T400 LED screen difference

*wails* UGH this is why I did not get a T61.. did not want to mess with that luck of the draw thing. Plus Lenovo does not have that nice 30 day no cost return policy of other companies like Dell and HP. Oh well, bye bye T400. I'm picking up a Sony Z. At least I know the screen will look good.

 

I heaaard that! After I graduate, I'm never coming back to Lenovo. Money can easily buy happiness. Whoever disagrees, doesn't freaking have any.

 

looked at the pictures
what jumps out at me is the difference in the red car color, more contrast and more red on one, more washed out on the other. Which one from the first post is the LG and which is the Samsung?

think i'm going to wait for a 15.4 inch led screen. or does this already exist?

 

The higher contrast / more red car is the LG panel. Anything washed out is Samsung.

 

T500 with WXGA LED panel exists in some pre-config model. However, LED hasn't been an option when configuration. I guess that lenovo will add it some days maybe next week or next month.

Notice the already exiting LED panel in T500 is WXGA. Most people may dislike 15.4 WXGA panel. Probably that's why lenovo didn't add it as an option, and I think lenovo is trying to find 15.4 WXGA+ LED panel provider.

 

Unfortunately it's not that simple. The panels in the pictures from the first post are both LG panels. =(

Granted, my Samsung looks more like the washed out LG, but that's probably because they're both faulty panels.

 

So are people receiving more LG's than Samsung's or vice versa? Thinking about ordering but want to know what my odds are for receiving an LG panel. Lenovo said it only depends on what they have in stock.

 

Most people are getting LGs. As far as I know, I'm the only one who's recieved a notebook with a Samsung (although atlguy has one on the way).

Most people have really liked their LGs, although there have been a handful that say it looks bad. My Samsung definetely looks bad*, but Lenovo has offered to fix it. If they get my laptop and tell me that it's working as expected, _then_ I'll have to say that Samsung is garbage, but right now it's just defective.


* The colors are generally washed out: mainly red, which looks more like a sickly orange, and green which is also washed out, neon-green. The horizontal viewing angle is pretty bad, and at what I'd consider a normal viewing angle (tilted back maybe 15 degrees) it's brighter along the bottom edge and up through about the middle of the screen. Unlike rxbltzrx's older Samsung, white actually looks very good...very bright and white, but I'd put that down
to the LED backlight.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I feel better now rolling the dice. Just as others have said though, I also don't want to pay the same and end up with an inferior screen. Hope I get LG ... I just went through a nightmare with Dell.

 

both are LG /w LED backlight screens.
@ strafejumper which display looks more washed out to you, left or right?

 

My T400 that arrived Monday is an LG and one I canceled the week prior was also an LG (according to the S/N).

 

Oh .. if I place an order will I be able to tell by my order specs which screen I'll be getting? I thought people could only tell once the laptop arrived which manufacturer's screen they got.

Any ideas on the AC adapters too? I'm trying to cut weight. Am probably ordering discrete graphics which comes with a 90w charger. They sell a slim 90w and a 65w (I think both are probably smaller/lighter than the 90w that comes standard) - Anyone have opinions or knowledge on these?

 

Well add me to the list of T400 owners with Samsung panels. I have been a long-time lenovo supporter (first laptop was a lenovo) but when I unboxed the laptop last night and booted it up I was incredibly disappointed. Sure the screen is brighter than ever but only along the bottom like yours, with the exact same fade up through the middle. It looks like a giant arrow pointing up to the thinklight. Colors are washed out and no amount of gamma correction seems to be helping. White text near the bottom of my screen was nearly illeglible and I felt like a chicken bobbing my head up and down trying to read everything.

My girlfriend was sitting next to me with a three-year-old Sony SZ and I just kept looking over at her screen and sighing. I agree that this must be a defect because there's no way that any company would allow this to leave the factory. And I agree that I'm not ready to blame this on the Samsung panel yet because it just seems too poor to be anything but a defect.

Love the rest of the laptop though so if you get a good screen I'm sure you'll be happy with it. Just pray to the laptop gods and hope that they pity you.

 

Pray with me please! I just had to return two M1330's to Dell and am awaiting a full refund because they were horrible. First one had Fatal OS system failures, screen problems, etc. The second one on the 4th boot couldn't even get Windows up and running. I need a good one and am hoping the T400 will be it!

 

I think only defective owners are coming to this forum. The happy ones are not.

I googled and googled and googled for defective LCDs, T400 etc.. etc.. and all I end up is on this forum. Nowhere else do I see Samsung Panels being criticised for being bad or the part number 42T0503 ( Samsung ) being posted all over the web for being bad.

Come one people, please stop spreading this myth. I'm sure a lot of review sites would've kicked lenovo's arse by now if they would've purposely put in bad samsung panels. After all we're paying around a $1000 on average for these machines. We have to get our money's worth.

 

I have put off getting a T400 for a week now, trying to figure out
what the real issues are with the screens.
Is it the manufacturer or just a calibration issue...

I am going to take a chance and finally place a order.
If it sucks, it will go back and I will at the Dell Lattitutes E6400 instead.

I know that only upset folks post, but since the screen is what makes a
laptop, it is an interesting issue.

Sean

 

T400 whoops the E6400 in price, thats my only thing. That and I personally won't go back to Dell after my recent M1330 experience, previously I had been a loyal Dell customer. Dell offers 100% money back but Lenovo will charge a 15% restocking fee ... something to think about.

 

2disturbed, yes thats what the case is. I too am eagerly awaiting my machine to see if the samsung panel is at fault or this is just blown out of proportion? If its samsung then i'd rather stick with my 3 year old dell inspiron than this machine.

 

I just spoke with Lenovo, she said I could get a T400 to ship in 5 days - seems too good to be true

 

After it ships, the order status page will usually show the serial # of your system. You can use that to look up (through previously posted link) the specific parts list for your system. Until your have the serial number it is not possible to know what panel was actually used to build the system.

Five days is possible; the trick is what components may create delays. I don't know which are in short supply.

As to AC adapter, at least have a 90W on hand. Maybe buy a 65W for travel. If you'd like to know size/weight diffs, PM a reminder to me next week -- I have a 65W adapter on its way.

 

Five days is about right. In early August the wait time to ship was a couple of weeks. It will take bout 5 more days to get to your door.

Mine was:
Order - 9/2
Ship - 9/5
Arrive - 9/9 (a day early)

 

Thanks Lew. My Dell w/ 6-cell weighed 4.4lbs. I am trying not to pick up too much additional weight with the T400. I called Lenovo and they confirmed that the T400 w/ 4-cell and DVD weighs 5.0lbs. (4.7lb posted weight is for T400 w/o a DVD drive). The AC adapter will add some weight in my backpack but I don't want to be picking up any unnecessary weight.
My Dell M1330 was 4.4lbs + .8lbs for charger = 5.2 lbs
Lenovo charger is smaller at .6lbs
T400 w/ 4-cell and charger should weigh 5.0 + .6 = 5.6 respectively

 

I'm just expressing my experience with the product I received. I'm not saying that all T400s have terrible screens nor even that the Samsung screen is horrible because I have only one of the thousands of T400s out there. If the only issue was that the colors were off I wouldn't have a problem and would just recalibrate the screen but it's not and what I have in front of me is truly unacceptable in my mind. I'll still stay with Lenovo because I love the build quality and reliability and I just hope that my and snclawson's cases are the only 2 around because I'd hate to see the brand suffer from it.

I have used NBR for my past three laptop purchases and you're right, only those with problems seem to post because these are my first. So take all the negative posts with the knowledge that they probably indicate the worst possible problems but I definitely think it's important to make an informed decision when spending $1000+ on a product.

Again, aside from the screen, I consider the laptop to be up to the standards that made me love ThinkPads from the start.

 

I've never owned a ThinkPad but am drawn to their reputable build quality. Seems like hardcore ThinkPad fans are pissed over some recent changes, primarily regarding the keyboard flex but I doubt I'll notice it since I'm not used to older generation ThinkPad's. I have spent WAAAY too much time on NBR so now I know what is wrong with every laptop which is making it extremely hard to make a decision!

 

This thread and another one that I can't find (one with all the issues of the T400) made me go to the dell e6400. My configuration was barely more expensive and it doesn't seem like it's worth the headache to grab a lenovo. The blue-ray drive is a great option, but not at the price lenovo was offering. And also the drop in quality and keyboard. This coming from a T61 owner. Hopefully the e6400 only uses the LG.

 

then perhaps you should start reading this mini review for the t400 & e6400(scroll down for e6400)

 

Dells have been sucking lately, at least their consumer lines. I thought Latitudes were still holding their own... maybe that's going downhill now too?

 

got my both t400s in 5 days
To everyone who owns a T400 and has question abt. screen, can you post pics of your t400 screens? I used this wallpaper when i took pics.
http://cars.desktopnexus.com/get/22299
for comparing text colors I used rediff.com homepage where the blue headlines can be seen in center

 

can you post pics of your t400 screens?

I fear the differences in cameras and lighting (affecting exposure) will cause more confusion than this would solve.

 

****, T400 is in my friend's place already, and I can't see who is the maker of the display myself. Trying to see the parts on the internet with my type and serial number and just get the responce "Information for parts lookup was not found. Please click the browser back button and try again." I'm going crazy about this...

 

Download this:

http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

If you click on the Video icon (the second down on the left edge), it'll come up with the information in the `Monitor Type' field.

 

I took the pics in dark with lights off, camera flash off and screen on full brightness. So the only difference could be camera settings (making sure the screen is parallel to lens). I thought it'd be good to give it a shot.

 

sorry to say this but this is pointless.
to do a valid comparison with this method you need:
1) identical controlled lighting
2) identical pictures with the same color profile
3) same camera
4) same lens
5) same aperture
6) same shutter speed
7) take off any filter if it's attached to any lens
8) exact same angle of view
9) same settings on the laptop
et....

the list can go on & on. And if anyone of the variable listed above is different from one another, the screen can look very different.

 

I had to register here so I could share my opinion regarding this LCD issue. I received my t400 today and was eager to set it up and play with it. I did read this thread before it arrived so I did know what to look for but I still wanted to maintain an unbiased opinion before looking at the laptop.

Let me first say that this laptop is a quality machine and is much better than any other laptop I have played with. However, the screen is a big problem for me. I used PC wizard to confirm that I had a samsung panel. With the default settings I could immediately see a bluish tint that other were dealing. I went to the ATI control panel and adjusted the blue channel which seemed to help a bit. Second, I found the reds to be way off. I used a color check image on the t400 display along with a Samsung 193p+ monitor and a HP DV7000 laptop. On the t400 the red colors were very washed out with a subtle orange tint to them. The other monitors showed reds with vivid deep color detail. Third, the contrast appears to be very weak and lastly the viewing angles are very very disturbing. If I move the laptop just a 1/2" the blacks and grays become very dark.


I will have to take some pictures for you to show the differences. I guess it would be best for me to call lenovo to discuss the problems.


Sorry for the bad news guys

 

LenovoUsr: if you read through this thread -> http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=291679

it might help solve some of your problems.

 

When you are customizing your T400, is there a certain way to ensure that you get the LG Display instead of samsung?

 

Not really. Different cameras have:

• different white balance settings
• different lenses (which affect color)
• different color profiles
• different exposure settings
• different internal image processing parameters

Lots of stuff will create real color differences in the resulting images. Even two different cameras in the same room photographing the same thing at the same time will give visibly different results.

 

Best way to compare is to just take a single shot of both laptops side by side.

 

i would hope so. but i don't think that's the case, sadly though

 

Correct. Which is why his proposal for everyone to post a picture of their laptop screen displaying a particular image would cause confusion; no controls over the different cameras or environments. Now if you could get the all together into the same room you might be able to do something...

 

Sorry if this has already been brought up, but is it possible, if you have a warranty (esp. on site), to just have them do an LCD panel swap like Dell does?

It would be pretty embarrassing to Lenovo if Dell would do this as a part of customer service and they wouldn't.

A lot of people are complaining, but I don't really see many people trying to solve their problems with strategies other than calibration, etc.

I'm expecting a T400 soon and, if I get a Samsung, I am going to have them out NBD to swap it out and make sure I have an LG.

 

I think you just get whatever they have in stock. There's nothing functionaly wrong with the Samsung display, it just doesn't perform as well as the LG.

Same thing with the keyboards. People covet the NMB manufactured keyboards for superior tactile response. However, it's hard to claim on warranty that your keyboard is malfunctioning because it just doesn't feel nice to your fingers.

Calibration is probably the best you can do. Either that or get creative in ways to "break" your Samsung LCD under warranty. Even then, they might just swap out for the same part number, and you'll get another Samsung.

 

Where are the other samsung users? As I understand its possible that you have a bad panel. Talk to lenovo about your issue. I'm sure they'll replace your panel. The thing is that such issues exist with LG panels as well. So dont blame Samsung panels out right.

I'm telling you the same thing. Its possible to land up with a bad panel with LG as well. So wait till you get your machine and see how it looks. I'm waiting for my machine. It has a samsung panel. Lets see how it turns out.

 

Yea, you're right atlguy. I should have been more specific -- if I end up with a bad display, I will have them out next business day to get a replacement. I will definitely wait to see how it looks. How do you already know that you have a samsung panel? Did you order a pre-configured machine?

 

metromike, no i ordered a custom built machine but i looked up the parts online. you can see my thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=297359

 

I have the Samsung panel and have no issues. I did relalibrate the color profile though.

 

I also go the samsung panel. I'm not too happy about the viewing angles but it is a cheap notebook for what you get so i guess its ok.

I'd like to calibrate the colors but i'm not sure how. Could you post your samsung color profile or possibly teach me the algorithm in adjusting the color settings? I assume the settings would need to be set for both ATI and Intel display adapters as well?

If I had to get a screen calibrator, which would you recommend? It might be useful to have one around anyways since eventually I'll buy TV's and my family could use it as well.

 

Here's a comparison of the T400 (LG panel) vs the T61 Glossy (Samsung panel)

 

i'll assume the one on the left is samsung (since the color appears to be more washed out) and the one on the right is LG panel? correct me if i'm wrong and thx for putting up the pics man

 

LG on left Samsung on right