My X220 review plus comments on IPS Display

Hello Lenovo Forum,

I have been using this forum to help me decide on a laptop for a few months. I finally decided to go with a Lenovo X220 and now I'll try and help contribute a bit by providing a review of the laptop and discuss the IPS display issues which have been one of the bigger issues for me while deciding on which laptop to buy.

First my specs:
i5-2540 processor
4gb RAM
IPS Display
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
128 GB SSD
6 cell battery and 65W adapter

When I started shopping for a computer, my number one requirement was it had to have a gorgeous (matte) display. I love the display on some of the tablets such as the Ipad2 and Transformer but need more capability than a tablet. My final candidates were last years Sony Z (too expensive, but it was a great display), Samsung Series 9 (wifi issues were a dealbreaker), new Sony Z (again too expensive), Sony SA (I didn't like the viewing angles), and the Toshiba R85-P56 (display was very average).

As you can imagine, when I started reading about the backlight bleed issues and image persistence, I almost backed out of the X220 purchase. However, the value of having a full voltage cpu plus all of the connectivity options kept me coming back to the X220. In the end, I felt like there was just too many folks that had not seen problems in normal usage situations so I went ahead and went for the X220.

So I recieved the computer a few days ago and so far I have been extremely happy with everything. I was surprised at how light this thing is, it's actually feels a bit lighter than my netbook with an 11.6 inch screen. Like others I wasn't completly happy with the trackpad, so I downloaded a program I found on this forum (thanks Colonel O'Neil) that made for smooth two finger scrolling. I just haven't got used to the trackpoint yet. I really don't have many other non display related comments. This computer has exceeded my expectations in pretty much every way.

First, I must say the screen is gorgeous! I am extremely happy with the screen, but I had to find out if I suffered from the dreaded backlight bleed or image persistence problems.

As far as the backlight bleed, I can see just a tiny bit at the bottom of my screen if I am in a dark room with a totally black background. It is a non issue for me.

Now on to the image persistence. While reading these forums and others, I was disappointed that there wasn't more information on exactly what situations caused the image persistence..such as time..can it happen in 5 minutes or does it take hours? Is it worse after and 20 minutes or 45 minutes? So I tried to do some testing and answer some of these questions.

So I did a little test where I would leave a small window up for some period of time and would do different test runs for various durations and would vary some of the parameters to try and gain a better understanding how this image persistence worked.

Test 1: Brightness during test was 15; Test time 15 minutes; Background Color during test was black; Results...persistence was quite noticeable on the black background, when I switched to a textured multi colored background the persistence was almost imperceptible, it took approximately 4 to 5 minutes to disappear from the black background.

Test 2: Brightness during test was 13; Test time was 10 minutes; Background color during test was black; Results...I could not see any image persistence until I turned up the brightness to 15. When I switched to a textured background I couldn't see any evidence of persistence. When I switched back to a black background the persistence remained for approximately 2 minutes.

Test 3: Brightness during test was 11; Test time was 20 minutes; Background color during test was black; Results...persistence was not noticeable until I turned the brightness back to 15 and only on a black background. I could not see any persistence on any of the other background colors that I tried. Persistence completely disappeared from the black background in less than 2 minutes.

Test 4: Brightness during test was 8; Test time was 20 minutes; Background color during test was black; Results...Again, persistence was not noticeable until I turned the brightness all the way back to 15 and only on a black background. It was not noticeable on any other backgrounds.

Test 5: Brightness during test was 15; Test time was 10 minutes; Background color during test was white; Results...Could not see any persistence on the white background but when I switched back to a black background the persistence was there but not very pronounced.

Test 6: Brightness during test was 15; Test time was 15 minutes; Background color was textured; Results...Could not see any persistence on the textured background but when I switched to black the persistence was there but not very noticeable.

Test 7: Brightness during test was 13; Test time was 60 minutes; Background color was textured; Results...Barely noticeable persistence on the textured background, the persistence was pronounced when I switched to a black background. The persistence remained longer than other tests as it did not disappear until after 5 minutes.

My conclusions/opinions...

The image persistence does not show up during my typical usage patterns and as such doesn't bother me too much.

If you like dark solid color backgrounds I can see how this problem would bother you.

The static parts of the display only need minutes, not hours for some level of persistence to show up.

Brightness seems to have a large effect on the level of severity.

Duration definitely increased the level of severity.


Let me reiterate...I am extremely happy with this computer (and display) although I can easily see how others would be unhappy with it. If Lenovo would have told me up front this screen would have had these issues, I would have purchased it anyway.

Ok, I'm tired of typing now, I hope this helps.

 

thanks for a helpful review!

 

Thanks for posting. It's on my shortlist two, though i want a good screen for photo editing and the fact that it is only a 6-bit screen is concerning.
do people think it will be ok for photo editing?

 

All this persistence thing reminds me of old school CRT monitors that had problem with screen burn-in. It's actually the reason screen savers were invented.

So.... why not use them? I know its not always convenient but its better than nothing

 

And you use screen saver while editing a word document or photo or do something else. Then how do you work if you are staring at your screen saver?

Read the tests the OP did and you see that it took couple of minutes to show some image ghosting.

I think this display is sub-standard and this day and age should not be allowed to happen.

 

Obviously...I mean come on, $50 for IPS upgrade ???

The technical article they released is a bunch of BS. Fact is Lenovo uses CHEAP-O IPS

Still, if it's not that bad, definitely better than non-IPS. Some people (or most?) just get unlucky and have more issues than others

 

Would you prefer to pay more for a better display? I think the salient point the OP made was during their day to day usage, the effect was not noticeable.

I myself have been quite happy with my X220 IPS LCD. I have notice no ghosting/image retention during my usage. If you look hard enough, you can find fault in anything.

 

Even in cases where I have surfed the web for over an hour, the static elements of the web page have not produced enough persistence for me to see it on my typical background (usually a photo of some sort). My typical brightness setting is 11-12.

I do not believe I would have noticed a problem if it wasn't for reading about it on these forums.

On a non screen related note. Can anyone point me to the currently recommended best driver for the touchpad?

My driver is a synaptics driver version 15.3.6.0 . It is the one that was installed from the factory.

 

If you're going touchpad only, the Synaptics one from the Synaptics site. It's not so cool with the TrackPoint scroll though.

I don't think backlight brightness causes it to be worse, but increases the issue's visibility.

 

I guess Lenovo could have sold you anything labeled "premium". The problem is just because it is $50 upgrade you think how great deal you got. No my friend, by definition a premium display should not exhibit such problem no matter how much it is sold for over a regular display (which does not have the issue).

I would be curious to see whether the P220 from LG has the same problem as it will use the same 12.5-inch IPS. Guess what, it will sell for less with the same full voltage i5 cpu than the X220. (based on what is out on engadget and electronista)

 

I think it offers excellent value at $50 when you consider it's a better LCD than all but a few laptops being sold today. You're taking a minor issue, that's not to say it's not relevant to a few users, most people will probably never see unless they go looking for it and making it out to be some major flaw. You don't even have a X220. Why do you care? If it bothers you that much, buy something else. It's as simple as that.

 

ZaZ,
First of all, you do not know whether I have/had and/or seen and/or tried out one of the X220s. I always have had IBM/Lenovo and the only reason why I am hesitant with the X220 is because the IPS image retention. And I did have it under my hands and saw it.

Perhaps it has never occured to you that "premium" should be a quality upgrade above the "regular" offering without sacrificing performamce and offering additional value. The definition of "premium" according to Webster is " a high value or a value in excess of that normally or usually expected" See, paying the premium is something extra (IPS) to the base display in Lenovo's case and the image retention is a major issue period. Make it worse, Lenovo came out with an explanation that sounded like a fairy tale.

I admit, most of the people including you either have a perfect screen or cannot notice it (maybe they are blind) but there are others who actually care about when they pay premium for it and they do that because they need the extra benefits and NOT sacrifices. Besides, I think this is a clear case of defrauding the consumer because Lenovo does not disclose it on the sale page that
"Our premium displays have image retention and the regular option does not exhibit this problem".

And gues what, people like myself who are pissed about this may go away from Lenovo and tell to another 100-200 people that Lenovo is selling sub-standard premium displays.

 

you have a few dozen posts on various forums asking about the IPS panel.   unless i'm mistaken this post is the first time anywhere that you've mentioned actually using an IPS X220 first-hand.   pardon our skepticism but we're not sure what to think at this point.

if you've truly used one then you should have enough information to either buy an X220 or buy something else.   continuously agonizing over the issue isn't helpful to the community at large.   it's becoming rather apparent that we can't help make the decision for you despite numerous owners (the author of this thread included) saying how happy they are with their displays.

 

By that logic, every computer model would have a book of fine print associated with them. The Dell Latitude E6400 would have a disclaimer that under abnormally heavy load, there could be overheating and severe throttling. The HP Elitebook 8440p would have a note that fan noise may be annoying loud to some users when the laptop is placed under stress. The Thinkpad T520 would come with a notice that the FHD display would exhibit--like most other high-gamut displays--a tendency to be "over-red" if not calibrated properly.

It's not a bait-and-switch: you're getting an IPS display when you select the premium display option. Yes, the colors are better. Yes, the viewing angles are better. You also happen to get a display that may also have some ghosting and bleeding issues. Could the IPS display that the X220 uses be better? Definitely. But would I take it over the base display? Definitely.

Really, it's up to you to do the research and evaluate whether those cons are worth the pros. If not, don't choose it.

Now, a bit more back on topic:
Thanks, OP, for the detailed comments. No doubt those observations will help people make the decision of whether to splurge $50 for the IPS panel.

 

In this current stage I will not buy the X220 period. I looked at 2 pieces of them. One yesterday in a store in London and my friend's 1 month old couple of weeks ago. Both of them had severe image retention. The store owner could not believe his eyes when I showed the image retention on the laptop.

My neighbour will receive his X220 sometime this coming week and I will check that as well.

I am sorry but only Lenovo's IPS display exhibits this issues. I do not care about that all of you are happy with something that is clearly sub-standard quality. I do not care that you pay premium for this the lowest quality IPS in Laptop I have ever seen due to the image retention. But if I pay premium for something then I expect the quality as described. And I am sorry but on the sale page Lenovo does not disclose that the IPS display has image retention after 5-10 minutes!!!!

So no need to worry erik Lenovo will most like lose a valuable customer (as I always have had IBM/Lenovo).

There is a little difference here:
1) Lenovo issued a service advisory or tip or let's call it fairy tale about the behaviour of this display. It is half baked and if you show it to a display engineer the engineer will scream!
2) Lenovo knows about this problem period. They should include this in the specifications that the display cannot be used for certain image related work because of the image retention.
3) Since this display has this image retention issue after 5-15 minutes, how will this change when the display will be 1-2 yrs old? Do we know that? No, because according to Lenovo this is normal.

I agree with you, most of these computer manufacturers are crooks and do not do the right thing to take responsibility. That is why I will not buy the X220 with IPS until Lenovo fixes it. Not a big deal.

I want to thank for the OP for the very thorough review and tests. I think this is extremely valuable for those who want to decide whether to buy it or not. And I do agree, this is an excellent machine but the IPS display....

 

You pain yourself over a marketing term.

That may be good for your health. There are plenty of choices out there.

Why bother?

Just vote with your wallet. But I doubt anyone at Lenovo will shed any tears over your decision. There is much more to life.

 

Honestly, I couldn't really care less. You obviously don't seem to like the X220, which is perfectly acceptable. Buy something else and suffer your fate.

 

I can live with the IPS screen, but not the trackpad. Now I'm still trying to get used to the trackpoint.

 

I found the trackpad very good and after tweaking the settings I actually liked it. (But that's just me)

 

Thanks for the review OP.

From what I've been reading about the X220, it sounds like a really good machine, just with a lot of flaws that people just complain about. I really do like the X220 but a lot of reasons prevented me from getting it. Mostly it was because I had already gotten a T410 last year. But things such as the smaller resolution, 7mm HDD standard, and "weird" trackpad would also have deterred me from getting one. Bottom line, IMO, Lenovo could have done much better designing the X220. Can't wait to see the next X-series.

 

Adding a mini-review before this turns into another IPS discussion ;-)

Specs: i5-2410, 4 GB ram, 320 GB 7200 RPM, 9 cell, IPS Display. I'm comparing to the base MBP 13" 2011 with ram upgraded to 8 gb.

- The weight and build quality is excellent. My MBP 13" feels positively heavy after using the x220. The build quality is such that it feels solid yet you dont feel the need to baby it to keep it in pristine shape (unlike the MBP). Very little flex on the screen bezel. No flex in the body. The lid and the lower portion have a soft rubbery feel. In all, while the MBP feels solid because of the aluminum and the great finish, I prefer the x220 because the body doesn't get warm, and the material seems like it wouldn't scratch as easily as the MBP.

- Battery life is great as well. With the 9 cell, it estimates 10-12 hours of web browsing at medium-low brightness (which seems accurate in my 3-4 hours of battery usage). Around 9-10 hours when running an ubuntu VM and coding/testing in browsers. At full brightness, it still estimates between 8-9 hours of browsing. All these numbers are excellent. It means I can charge it overnight and then use it throughout the day without charging it once. Have never had a full powered laptop that could do this! My MBP lasts around 6-7 hrs in browsing and 5 when working in a VM.

- The IPS display is also great. No burning or image retention at all. Nothing shows up in normal usage, and just for this post I turned on full brightness on the black TP background, and used my browser for 25 mins. I expected to see the static parts (close/min/max buttons + browser controls) to leave some sort of burn-in but there was nothing at all. The only bad part is that there are a couple of bright spots on the LCD. Not noticeable in normal usage, but with full brightness and a white background I can see two spots that are a little brighter.

- Have not noticed any throttling/fan issues in normal usage either.

- The trackpad isn't great as other reviews have found. I can live with it and get used to it though.

In conclusion, I find this to be a much superior purchase (at $750 all in) compared to my MBP ($1350 all in) in terms of hardware. Software-wise, I personally prefer OS X, but I'm having a hard time going back to MBP after using this great little machine. The power, portability, upgradeability, docking options etc make it a very complete laptop. And at a great price! If only windows wasn't such an @#$@# (the default option in windows update is to restart automatically after update- it installed updates and restarted, corrupting my running VM in the process and loosing me a day's worth of work, which could easily have been a lot more had I not had a backup).

 

Some nice mini-reviews, truly. Rep + for both of you

It is a shame that Lenovo took control of the thinkpad line from IBM years ago, as quality of design and build has suffered. But this is what there is. All computers and manufacturers have their little quirks and issues, most are small enough to life with and your reviews do a good job or showing that is true with the X220

I don't know of a single trackpad that is as good as a trackpoint/ mouse/ Wacom tablet as a input method; trackpads were meant as a quick and easy way to use your mobile computer, not as a good sole input method


BTW I do not own, nor have I tried the recent X-series computers, so I am basing what I am saying on my somewhat limited experience with IBM thinkpads, and what people say online about the newer Lenovo thinkpads (though the IBM thinkpads are impressive machines, but they are a little old, true legends among the laptop market)


@ammarr
a little off topic, but some quick advise to get the most out of the X220:
Personally: I always turn off UAC (the annoying pop up thing that asks you if you want to run something or not; of course I want to run it, that's why I clicked it! so I usually disable it), Updates are also always turned off because they really do little to improve the system, and often end up breaking features and at the very least are using system resources (if it updates to a new and buggy driver you have to mess around with getting it back to the way it was. If it is working good there is no reason to fix it -my reasoning for not needing it, and it works well like this on all my systems)... but that's me

also, if you are running a Anti-Virus type of software it is best if you run a light (possibly free one) one because there shouldn't be an issue of viruses of the like if you practice safe browsing habits, and because the larger AV's like Norton or McAfee will do more to interfere with normal operations of your computer than most viruses would, so it becomes backwards logic to use large AV's

@X220 owners
Enjoy your machines

 

@ androsooner, what was the software that Colonel O'Neil suggested for 2 finger scrolling? I looked all over the forum, but couldn't find it.

Thanks!

 

I've used pretty much every ThinkPad made, with the exception of a handful of models made in the mid-90s, and based on my experience I'd say that Lenovo's actually done a remarkably good job of preserving the brand's build and design quality. It's nearly impossible to make direct comparisons though -- some of the "legendary" IBM ThinkPads are two and three times as thick as contemporary laptops, and obviously it's hard to compare across well over a decade of technological progress

Yeah, it's "CHEAP-O" compared to all those other 12.5" laptops with IPS panels... Shame on Lenovo for picking the cheapest and/or only IPS panel of that size...

 

Mind sharing your tweakings, if you happen to disable tapping by any chance?

 

Here is a link to the page:

Downloads - two-finger-scroll - Two finger gestures for Synaptics TouchPads on Windows - Google Project Hosting

I downloaded the most recent one and then disabled the default two finger scrolling option in the touchpad settings.

 

I purchased the X220 with premium IPS display. I am very happy and think it looks great. To each his own...

 

So, the fact that Lenovo charges you only $50 for IPS upgrade you conclude that it must be a "CHEAP-O IPS"?

Find me another non-CHEAP-O IPS of this size. My X220's screen is the best screen I've see on laptop of this size. It's better than the AFFS screen on my X200, as good as (if not better) than the screen on my iPad 2.

LG is one of the supplier of iPad's IPS screen. The shorter size of the iPad screen has the same length and same pixel count as the X220's screen. Given that the X220 IPS screen is also made by LG, I suspect that they are cut from the same panel and share the same characteristics.

I have a Datacolor Sypder 3 Pro which I use to calibrate all my screens. Datacolor also has an iPad photo viewing app which allow you to do in-app calibration (unfortunately, there is no system-wide calibration for iOS). After calibrating both screen, and loading the same set of photos onto both machines, I can confirm that the characteristics of the two screen is highly similar, if not identical. Well, by definition of calibration, the process should make the two screens to display similar color even if they are different animals. But calibration cannot improve contrast, brightness, or color range of the screens. And at least to my eyes, the two are very similar in all these aspect.

If anyone is claiming that Lenovo uses the cheapest low quality IPS screen, while Apple uses high-end top of the line IPS screen on the iPad, they have no idea what they are saying.

 

If *you* re-read his post, you'll notice he also says it doesn't bother him much. On the other hand, it seems it shows to greater or lesser extent on different screens, and mostly if you use solid black background.

I have to wonder, how many of the people who complain about this IPS has used the default X200/X210 matte TN display.

 

I would take issue with that statement and I think the foundation on which you base your observations is so flawed, I'd suggest moving quickly. Internet chatter, where only people with a complaint tend to post, tends to skew the perspective negatively and is a very imprecise tool to measure quality. My X220i is as good as any ThinkPad I've used. Time will tell if it holds up. If you knew the brand well, you'd know IBM certainly produced its share of clunkers over the years.

In some ways, it's just a different world. As ThinkRob said, how do you compare a notebook from the "golden age" that was heavier, thicker and cost 3x as much with one being sold today? People have been telling PC makers with their pocketbooks, not just Lenovo, they want cheaper machines. I'd argue a machine bought today is more portable, gets better battery life and costs 1/2 or less what it did in the "golden age". That's a pretty impressive achievement if you ask me, even if the quality has slipped a bit, which I would not agree with at least where the T, W, and X are concerned. You could argue about the Edge et al, but IBM mostly didn't make those machines.

 

after owning the X220 for a week my feeling is not as happy as the day i got it from friend carrying from US:

1/ Image persistent seems not to happen even when used in long time, but it happened when i started the OS recovery from factory default, the window showing progress of format C harddrive and copy the image took 5 minutes then moved to black background , i see that previvuos window. but when booted to windows for finalize the installation , the persistent image gone.

2/ with the new windows extracting from last factory recover i get some issue with installing some some 32 bits gadet applications, the are failed with the installing and generated some error messages.

3/ with the OS windows installed from factory recover, it took 50 seconds to boot to desktop screen (dont know why), perharp the tweat that Lenovo made for the built in OS when ship to customer but did not make for the OS image on recovery partition (i'm not sure)

4/ from my observe my X220 was unable to reach more than 2501 mhz even the turbo mode enabled on power management app, i use the All CPU gadet (32 bit app) to chec the CPU frequency.

 

I think they might use the same panel for both (except different size cut). It will be interesting to see the LG P220 which was announced last week. This will have a 12.5-inch IPS display. My theory is this, if the LG version in the P220 will not have image retention and we know the iPad does not have then Lenovo may have some other issues. I have a feeling that the panels are just fine but maybe there is a bios issue.

Other than that the panels are amazing.

 

The monitor on iPad touch is not IPS.

It is not that the iPad has no image retention issue. It just that no one has tested it. I find that to reproduce the image retention issue, you have to (1) have a non-moving bright object on the screen, (2) for an extended period of time, and then (3) switch to a very dark/black image (not turning off the screen). Only then will you notice some faint image retention which will disappear in a few minutes. It's hardly an issue with normal use on the X220. The only time I noticed it was when rebooting into Windows after I left my X220 alone a few hours in pre-windows Rescue and Recovery doing backup. I cannot imagine any normal circumstances one would use the iPad in a way that resembles the conditions required to reproduce this image retention issue.

Nonetheless, I will try to load a black image with a white square in the middle onto my iPad, have it display it for a few hours to see if anything similar would happen...

 

1) My apologies for the typo I meant iPad. I corrected in my post.
2) Yes, I think it would be great if you could test the iPad display. Please keep us updated.

 

Excellent perspective! Comparatively speaking, the X200/X201 TN displays are, er, rather lifeless.

(I still keep my X201. Quite charming in its own way.)

 

Ok, I'm almost sure that the X220 and iPad 2's screen (the LG version) are from the same panel.

I am able to produce the image retention issue on my iPad 2 as well. Not all iPad/iPad 2 has the LG screen, as Apple typically buys screens from multiple vendors. But if you believe that yours is the LG version, try this:

View attachment black.bmp
View attachment square.bmp

- Download the two pictures onto your iPad
- Turn auto sleep off, and set brightness to maximum
- Load the picture with white square and black start in the middle, and let it be displayed for an extended period of time (say, one hour)
- Then go to the all-black picture, and you should be able to see some image retention from the previous picture

Don't worry though, the "burn-in" should not be permanent. It should go away in a few minutes. If not.... bring your iPad to Apple store.

NOTE: The "one hour" period of time that I suggest is just a recommended period of time long enough to guarantee the "burn-in" takes place. It does NOT in any way mean that the display on the iPad is of "higher quality" or "fine-tuned" that the issue required a longer period of time to be reproduced than on the X220.

 

Thank you for the test, great job! Now we know much more.
As a sidenote, you do know that your discovery with the iPad screen can trigger an "avalanche". (?)

Again, many thanks for the test and for the update.

 

As LG is the supplier for the iPad 2's IPS display, that wouldn't surprise me. Someone else has brought up the issue before as well, with little response. Could be that laptop usage patterns make the "burn-in" more prominent than it does on the iPad 2.

 

I am not sure but maybe the iPad has more "fine tuned" bios/driver for this display that reduces the effects than the Lenovo does. On the Lenovo IPS it takes approx 10-20 minutes but on the iPad it takes an hour (?) according to Khtse's test.

 

No. You cannot fine tune bios for hardware "issue" like this. As a remedy on the software side, screensavers can be used. In fact, this is what screensavers are for.

It doesn't really take an hour for the issue to be reproduced on the iPad. Don't mis-quote me. When I recommend "an hour", that's just a suggestion of a period of time long enough to guarantee the effect is going to happen. If I were to suggest you to reproduce the same problem on X220, I would also suggest an hour. As a matter of fact, when I tried to reproduce this issue on my X220, 10-20 minutes is not enough.

As I mentioned, the reason why this issue wasn't brought up (or wasn't brought up often enough for people to be paranoid) on the iPad has to do with usage. First of all, this is hardly an issue on a laptop in normal day to day use and it is definitely and overblown issue. It is even harder for it to be an issue on a tablet. On a laptop, it may happen sometimes that you have a window or a photo opened up, and then you went to get a drink and left the image sit still there for, say, half an hour or an hour. If it also happen that you have screensaver AND display auto-sleep/dim disabled, they you MAY notice the "burn-in", which will go away in a few minutes when you come back. On a tablet device? You probably never encounter "usage" like this.

 

I did not mean to misquote you. That is why I used a question mark (?) in my post because I was not sure.

Is that possible that you could post pictures of both? I think this would make it even better to see.

On the other hand, I think we can conclude that the iPad 2 display most likely is a very close "relative" of the X220.

 

No. The "burn-in" is very faint on both, it will be very hard to capture on photo. The effect is not any stronger on any of them, and it doesn't affect normal usage at all.

The only reason I bought this issue on the iPad up is that, some people, who really has no idea what they are talking about, are making baseless claim that Lenovo is using "cheap" IPS display on the X220 when compared to "other IPS screens" on the market.

 

Unfortunately I do not live near any stores that carry this model to view the IPS panel issue myself so I am trying to get a good idea of how bad it is. I am on the fence after reading this thread. I really wanted the IPS panel for photo editing but now I feel I should just get the regular panel.

If I opt for the NON "Premium HD" screen would I have an issue with this faint burn-in?

I am assuming that both panels are not matte finish as it doesn't specify during customization process?

Thanks for the help and great forum.

Rob

 

Both displays are matte. Only the premium IPS exhibits more or less ghosting. If I were you I would somehow compare the two.

 

Just go check out the iPad screen, they are everywhere. X220's screen is the same as iPad, but a 16:9 matte version (see my posts on the last few pages). The "issues" of this screen are overblown - all these "issues" also exist on the iPad. You won't notice it when using it. You will notice them if you really want to and try. Go to any store any play with an iPad 2, and if you don't notice these problems on it, you won't notice them on the X220.

You have to be an idiot to pick the standard TN panel over this IPS. Especially for photo editing.

 

Ok thanks for the input. I own an iPad 2 and have no issues with the way the display looks so I think I am going to save up a bit more and grab the X220. I can use it for work and basic photo stuff.

Thanks again,

Rob