T520 HD vs HD+

Hello everyone,

After reading a million reviews, i've settled on the Thinkpad T520

The only thing I can't decide on is whether to get the HD or the HD+ screen.

I'm not one to put windows side by side, and currently have an old Dell with a 1280X800 screen and it suits me fine.

I was wondering if there was any reason to go for the HD+ besides being able to put windows side by side? is it a better quality screen for example?


Thanks in advance

 

Yes, the HD+ screen has better specs than the HD, even outside resolution. Color and brightness, I believe, are improved. What size screen does your current laptop have? If it is 15.4", note that the pixel density of a 1600x900 HD+ panel will be higher than a 15.4" 1280x800 panel.

But believe me, before I got my T500 with the 1680x1050 panel, I was using a 12.1" laptop with 1280x800 resolution. I couldn't really imagine using two windows side by side productively--but now, I can't imagine not doing so. It's very handy, even if you don't use it at the moment

 

Yes, thanks to the larger amount of pixels in the HD+ screen, it's definitely worth it. Display upgrades are some of the most valuable options to upgrade in any laptop.

 

My laptop is a 15.4 one, i'm just worried that it would be difficult to read on the laptop since i use it mainly for chatting/surfing the web, and I know you can increase the DPI but that doesnt always look right if you know what i mean

 

Personally coming from a WXGA screen (1280x800) of my old 15.4" ThinkPad R61e I found it hard to adjust on 15.6" notebooks with the HD screen (1366x768), it may be a few vertical pixels lost but I found it significant enough to feel cramp when doing document work and graphic designs. Like the others I too would suggest stepping up to the higher resolution version.

 

I got the W520 with a HD+ screen because I simply can't work with the HD resolution without pulling hair out. The 1600x900 resolution is nice to have. I didn't grab the FHD screen because I find FHD on a 17.3" screen barely comfortable to read for even short amounts of time, so it's probably worse on a 15.6".

 

My ThinkPad T61 15" was 1280x800. It was a mistake. The resolution was too low to be useful for a professional. It is now my SO's laptop, and she loves it.

I wouldn't buy the 15" model without going 1600x900. It shouldn't be difficult to read, but you can change the font-dpi settings in Windows 7 if needs be. At the larger dpi setting, it should still be sharper than 1366x768.

 

definately HD+

I got my T520 a few days ago, and i am currently happy with HD+ but FHD display would have been perfect!
nothing lower 1600x1200 will look good, IMO

 

I took a gamble on my T420s because I didn't know how my eyes would handle the 14" screen. I wanted the 900 vertical pixels for better vertical workspace but the new wider displays pack those pixels into 8% less height than the previous 14.1" panels. After frustrations with tuning the display I've got default text than I can happily read at arm's length, but good brightness and contrast are two key factors.

To me, the thought of having a 15.6" panel and only a 768 pixel high screen is unattractive - a lot of baggage with limited usability. If your old Dell is more than about 3 years old then it won't have the brighter LED backlighting (which helps readability). I would recommend the HD+. There will less scrolling of web pages and full pages of PDF files are almost legible.

John

 

Exactly. The biggest problem with older 1280x800 displays was they were darker than the current HD+ ones. At that same brightness level, a high-resolution display would be hard on the eyes.

On the newer displays, the increased brightness makes a higher resolution easily readable.

 

Thanks everyone, much appreciated. Hopefully will order it tomorrow