T530 Screen, Shall I choose 1920 X 1080 or 1600 X 900?

I wear glasses and constantly zoom in texts when I read. I am considering getting a T530 which has a bigger screen which I hope will ease my reading compared to my X220.

I have ordered T530 with a 1366 x 768 resolution, but heard negative things about the color and viewing angle of this screen. Now I am considering ordering T530 with a better screen plus the ease of reading.

Please tell me what is best for my situation:

1. I read from my laptop a lot
2. I prefer big font sizes and always zoom them in from the default size
3. I sometimes edit two text files side by side
4. I prefer a decent screen with good colors
5. Come from X220, like the screen color but think the display is small for me

So what shall I choose? 1920 X 1080 or 1600 X 900?

 

There is no simple answer. Meaning that only you can decide. Also this subject has been repeatedly discussed in this forum.

I suggest you go to a local store that has any 15.6" laptop with a 1920x1080 screen that you can use, and try using it.

With regard to prior discussion on this forum, some prefer 1600x900.

I've never seen the T530 1600x900 screen.

I can add that I love my T530's 1920x1080 FHD screen (95% color gamut) and that it is generally considered to be one of the best that you can buy. It may have a few 1920x1080 peers, but not many.

 

In a 1920x1080 screen, I can always zoom in the texts and read them with comfort, is that right? I do, from time to time, edit two documents side by side, so that increase space can help, I assume?

 

Like I said before, go to a local store that has any 15.6" laptop with a 1920x1080 screen that you can use, and try using it.

Then do the same with any 15.6" laptop with a 1600x900 screen that you can use, and try using it.

 

Yeah, it's very subjective, so it's best for you to try out actual laptops.

For me, I favor FHD on 17inch laptops. And 1600 x 900 for 15inch and lower. Though most of time it's FHD (1920x1080) on 15inch.

 

Good luck finding a laptop with a 15.6" screen with 1920x1080 resolution at a "local store." (Recently, I tried my hands and eyes on a Samsung 13.3" ATIV Book 9 (NP900X3E-A02US), but that's a different story.)

Get a FHD 1920x1080 screen. You can set the Windows magnification ratio, and adjust the zoom factors yourself, as needed. Also, you'll have more screen space to work with.

I love the AUO B156HW01 V.4 FHD panel used on ThinkPad T/W510/520/530.

 

Really? I didn't have much trouble at all finding 15" FHD laptops at the local Fry's Electronics and even Office Depot. More rare than the normal budget-basic 1366x768 15" laptops, but you should be able to find at least one.

If you work with side-by-side documents, I'd say that the FHD screen is definitely worth it. Much easier to do so at 1920 horizontal pixels than at 1600.

 

At least in Canada, it's as easy as walking into Futureshop/Bestbuy and look. Plenty of 15 inch laptops with FHD there. They even have full range of unibody macbooks on display last time I checked which was few weeks ago. God, those aluminum frame did feel nice. Nothing like cheap plastic.

 

Pics and links, whenever feasible, especially FutureShop in Canada -- or at least a specific model number. 15.6" laptops, yes, but 1366x768 most likely.

Just maybe, I am the last person to be aware of the fact that FHD 1920x1080 is now totally mainstream. (I own a MacBook Pro 15" with Retina Display, but that's a completely different story.)

 

FutureShop.ca -> Laptops -> 15.6" -> Sort by Price High to Low. Surprisingly, most 15.6" laptops above ~$1200 have 1920x1080 screen nowadays ( ASUS G55VW , some HPs , Samsung Chronos etc).

 

Get the FHD 1920x1080 display, it's great and you can adjust the display in windows control panel, "display" option to scale up to 150% size.

We use FHD displays at work and have plenty of staff who use the 150% scale function for the very reason of getting around the problem of poor eyesight. It seems to work for them so I don't see why it wouldn't for you.

 

Thanks. Those high-priced laptops are for online orders only, and are not physically on display in-store for anyone to inspect with eyes and hands.

Back to topic: Select the FHD 1920x1080 option.

 

One thing to bear in mind, coming from someone whose own eyesight leaves a lot to be desired:

The screen quality - in my not-so-modest experience - tends to affect eye fatigue even more than the resolution itself. For this reason alone, I'd go with FHD panel which is by far the best one in terms of quality.

 

Last I was at Fry's few months back, I saw a Lenovo Y500, Sony Vaio S15, and Asus G-series (not familiar with this line, so I don't know the model), all 15.6" laptops with FHD panels. FHD isn't mainstream, but most brick-and-mortar computer places should have at least one high-end model with one you can play with to see if the pixel density will work for you.

 

The current T530 I got has a 180GB Solid State Drive which I got cheap from the outlet store. If I return this machine, it would be hard to find another one with such a hard drive. I thought about changing the screen myself, but the original screen is out of stock.

Now I am considering returning this one. The 1366 x 768 screen on T530 is horrible, and the color is just pale and blue. Can't bear with screen.

 

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to swap the hard drive for the SSD - which is really not an expensive venture either - than to swap the screens?