Screen advice for T61: Oh, Brother...

Well, I got my T61 opened today, and I am excited. I still need to do a clean install of Vista, but here is a question:

I looked up my part number for my T61 screen, and it is a Samsung. The picture isn't terrible, but there is some serious backlight bleed on the bottom, and I don't know if this is what they refer to when they talk about a shimmer effect, but it looks like the lighting isn't even when I look at the screen. It is almost as if it were a gradient wave effect based on the vertical viewing angle.

So, if you all could give me a recommendation on what to do, that would be great. I am a bit upset about the bleeding - it is pretty severe, IMO, and when I looked at joooeee's comparison photographs on my new machine, they were horribly grainy, which was not the case on my Dell with the UXGA (this could just be a resolution probelm with the photos, though). Has anyone had their screen turned into the depot just for this reason?

Thanks,
TT

EDIT: The grain is pretty noticeable as well. Man, I am so sad!

 

This is the way of the world in notebooks right now, a big rush to the middle. Back in the day you wouldn't see this on a ThinkPad, but they cost a lot more back then. Pick your poison. I suppose you could ask for a replacement if you think it's that bad.

 

I am going to take some photographs tonight and see from there what the forum community thinks, which seems like a good way to begin, I think.

 

Is this a 14.1" widescreen or 15.4?
Just wondering, because a friend got the 14.1" Samsung widescreen T61 and said it had no graininess and was a very good panel.

Andrew

 

I've got backlight bleed on the bottom but I don't even see it when I'm using the machine, only when the screen is completely dark ( not being used ) . Why do you even care about this? It does not interfere in any perceptible way with using the laptop.

All this nitpicking and whining gets to me after awhile.

 

I certainly can understand wanting the machine you just paid mucho dinero for to be perfect. Sometimes having too much information isn't necessarily a good thing. One of the consequences of boards like this is it can make people overly anxious as they read about problems others have had their notebook. I think some tend to look for stuff where none exists. People don't see that the vast majority of users are happy customers because people with issues are the most vocal.

 

Exactly this

 

I am calling them today. The backlight is distracting because it makes a band illuminated at the bottom while I am looking at a gradient throughout the rest of the screen. The color starts bending as I am looking at it.

Secondly, I think the screen looks almost dirty. I don't know if that is graininess or what, but in reference to colors, it looks like a cloud for whites and grays. So, I am sorry if I would like a quality product when I drop 1k on a machine, it just bothers me when my 6 year old screen is better than this one.

 

What resolution settings are you using? My default settings under winxp were terrible, but after changing to max resolution, it looked fine.

 

It is at the native 16:10 ratio - 1680x1050, I believe.

 

Samsung here.its a little grainy but i have seen this graininess on almost all matte kind of LCDs.i happened to use a HP some days before and i fully compared them.
The hp is brighter,no graininess at all but the viewing angles were just not satisfactory to me.my samsung proved to have better angles.(the HP had glossy screen)
also,the light and the brightness was not even within the lcd.when it is dark you could easily tell which part is receiveing more light!im glad im having my thinkpad as the samsung screen really doesnt lose to other LCDs.perhaps a bit lower than VAIOs.
after all,having this normal to good LCD shouldnt disappoint you from buying a THINKPAD or regret buying it!
and I DO KNOW that when we look at those clean bright LCDs in other laptops we wish our thinkpad had one of those!
but remember they are mostly glossy and they have their own pros and cons.after all,a happy thinkpas user here.

 

I love my matte screen. That is a huge plus, but I may have to see if I can get the LG panel. I read keh's review (which was very good, BTW), and found the dithering a bummer, but I still think the all-over lighting would be better. I mean, this looks uneven.

EDIT: Just got off the phone with tech support and they were awesome. She did ask me about updated drivers, which I didn't have all of them because I would like to wait until this one problem is fixed so I can do a clean install. Overall, she was very helpful and is sending me a box (I think she didn't want to wait for me to get all the right drivers ) I also mentioned that I would like them to replace the screen with a different manufacturer's screen, so she put that in the notes. I will let you all know.

Aside from the screen, this machine is great - I loved my dell keyboard, but this one is awesome. So is the trackpoint - so much better than my old Dell! And it is so quiet. Thanks for the recommendations on the Thinkpad, forum community.

 

Welcome to my world, Techno. Can you look up the part number for your LCD? I'm interested to know. Go here to do it: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s...=/partslookup/partsLookup.vm&sitestyle=lenovo

 

so basically, you want Lenovo to give you an LG replacement for your Samsung screen, based on nothing else than somebody else's opinion that may or may not be addressing the problem you are facing. And when you get the laptop back and are raving about how good it is, everybody else who reads that post will be at Lenovo's door, demanding a replacement for their 'defective' Samsung screen. Even if it isn't any better but you have to save face and claim it is, because people do this, especially ones who act on sketchy information, like you.

Sounds like a cunning plan.

 

I swear that yesterday it was the 42X4641. I am pretty sure I didn't make the mistake.

Now, the listing is 42T0328. What the heck? It isn't listed in the parts list for the T61, but the 42T0 usually preceeds the LG monitor. I called them, told them that I wanted a different manufacturer. I might have misentered my serial number the first time I entered it, but I swear, the X was there...

IT doesn't matter the number, the screen is awful and they are sending me a box. I am going to go your route and send a detail of the problem. But I will also be taking pictures of the thing before it goes off.

 

Wow, really. That was creative. I am trying to say that aside from the screen, the laptop is great. I don't want them to give me an LG, I want them to give me a different manufacturer. Also, if you have read ANY of the posts about Samsung screens, you would see that mine is not the only problem. They are doing pretty poorly on their own. I didn't even look at the part number. When I first booted the machine there was a glow at the bottom and a wave in the monitor. I didn't demand anything. I feel that there is a problem with my monitor, the pixelation is visible and cloudy, giving the monitor an appearance of being dirty. I think that the customer should have the benefit of a good product - it is not my fault that Lenovo has chosen to put a poor monitor in my otherwise splendid product. So, before you start spamming on "sketchy information", I am going based on what is before my own eyes, which is a dissatisfactory monitor. I was very polite on the phone and things went very smoothly. I have no idea what you mean by "my problem" or "somebody else's" opinion. I prefer to research decisions before having to go through the work of dealing with Lenovo. This was a chance to see if it was worth contacting them because I do not want to ask for something that may be unreasonable.

So, thanks for your otherwise useless input, which was little more than judging me rather than what is actually going on. The tech support rep sided with me, so I hope that settles it in your mind.

 

Locked as per request.

PM me if you want this opened, with a reason of course