Pro as frequently too. BUT I just might not be as discerning as you are. I bought my X200t just because it was a tablet (and a Lenovo), just like surfasb did.

 

AFAIK, the X200T with multitouch is not available in the brighter Outdoor viewable screen. You'll need to get a Dell XT2 to get the Multitouch/Outdoor viewable screen combo.

edit:

Where is John the Tablet Phenom when you need him.....

 

I don't need multitouch and don't want to pay for it either. I'd rather get 4Gb of RAM or better SSD or SL9600 instead of SL9400 (bragging rights FTW!!!).

Dell XT2 doesn't attract me as much as lenovo due to SU9400 instead of SL. I do some CPU intensive things (like RAW-converter, Comsol and other stuff) on the go


P.S. What type of screen is in XT2? Is it IPS or what?

 

I'm pretty sure the XT2 uses a TN screen. I can't tell the difference honestly. Some things I do notice though is the X200T's screen picks up fingerprints more. The XT2's screen looks better outdoors compared to the X200T's but the X200T's screen looks better indoors compared to the XT2. But I don't do image work on neither one so I'm not the person to ask about contrasts and color saturation opinions.

 

0) I had an x200 regular and hated the display. I got an x200 Tablet largely because of display quality and love it. The screen is much better, performance, weight, battery, etc. are very close so as not to be an issue. I also have found myself enjoying the tablet features a great deal.

1) Other tablets have good screens. In particular the Fujitsu T5010 is a good choice if you want a 13.3" tablet with a 25W TDP CPU and optical drive.

2) Better than almost all other laptop displays (save for maybe the T60P Flexview).

3) Either the CCFL or LED pen only model (this is mine). These will have less grain than the touch models and be cheaper. The CCFL model is Hydis FFS, the LED is Samsung S-PVA.

4) 3 Gbps

5) Tablets demand wide viewing angle screens as they are used in both landscape and portrait mode. Not enough people will pay for this advantage on conventional laptops so the option is now quite rare (15" ThinkPad T60P was the last option).

 

jonlumpkin

Looks like Lenovo now has 3 options for pen-only screens:

1) 12.1" WXGA LED Panel with Wide viewing Angle
2) 12.1" SuperBright WXGA LED Panel with Wide viewing Angle [add $75.00]
3) 12.1" SuperBright Outdoor Viewable WXGA LED Panel with Wide viewing Angle [add $250.00]

What is the difference between them in real life? (Well, I read about Outdoor Viewable on thinkpads.com but what about #2?)

 

I think #2 is mine (285 nit S-PVA LED), this should also be "frameless" (edge to edge glass). #3 is even brighter (400+ nit S-PVA LED), but has a traditional bezel, it's also supposed to be a fingerprint magnet. Not sure about #1, the base used to be a CCFL FFS display (190 nit) frameless.

Assuming these are LED they are all likely Samsung PVA panels with different backlight intensity. #2 is brighter than #1 (but less than #3). This can be useful if using it outdoors or as a slate under overhead lighting. However, in normal notebook mode I never run mine at full brightness indoors.

 

I'm not sure if Lenovo is still using it, but there is also a Samsung S-PVA with CCFL (not LED) backlighting. I have one. It is noticeably inferior to the CCFL-backlit AFFS panel, but still loads better than the TN panels offered in the X200.

 

Are you absolutely sure it only comes in the traditional bezel design?

 

99% certain. The tabook does NOT list the sunlight viewable display as "Frameless". Also, all reviews for models with this display have the traditional bezel.