T400 & SL300 LCD Quality

Hello all:

I keep going round and round on a new laptop and it seems to be turning in to a crusade rather than a simple tool purchase. The biggest problem is that very few candidates are available locally so I can't take a look up close and personal like.

At any rate I wanted 1st hand opinions on the screen quality for professional photo work of the T400 and SL300 with LED backlights. How do they compare to the screen on the Macbook Pro? I'm not a mac-type (and would rather not go down that road) but it's easily the best screen I've seen in person. So how does the Lenovo's compare to the MBP?

I haven't seen the Dell Studio but has anyone compared the 15" back lit, high-res screen to the X400?

As a related question has anyone profiled (with a physical colorimeter) the X400 or SL300? How well did it work?

Finally, the SL300 doesn't seem to be well regarded but for the price it looks to be a better bargain. I don't care about aesthetics, will only be using the unit lightly on the road, and have no expectations from previous ownership, so I would appreciate any comments that would justify the extra 400 bucks (canadian) for the X model.

Thanks very much in advance for any insights.............
Doug

 

The SL is a ThinkPad in name only in my opinion. If you want a budget ThinkPad, I'd suggest the R series.

Unfortunately, most notebook screens are junk nowadays. They're all mostly using the same panels. LEDs are brighter and offer better battery life, but do not enhance image quality.

If you're looking at Dell, the M4400 with the RGB-LED WUXGA is worth a look. I hear it's quite nice, though I've not seen it one myself. It starts around $2k with the screen.

If you're on a tighter budget, I might suggest the ThinkPad T60 with FlexView(IPS) screen. It was last offered on the 15" SXGA+ and UXGA T60. It offers phenomenal viewing angles and is color consistent. My T42 had it. It remains the best screen I've used and I've seen the MBP. You'd be limited to a Merom Core 2 Duo and 3GB of memory, but the screen can't be beat. You can probably get the SXGA+ version for around $600-700 or the UXGA for $1k. Some are still under warranty, meaning you could extend it if needed. Other than eBay, the Marketplace forum on ThinkPads.com is a good place to look for them.

I don't know if you're interested in a Tablet, but a few like the X200t and the Fujitsu T5010 offer IPS screens.

 

Thanks Zaz

I had come across a reference to the Dell RGB backlight before but for some reason the Canadian website will not list it as an option and though it is mentioned it can't be ordered.

Dell is a bear to deal with at the best of times: trying to order cross-border is probably a nightmare, especially with returns (always a likely event with Dell IMHO).

Never mind the comment above regarding the Studio 15 --> after reading through the reviews I don't think it's what I'm after.

Thanks
Doug

 

If you can find an x61 Tablet with SXGA+ (it is now discontinued) you may be well served by that as well. It offers a 12.1" FFS screen at 1400x1050 of very high quality. It's not overly bright but it should get the job done. Additionally, the digitizer input on the screen could be very useful for photo work (make sure you install the Wacom driver for pressure sensitivity).

The x200 Tablet's screen is exceptional as well. However, it is only 1280x800 (may be too small for your needs), and it is relatively expensive.

 

THanks for the info jonlumpkin.

Must admit I got pretty excited there for a minute but in the end a big let down. I had seen a couple x61t's listed on the lenovo outlet pages for Canada and in checking the list showed two with the sxga+ screens and only 1099 in Canadian bucks. But, alas, a quick call and I found that they were all long gone. Bummer. Looking at the used prices it seems that to get it down to a reasonable price point the performance of the older machines may be come a bigger issue than screen quality.

The x200 looks nice but the problem isn't the screen resolution --> it's the price. So I've got to restate my original question:

Can anyone give me an opinion for the X400 LED screen compared to the 15" mac book pro, particularly the slightly older MBP with the matte screen? Is it as good?

Thanks again
Doug Morgan

 

There's a SXGA+ X61t for sale on ThinkPads.com if you're interested.

Link

 

I did see that one and thought that the price was just too high for my purposes.

Though a Lenovo Canada salesperson (not a repair person) said the warranty "should" carry over I have to figure worst case that they may not honor the accidental damage, extended warranty, or even the regular warranty and it would have to be sent back to the states at much greater expense if there are any issues. I know they won't do onsite for sure. Factoring in xchange rate and shipping as well left me thinking that the less resolution on the x200 would still be a much better deal and about the same dollar outlay.

The models that were advertised closer to what I am willing to pay were several generations older for processor/chip sets and would have issues from that.

I don't really want a tablet -- I just want the screen from a tablet, I guess. I have a very hd workstation at home with 22" crt and large intuous tablet so the laptop/tablet won't get used much for editing. I do need to be able to get a quick (and relatively accurate) appraisal of my work on the road as well as the mundane task of backing up from CF.

Unless I win a grand in the lottery tonight or tomorrow I think it's come down to either the T400 or a new-old-stock MBP 15" that's available locally. The T400 would be cheaper and a bit smaller if the screen is comparable.

Thanks
Doug

 

T400* . The x200 screen will not serve you well for color critical work, unfortunately (don't I wish it too!). The t400 screen would probably not be a great screen for your purposes either, but it is likely better than the x200's...

Good luck on your search.

 

The Dell Latitude E6500 (and Precision M4400) use the same matte WXGA+ LED backlight screens that were used for the previous MPB. Those screens, however, come from four different suppliers, Apple used all of that, Dell probably does too, so their quality could vary.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-E6500-Notebook.11958.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Apple-MacBook-Pro-15-Notebook-Santa-Rosa.4227.0.html


As for the T400, the 14.1 screens are generally mediocre, and it's been so for a while, so if screen quality is really a concern for you, I would suggest you choose a different size notebook.

This below will give you an idea what to expect, the screen could be slightly less or more mediocre depending on the supplier.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-E6400-Notebook.12875.0.html


I don't think that the SL300 is really worth talking about...
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-Thinkpad-SL300-Notebook.11972.0.html

 

Thanks folks...

I was hoping someone would say the t400 would save me from the iHerd or Dellmart but I guess that's where I have to turn.

Doug

 

You could get a MBP and run Windows with bootcamp but with the price differential between a T400 and an MBP you could probably buy a very nice external monitor. Is an external monitor an option?

When I asked this question regarding the T400 I was told the best display was the backlit LED but the quality would depend on the particular screen vendor.


http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=337786

 

Generally, Macs don't play too nice with Windows - their power management running Windows is terrible, sometimes lasting only about half how long they can last running OSX. If battery lifetime isn't an issue, then that can be an option.

 

The laptop is for use on the road only. I built my home workstation to render panoramas and it would run circles around any laptop (dual xeon quad cores, 16 GB, raided 15K cheetahs, etc)

The new-old-stock macbooks are actually less than $200 more than the similar configuration for a T400 direct from Lenovo Canada. The T400 is a faster for bus speeds and slower in video. Mac is an inch wider but has of course a 15inch screen: the weight is even very close. New macs don't have the matte screen and the price difference is quite a bit steeper.

The thing is that for the mac I can probably do 75% of what I need in OS X and ironically I would only really need bootcamp for my windows-licensed version of photoshop and a couple programs I wouldn't use on the road very often. Using photoshop would almost certainly be on shore power so I don't think batter life would be an issue.

On the other hand if I gave up on some or all of the touch pad features I could probably just load windows over OS X and not worry about bootcamp.

Other than that I'm looking in to the Dell Latitude E6400, E6500, M2400, and M4400 which seem to be the only offerings that fit the bill. Comparing these offerings to the Macbook the Apple looks even better since Dell favors last years' parts and attracts such mixed reviews. Having had a nasty experience with them a few years ago I'm not thrilled with giving them money again.

Thanks
Doug