Need nice screen: X220 or bust?

Posted in the "What notebook to buy" forum but didn't get any bites, so I thought maybe I would come straight to the source and ask the Lenovo experts here.

I am looking for a new laptop to replace my noobish netbook.

I am a professional photographer and as soon as I heard Lenovo was releasing the X220 with the IPS screen, I was very excited. Viewing photographs with optimal colour accuracy is of utmost importance to me. It has great battery life and is lightweight, which are very nice (I don't like lugging around weight/extra stuff).

Unfortunately, some of the specs of the X220 are not ideal for my tastes.

What I don't like about it:

- although I can deal with it, the resolution is not great (768 vert...)
- USB 3 only available on i7 option
- no quad-core option
- pricing at the i7 option is likely to be pretty hefty

What I would really like in my new notebook is:

Necessity:

- a high-quality display, maximum 14"; even if it's not IPS, it still has to have excellent quality for colour/contrast/viewing angles/etc. (adjustable would be great, since I have a display calibrator)
- Sandy Bridge CPU (more future-proof), i5/i7 quad if available

Would like:

- USB 3 for fast file transfer on the field (photography needs)
- portability (like to keep it around 4 lbs, give or take)
- good battery life (6 hours ideal minimum)

I have no preference to any brands. I've checked out other options such as the Sony CA, Sager NP5160, IdeaPad Y460p (great deal with coupon code), and so on; the variety of options have me flustered. I'm gonna buy online and get cheapest HDD/RAM so I can upgrade them myself.

Are any of the above (or others) a better fit for me around that $1k +/- price range? Or do I have to bite the bullet and get the top-end X220?

P.S. Hoping to get this by early June.

 

Well until the CTO come out, x220 would be your best bet. There are no other sub 14" notebooks with a decent screen with IPS. There are many sacrifices to get the 12" form factor.

Getting a quad core in a 12" would not be a good thing. The x220 is thinner than ever so it would mean heat dissipation would not be as good as a normal notebook.

If you want a notebook with higher resolution, you can look for an x201 or x200. x200 offers 1440x900 but you don't get IPS.

 

In anything 14" and less, IPS is the only good screen. Vertical res is only down by 32 pixels and won't go any lower in future models. If you were able to adjust from 4:3 to 16:10, this will hardly take any getting used to for an otherwise flawless (literally) notebook.

They make flush USB3 expresscard adapters.

Why do you need quad-core Sandy Bridge to future proof when Core 2 Duo isn't even remotely close to being lacking.

Skip the i7 and and you can be around $1100-1200 with the i5 and IPS.

 

I had forgotten about the expresscard slot, that makes a big difference, then I wouldn't have to be forced to go i7 for the USB3.

Quad core would be nice but not a deal breaker, obviously. Running some of my programs like Lightroom 3 and CS5 is very CPU-intensive, my C2D on my desktop is slower than a snail... I'm sure with S-Bridge it'll be a massive upgrade, along with SSD to break out of that bottleneck.

Thank you for your advice/recommendation.

Speaking of which, will there be some coupon codes/deals for the X220 when they release? I need the laptop by June at the latest probably.

 

Adobe CS5 apps run fine on i5, even with Intel HD Graphics. Will be faster on Sandy Bridge i5. No need to get an i7 for your X220.

If you think of SSD, also consider more RAM for the CS5 apps. 6GB should be great.

 

Given how cheap DDR3 RAM is, you can get 8 GB for ~70-80 dollars.

Lenovo will typically offer 10-15% off coupons at initial release, but no higher. Only towards the holidays will you get more coupons/codes.

 

There are decent TN panel laptops from the likes of Sony, but that decent is on a different scale from the one a photographer should be using. You shouldn't consider anything but IPS, AFFS, and SPVA. Regardless, you should probably be looking at something like an NEC 2090Uxi or Eizo S2100 at your workstation, and the X220 would have the benefit of being workable on the road. If you stick with IPS for your external monitor, at least when you calibrate it you should be working with fairly similar output between the two. The nature of colors on PVA and IPS are significantly different, and it will throw a wrench in your color work even with perfect calibration. Still though, the backlights will be different, so it kind of depends on how picky you are.

You are calibrating, right?

 

Will definitely go for 8GB, RAM is relatively cheap aftermarket anyway.

Speaking of SSD, what is the best option in terms of setup:

a) take out the stock HDD, put in a 7mm SSD as main/boot drive, and use the HDD in an enclosure for external storage

b) get Intel 310 mSATA SSD and use that as boot drive, and leave the stock HDD as internal storage

I think that's how it is, as far as my understanding goes for SSDs on the X220.

Where does one usually find these coupons at release?

I won't be able to wait till any major shopping holidays, since I will need it by June, hopefully earlier.

 

I hope it'll be better than the 10% student discount. Otherwise the next big sale will probably be at Memorial Day.

 

Depends on how much space you need. I'm going with the mSATA + HDD to get OS speed and at least 320gb storage.

Look for coupons at thinkpads.com, and logicbuy.com.

 

Actually funny enough, directly from Lenovo.

Yeah student discounts for me have generally been worse pricing than their normal coupons.

 

is the x220 ips screen better than the 15" FHD ? other than for viewing angels

 

I will be calibrating, yes. Most likely I will wait for the X220's release.

I don't have the moolah for an Eizo at home though, I'd rather use that money for more lenses

Memorial Day, that's the end of May, correct? How significant is the savings, approximately?

That was what I am leaning towards as well; SSD for boot/apps/workflow and HDD for everything else.

Where does the mSATA SSD go again?

 

I never understand why manufacturers giving out their own coupon codes for newly release products...

Awesome avatar, BTW. Haruhi FTW

 

We rarely get any decent coupon codes in Euro land. I mean they only just released the T420 here and what coupon code do we get? 5% off a T510... marvellous.

 

I just looked at last year's Lenovo coupons on thinkpads.com. 10-15% depending what model, so not great. Hopefully they'll have 15% off like they did with the T420/420s when the X220 comes out.

mSATA goes in the WWAN slot.

 

Adunno about viewing angels...lol

I thought most IPS screens also have better color gamut/reproduction over TN panels.

To stimulate sales I suppose. Average joe schmoe sees the price of a ThinkPad and it boggles their mind.

Yes I <3 Haruhi

Hrmm adunno about UK, it holds true for US. I always knew that EU always got products late, or not at all and were always way overpriced than US pricing..

 

The w520 fhd has 95% gamut? I havent seen x220 ips but would think thats not higher

 

Gotcha. Not that I need WWAN anyway.

If you <3 her, why did you change your avatar??? haha

 

Gamut isn't the only important factor in color work. You also have to take into account where the gamut is lacking, if you have that information, and also viewing angles as with poor viewing angles colors will vary from edge to edge depending on where your eyes are in relation to the screen.

 

You know, I am kind of ashamed to say this, but I can't seem to appreciate the finer aspects of this discussion on screens their qualities. I have used both the R400 and the X201 and have found them to be perfectly adequate for what I do - which includes watching grainy b/w documentary footage, colour films and very occasionally images.

Especially where the X201 is concerned, the question of "viewing angles", which apparently the IPS screen on the X220 is said to improve completely baffles me. As it is, the 12" screen is small - best suited to single viewership. So, how does an improvement of viewing angles help...unless of course...well, that's better left unsaid!

I can appreciate the issue of brightness and of the richness of colour, but the rest of it?

Except for you folks who work with images and movies etc., don't the panels that come by default work for you? I have previously used Vaio machines and their panels are reputed to be relative good. I have also use - but very briefly - Macs and their screens are said to be even better. But I have not really found them to furnish me with such a stark and noticeable experience that I would be constantly aware of the much-discussed lackings of ThinkPad panels (and indeed, of panels of other brands).

It will be obvious to you that I don't know too much about screens and panels on laptops. So, do make the necessary allowances.

Thanks

 

The 15.6" FHD screen for W510 is an outstanding one with 95% color gamut. When used in combination with W510's built-in color calibrator, that screen is a serious contender for photo-editing. Most likely, the X220 IPS screen does not come with "wide color gamut".

 

@Line of flight
I would agree with you if it was a couple month ago, but after using an iMac for a couple of week and going back to the "crappy screen" of my Dell, it light and day. After you get a taste of heaven and going back to something less than that, it is not easy. But currently I getting use to the screen on my Thinkpad.

 

Does anyone know if the quality of the screen on thinkpads are related to the "premium'ness" of the laptop itself? Not knowing if this is 100% true but for me and the 2 of the 3 laptops I currently have were considered 'premium' at the time.
I can tell you the screen on my Envy is pretty damn up there and that I prefer to use it over an Eizo at work.
The Sony TZ I have which is about 4 years old was the best screen I've seen on a laptop at the time. Excellent color and it's viewing angles are very TV like.
The X120 not as great. Not so good Vertical viewing angle and color gamut not 100% there. I still use it alot because of its 32bit OS and a few legacy output devices at work. But I can not use it for high quality color work or some post production with photos. Other than that, I like that little guy.

Which leads me to the X220. For the cost, I'm assuming it'll be considered a 'premium' notebook. And with the option of IPS, that'll be the bomb! But one concern...1366x768 resolution is just a bit low for me. I still am thinking of getting one anyways but If they had 1600x900+IPS, I'd be on it on day 1. So that leads me to my next question....
In reviews you have t420/t420s/t520/w520. The only one out of those that gives a somewhat positive outcome for screen type is the w520. Does that mean the T-series isn't that great?! I really like the specs of the t420/t420s with HD+ but if the quality isn't there... well I probably will settle with the x220+IPS for now.

 

^^^ Each product offers a number of screen options. You have to identify which one!

The T420s, one option: HD+ 1600x900. The T420, two options: HD 1366×768, HD+ 1600x900. T520 three: HD 1366x768, HD+ 1600x900, FHD 1920x1080. W520: two: HD+ 1600x900, FHD 1920x1080.

The FHD panel for T520/W520 is better. The HD+ panel for T420/420s is good.

 

True story.

I once made a PowerPoint presentation on my ThinkPad (using the ThinkPad screen). There were a few diagrams in the presentation, and I used different background colors to mark different types of labels. Choosing the right background colors is tricky. If they are too light, the audience cannot see the colors. If they are too dark, the audience cannot see the text. But I found the right shade of light green and light blue, so it was all good.

Or so I thought. When the day of presentation arrived, I stood in front of the audience, and the background colors were almost invisible, which made the visual effects a bit less effective. The colors from the projector are not the colors I saw on my screen. The problem is that the gamma curve (shades of gray transition from dark to light) on the projector was different from what I saw on the screen, hence the mismatch.

Fine, I thought to myself. I can solve this problem. I went out and bought a colorimeter and calibrated my ThinkPad screen. But that did not really solve the problem, for the following two reasons:

1. Screen contrast became too low after calibration. Before calibration, contrast was around 160:1. Not great, but acceptable. After calibration, it dropped to around 110:1. Everything looked even more washed out.

2. The gamma curve for the screen changes drastically with vertical viewing angle, so I have to look at the screen head on to see the right gamma curve. If my head is too high or too low, or if the screen is angled too far back or too far front, the colors (more specifically, the lightness of colors) would still be wrong.

I simply could not get sufficient gamma curve stability for even simple tasks such as making color diagrams in PowerPoint presentations.

So I bought an IPS desktop monitor and that was the end of the story.

 

I wonder (having never used an Eizo before) how good the Envy screen is, if you prefer it over the Eizo, the industry gold-standard for proper display. Are they calibrated? Logically, I just cannot sense why ANY laptop screen would be preferred over the best screen on the market (which is generally more $$ than an actual laptop).

I've done plenty of prints off an online pro lab and they are very colour-correct in accordance to my Dell 2311 IPS monitor.

 

Which calibrator did you use?

For different types of displays, there are different profiles that one should choose carefully for the "correct" output. Probably the projector sucked though

But yeah, IPS is definitely, as Charlie Sheen would say, winning.

 

And, this has made a discernably positive difference? Very interesting. I did not know there was so much involved in this matter.

On a similar note, I recently, made a presentation (PPT) which I created on my X201. I also used a number of high-contrast colours to highlight arguments, data etc. Since I was not allowed to take my laptop into the presentation room (stupid security measures, btw) I had to email it prior to my presentation to the folks concerned. On the day of the presentation, I did not find any difference between what I had originally created on the X201 and what I saw being projected by the OHP system.

It may just be the case that I am less aware of the play of colours and shades when it comes to matters like this.

 

Yeah I know each model may have different screen options. Well what I'm looking for is a resolution between HD and FHD. Since I already have a 15.6 FHD which is my primary work CPU, it looks like my only options are HD+. It'll be for a secondary work/home laptop. I walk to work everyday so weight does make a difference. Another 15.6 would be out of the question.

But I would be willing to settle for the x220 IPS due to its supposed high quality screen. Although in an ideal world I'd probably go for the dreamcolor HP WUXGA screen.

 

Good question. I'm sure the Eizo is better than the Envy's matte FHD screen. And Yes they are calibrated. The main reason for me is convenience and space.
No space for a monitor to be setup at my workstation. We have 5 Eizo's. 2-24inch (WUXGA) & 3-20in (1680x1050). All are taken but 1, and that 1 sits next to a phone that can ring all day long. I choose to setup as far as i can from it Plus the i7 in the Envy seems to be a lot better (minus the heat) than the dual-core 6600 xp desktop that monitor sits on.

 

A Huey. I know, it is pretty low end stuff, but I thought the hardware was decent. The software that came with it, not so much. I solved that problem by using ArgyllCMS instead of the bundled software.

The projector was not great, but it was not too bad either. From a casual inspection, it does not drift too much from 2.2 gamma & the sRGB color space, which is all you can say for consumer-grade equipment. My problem really was with the vertical-viewing-angle-dependent gamma shifting on the (ThinkPad X30) screen.

Not all TN panels suck that much. For example, I played with a MacBook Pro the other day, and the gamma shifting was not nearly as pronounced as on ThinkPads, and I was pretty impressed. For some reason, IBM (and later Lenovo) appears to go out of their way to find the worst TN panels (in terms of both contrast and gamma shifting) on the entire planet and put them on ThinkPads.

For my needs, a good TN panel would have sufficed. But if you give me the option to get my hands on an IPS panel at a reasonable price, you bet that I will not let the option go wasted.

 

Probably the same reason why most prefer reading Sports Illustrated on the sofa next to an Ikea floor lamp to reading the same material at a desk with controlled 65K lighting.

 

You want "the best", but then question the price? The best is never cheap. You can look at some tablets like the Fujitsu T730 or T900, which offer the iX CPUs, but they'll be more expensive than the X220.