Software Developer - can't decide between T400 and W500

I'm a software developer, so I love a ton of screen real-estate. I'd like to have something like a 4x3 aspect ratio, but don't want to go back to the T6x and T4x series.

So I'm looking at the T400 with the LED backlight, and the W500. The W500 has the 1920x1200 resolution screen, which would be great, but it's also bigger and heavier... granted, I won't be carrying it around TOO much, but I'd like it to be relatively convenient when I need to.

Also, I'm a little annoyed with the T400's lack of a DVI out... I mean, in this day and age, why just VGA?

Has anyone played with both of these, lugged them around, and, especially, is anyone a software developer or designer and has been able to compare working in 1440x900/14.1" vs 1920x1200/15.4"?

- Tim

 

I am a senior computer science student and I have a 15.4" Thinkpad T61p with LG WUXGA screen. I love the resolution and its great for programming.

T400 is better if you need really long battery life and will be often using your laptop on battery for long periods of time (5+ hours) - LED screen extends your battery life. T400 will be a little lighter but I don't think it is a big difference.

W500 is better if you like a high resolution, desktop-replacement laptop. I do, and I also use it to drive my 30" WQXGA screen.

You can get DVI output from both as long as you have a discrete video card (ATi) and the Advanced Mini Dock. The maximum supported resolution is 2560x1600, which is great for anyone with a 30" screen.

W500 has a Displayport that supports up to 2560x1600, which can be converted to HDMI/DVI with an adapter, but I only know of adapters that support up to 1920x1200.

I have not actually played with T400, but I have with T61p and W500. I like WUXGA on 15.4". If you also like it, I'd go for W500.
I hope Lenovo will offer 1680x1050 on a 14.1" laptop in future, then the resolution difference won't be so big. But 15.4" 1920x1200 vs. 14.1" 1440x900 is quite a big jump. Even the new X200s has 12.1" with 1440x900!

 

Thanks for your well-thought out response! Let me see now...

Yeah, I'd like something that's a desktop replacement laptop... just wish it weren't *quite* so large. I thought my old A31 was large, but the W500 is bigger.

Oh I know, I just was hoping not to be using a dock, that's all... extra expense and all.

Yeah, it seems weird that they used to offer some pretty high resolutions for smaller screens, and now they don't; I'm sure this move to wide-screen ratios has had something to do with it. I've got great eyesight and have no problem with high resolution on a small screen, but it's really tough to find something like that. Perhaps some day laptop manufacturers will realize that not EVERYBODY wants or needs to watch 16x9 movies on their laptops, especially if they use it mostly for software development.

Thanks again for your suggestions... I've got a W500 in my cart on Lenovo, and a T400 ordered, tho' I have to talk to the billing people because I must have mistyped my billing address (the order's held up). Still not *quite* sure which I'll get, because of the size... I've got quite a large laptop case by Tumi, and I'd have to remove one of the side cushions in the laptop compartment (or perhaps REALLY squeeze it in there) for the W500 to fit, so I'd rather not buy yet another expensive laptop case for it.

- Tim

 

If the resolution of your LCD is at most 1920x1200, you can avoid buying a dock with a W500 if you get a DisplayPort -> DVI adapter, which is cheaper than a dock.

By the way, if you are not buying your laptop using CPP you should look it up in google since it usually has much better prices compared to the official lenovo website.

 

I do not believe that the discrete card is required for DVI/DisplayPort output on the T400. You do need the advanced mini-dock, but unless you are using the machine to play games, or making OpenGL calls to the GPU in an application such as Maya, I think that the discrete card is a waste of money and battery life (the GMA 4500 is plenty adequate for Aero, HD video playback, and any 2D application [including extending you windows desktop onto a high res external screen]).

 

Thanks much, I wasn't aware of that!

Do they check you in some database to make sure you're really a contractor?

- Tim

 

I would definitely go with the W500 with the WUXGA(1900x1200) resolution. You like the idea of a lot of screen real estate, especially with coding. I have the T61p 15.4" machine and it is portable for sure. The T400 might be a little smaller and lighter, but I think you will like the W500 more/has more to offer. If you moved around with it all day everyday, then I would say choose a smaller and lighter machine. I can say my machine is pleasantly solid, but not heavy.

 

How do you feel about the belief that the W500 screen is rather dim, whereas the T400 has the LED backlight which makes it usable even outdoors?

I'll often be taking this thing to cafe's to work, for example, and there'll be lots of ambient lighting, both natural and artificial (tho' I probably won't work in direct sunlight much if at all ).

- Tim

 

The screens on the W500 are as far as I know the same models (at least the WUXGA) that have been used in the previous generation(s). I just sit in front of a WUXGA screen right now (though it's a Dell Inspirion, but the screen specs/nits are comparable if not even the same screen). Now that I'm in my room and it's dark outside I have nothing to complain about.

I'm also a computer scientist and use modelling tools as well as Eclipse for software development. The screen real estate is really nice once you got used to it - just try Eclipse in debugger mode once with 1900*1200 and then with 1400*900. The latter will suck after you got used to WUXGA - it's much easier to keep an overview to code segments and whatever. At least for me it improves the workflow a lot.

That said, I'm however myself tempted to buy a T400 with LED backlight and an Advanced Dock together with a new 26" screen. Because when I do serious work I sit at my desk anyways. And I'm more and more tempted to work outside. So that would be a compromise. But with the dim WUXGA screen, you just can't work outside or under bright light. I use WUXGA on my notebook for 4 years now and seriously, even I can read under medium light conditions, it really got on my eyes after a while. I started to move closer and closer to the screen to read stuff. So, your experience might be different but it's certainly an issue.

Seriously, after all the screen quality isn't that bad and sufficient under "normal" conditions, but in my experience too dim to carry to bright places. Maybe you should decide when you do what kind of work, so you could carry a T400 around and do serious development stuff at home.
And also if a W500 with WSXGA+ wouldn't be something in between (a tad brighter than WUXGA, yet no smallish screen real estate).

 

Yes, those are my biggest worries - screen real-estate vs. brightness. I'm sure Lenovo will eventually come out with a WUXGA screen with LED backlight, but I don't have time to wait around for it, unfortunately.

As for where I'll be doing my serious work - well, ideally I'll be doing it on the laptop at a worksite, and on the laptop at home, and on the desktop at home, and at a cafe, etc. That is, everywhere. Though on worksites I'm sure I could get a monitor to use. But it's nice to be able to have that full real-estate at a cafe or without a monitor... grrr.

I wonder if I can find my older Thinkpad tabbook entries and compare them... I've got an X40 and an A31. That A31 has the famous FlexView screen, tho' -- pretty lovely.

I sure wish I could try both of them in various environments to see.

- Tim

 

I have the 1680x1050 screen on the W500. It's an LG and it's plenty fine. I still have my macbook pro, which is going to be sold soon, but it's breaking down. Anyway, the 15.4" 1440x900 LG screen is brighter and better than the one in my W500, but it's not a dealmaker or breaker. The MBP screen is so bright that it's like the brightest around, I think. Lowering the MBP LED screen 2 notches from the top (15-16 total values) is the same as the max brightness on the W500 1680x1050 screen (and this is not an LED screen). The MBP's LED screen is most beneficial when watching movies, and the backlighting is more even, but other than that, no big deal. You're not missing that much. This LG screen in my w500 is the second-best 15" panel that I've ever had. Oh, and at $1200 it's 40% cheaper than a MBP :> (with higher specs, to boot). The weight difference is not that big, which I'm shocked at. However, the thickness difference is very noticeable (1 inch MBP vs 1.4 inches at its thickest point W500).

 

Well, I ended up ordering the T400 anyway, mostly for it's slightly smallerness, and slightly brighterness. I didn't want to get the W500 with the 1680x1050 LG panel that you got - if I was going to get a 15" screen, then I was going to get the WUXGA, and since that one was the dimmer one, got the T400 instead.

I checked and found that the brightness of my X40 is the same as the W500 with the WUXGA screen (175 nits), and it's definitely usable, even in cafe's etc. But the brightness of the T400 w/LED backlighting just seemed more appealing.

Knowing me, I'll most likely regret the purchase after seeing someone's wonderful WUXGA W500 (or just imagining how great it might be ).

- Tim