T400 screen quality vs R61?

I was thinking of upgrading from my R61 to a T400, but I feel like it is a waste of my time if the screen isn't any better. I know current Thinkpads other than the Tablet edition don't have all that great of screens, but I was wondering if a T400 with the 1440x900 LED screen would be much of an upgrade? I really hate the lack of brightness of my current screen and the poor viewing angles. The screen is barely usable in any location with a bit of sunlight (I don't expect it to work well in direct sunlight, but it should work alot better in situations with a bit of light).

Another reason I was thinking of upgrading is that the R61 has a Nvidia video card that is potentially defective (Nvidia should have done a recall ;p).

 

poor viewing angles are still present in the T400, but it is very bright. In my opinion the poor viewing angles really degrade viewing movies but other than that, not a problem. Unfortunately, I like viewing movies and hulu. Had I never used a macbook pro I might not have cared. But somethings can not be unseen once seen.

 

Assuming my screen is clean (IE free of dust), I can use my T400's LED screen in direct sunlight just fine.

 

Brightness is not a strong indicator of a good screen. Contrast and viewing angles are usually what adds up to a good screen. While the MBPs do have good contrast, the glare is terrible, at least I on the glossy screens I saw. I've not seen the matte version. I would not say the angles on the MBP were markedly better than anything else being offered now on a mainstream notebook.

 

Alternatively, you can get a T400 with the WXGA High-Nit LED-backlit screen, which is very bright and supposedly has very good viewing angles. The only downside is that you will be limited to 1280x800 resolution.

 

I owned an R61 14.1" with the WXGA+ (1440x900) for a while last year. The only reason I sold it was the dim, washed-out display! I loved it in every other way.

I now have a Dell Latitude E6400 with the 14.1" WXGA+ (1440x900) LED display that is very similar (usually from the same supplier) as the one offered on the T400. I LOVE IT! It's the best non-glossy display I've ever worked on and I highly recommend it!

 

Really? At home I have an R61 with the lower-resolution 1280x800... and I find it almost identical to my work Dell D630 with a similar 1280x800 resolution screen. However, the Dell appears harder to adjust.

 

I had a second-hand R61 for a while and found its screen visibly inferior to that of my T400. The T400 screen is not spectacular, but nonetheless has better contrast and is brighter.

 

Interesting cause they use the same screens as far as I know. With the same panel they should look the same. Perhaps the R61 had a different panel.

 

I think Iron Eagle has the WXGA+ LED display, which is different from the panels offered on the R61?

 

I have the CCFL on my T400, which is why I was surprised to see a visible difference. Externally the R61 and T400 looked almost exactly the same, so I wouldn't be surprised if they used the same screens. I guess it could be a deterioration of the screen, but that would be quite drastic considering the R61 was a little over a year old.

 

The Latitude D630 used CCFL displays that were probably very similar to the ones used in the R61/T61 from the same time period. But Dell has transitioned the E6400 exclusively to LED displays with higher contrast ratios and higher brightness levels than the D630 or any of Lenovo's past or present 14.1" CCFL units. A T400 with WXGA+ LED might be just as good (or even better) than my E6400!