Replacing a T400 screen with a T60/T61 one?

I'm new to Lenovo/IBM. I bought a T400 a month ago after reading many good reviews, but the screen quality was so bad (esp. the colours) that I couldn't do any photo editing even though I got the LG which is supposed to be the "good" one. I had to spend extra $$$ on 2 different calibration tools but neither gave good results. This resulted in me spending even more $$$ on a Macbook Pro that also turned out to be unusable as the screen gave me headaches (unfortunately it's not a defect, my friend's MBP gave me headaches too) so now I'm trying to sell it.

Without the bad screen, the T400 is the perfect laptop for me. So my question is, can I replace the screen in the T400 with one of the IPS screens from T60/T61?

The screen on my T400 is 14'' WXGA CCFL.

I saw the replacement screens sell online for $200 or so, but that's nothing compared to what I had to spend (and waste) to get an acceptable screen.



PS. I know you shouldn't do any important photo editing on a laptop screen, but I can't always use an external display.

PPS. The screen is not bad if you don't do much photo editing, so don't let this post put you off if you're considering a T400.

 

The IPS screens are not widescreen and they only came on the 15" models, SXGA+ and UXGA. There was a QXGA IPS offered on the R50p, which some modders have managed to throw on other ThinkPads. I think you're going to find with exception of a few tablets and a few very high end machines, most notebook screens nowadays are junk.

 

I didn't know they only came on the 15'' models. That's disappointing.. but thanks for correcting me.

I know most laptop screens nowadays are bad but I think the T400's is worse than most, even my cheap Acer's screen is better!

Is it possible to replace the screen with another TN one from a different model from Lenovo? I don't think they can be as bad as the T400's.

 

Which Acer do you have? I think it's the old glossy vs matte debate. Glossy screens look better, but come at the cost of some glare. Glossy screens tend to be brighter, which does help a bit with the angles issue, though they're not IPS screens. Most manufacturer's are using the same or similar panels. They're TN panels with limited viewing angles with the exception of a few tablets or high end LCDs like on the W700. I don't know that there's anything out there that's significantly better. The LED screen on the T400 is a lot brighter, but it doesn't improve angles or image quality.

I think your options are to return it or sell it to get something else. If you return it you'll have to pay the 15% restocking fee. There's really no way out of it. You can sell it, but like buying a car, once you take it off the lot it'll take a significant hit in value, probably at least as much as the re-stcoking fee if not more. If you do decide to go this route, I'd suggest picking up a T60 with IPS if you really need a good screen. You'd be limited to a Merom Core 2 Duo and 3GB of memory, which isn't all that much of a downgrade, but there's no better notebook LCD. I've seen some go for $400 on eBay, though who knows the condition. Probably at least $500-600 for a good SXGA+, maybe $800-900 for a UXGA. The marketplace forums on ThinkPads.com is a good place to look for used ThinkPads, though you may pay a bit more there.

You can replace your LCD, but the new one may not be better and could be worse like if it's got dead stuck pixels. There's a link in the sticky to Lenovo's support site showing how to replace LCD. Just keep in mind doing so will void any warranty you have. Good Luck.

 

Would be an external monitor an option for you?

 

The Acer's screen was definitely not IPS, but colours looked way better and much more accurate compared to the T400 (orange is a bit yellowish, yellow is a bit greenish, red is a bit orange). Calibration fixed the washed out colours but did not fix the significant colour inaccuracy.

Returning it is not possible as it was bought from eBay (New, but with minor upgrades) and I don't want to lose more money selling this one, I'm already trying to sell the MBP for 75% of its value and still no luck. I would like to change the screen on this one even if it's another TN panel as I'm sure there are TN panels that are much better than this one.

So my question is, how do I know which screen panels are compatible with the T400? Sorry for the noob question, I've never done it before.

 

Unfortunately, not. Most of my photo editing is done away from an external monitor.

 

I think in the first place you could have gone with the Thinkpad W700 with one of the most gorgeous displays out there, supposedly those are geared towards people like you. Maybe with all the money you put in getting a nice display you could have bought one, but yes, the W700 is expensive and big.

 

I'm very familiar with the wide gamut laptops like the W700, but their screen size defeats the purpose of a laptop. Might as well just buy a desktop.

I'm still searching for information on changing the screen with one that's made for a different laptop. Not much helpful information was found except that most Thinkpad LCDs are compatible with each other. Still trying to find information about wether LCDs from different laptop brands would work on a Thinkpad or not.

Any input on replacing the LCD screen with a different one is greatly appreciated.

 

Perhaps you could pay a 3rd party company to add a glossy finish to the screen. Glossy is a cheap way for manufacturers to make bad screens look mediocre. Although, it sounds like you may be sensitive to glossy screens.

 

ojosch changed the screen on his T61p.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4603691#post4603691

 

Glossy would help with the saturation but it wouldn't fix the color inaccuracy. I'm fine with glossy, it's the LED backlight that my eyes are sensitive to.. imagine how hard it was to find a suitable notebook with a non-LED screen, only to be disappointed with it.

Thank you for the link. I posted my question in that thread.


If anyone has any information about the possibility of replacing the LCD in a T400 with another one that comes in different brand of laptop like Dell or Fujitsu I would really appreciate the info. I cannot work on this screen!

 

Hey, BlueRose

I responded to your posts in the other string if you wanna see my opinion. I would contact smartmicrousa dot com and them if they know of any reasonable options for your size screen if you want to go glossy.

I also just thought of these alternatives. If the idea of glossy is definitely out, then I heard that some T60 and T43 laptops had the option for the Flexview IPS, so maybe you could get one with Flexview, or get a normal one that has the right lid size/bezel, and buy an IPS panel from somewhere or off eBay. I have three older A31 laptops that all 3 had crappy 14" displays on them, and I bought three 15" used lid assemblies for them randomly off 3 different eBay sellers (all cost $50-70 for each one, and two of them just happened to be the Flexview IPS screens, and the third one is junk, but it works. The Flexview ones are beautiful. Most eBay sellers really don't know the difference between the Flexview and the standard one so if you search by part number you might find one at a steal for a price, since the seller may not even know that the Flexview is anything special nor that he is selling one of those in particular. I didn't pay any more for the two I got that WERE Flexview over the other one I got that was not. But don't forget like I said in the other string, the glossy in my T61p is the closest thing to the way the Flexview looks.

If you do decide you want to go that route, go the Lenovo site, and download a hardware manual for a T60 and one for a T43, and you can look down in the parts lists sections and you can get the exact part numbers for the Flexview panels and search for them on Google or eBay and see if you can find a decent price on something used or new.