T60 WS screen

I know I am hopeless, but as I can't see these laptops I am counting on you. The WS review said the screen was nice. I need to know color, brightness and other issues from WS 15.4 WSXGA users. Best if you can reference another notebook (preferably another a Lenovo or a Dell)

Many thanks.

PS I wonder if the T60 WS is on some sort of special right now as the price is crossed out.

 

It's precisely the same screen as that used in the Dell e1505

Check out the review here for more: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3368&review=ThinkPad+T60+Widescreen

I even included the Everest output so you can get the screen part number and Google around to see what else uses it: http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/18367.htm

 

As I said "The WS review said the screen was nice." I did read your review. I'm looking for extra opinions. The Dell thread is frightening.

 

Check out here

 

I just received my T60 WSXGA last week, and I have to admit that the screen is the biggest disappointment - noticeably dimmer than my old Dell Inspiron 4100. Perhaps I didn't get as good a part as Andrew (there is also significant light leakage on the bottom of mine, which wasn't mentioned in his review) but the "graininess" is definitely present, and IMHO the viewing angles are not sufficient for a 15.4" screen. :/

That being said, I justified the purchase because I needed a workhorse - a sturdy, lightweight matte widescreen for hours of paper writing. However, if the weight wasn't a priority and I had the chance to do it over again, I would definitely spring for the Flexview - $2100 for a great screen makes a lot more sense than $1800 for a crappy screen.

P.S. As far as the WSXGA, I think it works great on the 15.4" - I increase the dpi to 120 and on Firefox for regular use, and still manage to work two docs side-by-side when necessary.

 

A friend of mine has an E1505, but with the glossy screen. Viewing angles are pretty bad, and I personally don't like glossy. It's nice otherwise though.

 

I actually had seen those objective measurement too, I guess that is what made it stick in my mind that the WS was second to the flexview. Its a shame to hear jlr18's comment. The WS isn't much more expensive than regular screens. It certainly looks objectively better than the 14 inch in all ways.

If the samples I got were like the objective measured ones:

T60 15.4" 1680x1050
Black 0.31 cd/m2
White 165.94 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 535:1
Avg dE: 4.5

T60 15" Flexview 1400x1050
Black 0.29 cd/m2
White 162.01 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 558:1
Avg dE: 4.13

Then the only huge advantage would be the viewing angles, and I can't say that really is worth 200 dollars. I'm probably looking at a 1400 laptop not a 2000 which makes 200 a bigger deal. I would like to make it around 1200 but that's not quite possible. I don't know if I will buy on this deal cycle, wait for the rumored 14" T60 or wait for the new chipset in April. I guess it depends on if I want the lappy for this semester.

Is there any chance I would actually get the T60 in the "2-3 weeks"?

 

I ordered a T-60 widescreen on 01/20/07 (a Saturday) and it was at my door Wednesday, 01/24/07. I was pretty suprised, since my estimated ship date was 02/08/07. Can't really comment objectively on the display, because this is my first notebook. It's definitely bluer than my desktop's CRT, also much sharper. I really like it.

 

Yeah, I went with WPWoodJr's measurements when I made my decision too... again, maybe I just got a bum machine. But I did need it for this semester, and I did receive it within 10 business days of ordering.
If you need a solid machine for school soon, and screen quality really isn't important (it's sharp, but dim - fine for papers, def not for color-work or media enjoyment), AND you can get it for under $1400, then I think it's a pretty good deal.
Most of this T60 is great - I guess I just don't understand why Lenovo needed to flake on the screen (other than to drive people to the IPS).

 

JLR: I can understand color variations, dead pixels, even light leakage on different samples, but not backlight intensity. I don't need a new laptop this semester, but it would be nice.

 

Well I ordered one:

1 6371CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM
02/26/07 $1,293.00 $1,293.00
6371CTO LENOVO THINKPAD T60 6371 - NO CPU
42R9190 VBB NO INT.WIFI WL 3RD ANTENNA
62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
42R9313 SBB INTEL CORE DUO PROC. T5500
42V8010 VBB MS WIN VISTA BUSINESS
42T7210 SBB MS WINVISTA BUSS US ENG
42T6590 SBB 15.4 W SXGA+_TFT
42T6649 SBB INTEL GRAPH MEDIA ACC950
41W2057 VBB 512MB PC2-5300 667MHZ1DIMM
39T6476 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42T6647 SBB ULTRANAV TRACKPOINT/TOUCHP
41W5785 SBB 60 GB,HDDRIVE,5400RPM
42T7314 SBB CD-RW/DVD-R_ COMB24X24X24X8
41W1501 SBB INTELPRO/WL3945ABGUSCNLAAP
41W1508 SBB 6 CELL LI-ION BATTERY
41W1787 SBB CPK NORTH AMERICA
27R1769 SBB PSTN CABLE
42T7374 SBB LANG.PACK US ENGLISH
39T6440 SBB 56K V.92 DESIGNED MODEM
42T7158 SBB CLEAR PLATE C2 WLAN+BT
41W1721 SBB FCC LABEL
41W1749 SBB GEO LABEL US WLAN BT
41W1774 SBB LOGO PLATE
42T6663 SBB MT 6371 SYSTEM LABEL
41W2079 SBB INTEL LBL DUALC./CENTRINO
42V7973 SBB MS LABEL (VISTA BASIC)
41W2070 SBB 512MB PC2-5300 667MHZ MEM.
42T6638 SBB PACK. US, 15.4"

Too bad I had to pay tax too. I probably will get another 1 GB stick from Newegg to put in it. Lenovo charges too much for RAM, plus there would have been tax on it. Other oddness, I don't know if I see the point of having a DVD burner. 5 GB isn't enough to really back up the HD... I think I've burned maybe a total of 15 DVDs on my desktop in two years. So... not really worth that cost averaged out.

If people want a write up once I get it I would be happy to.

I picked the WS because of the objective measure of the contrast above. And the quoted viewing angles on Samsung's TFT site. I think it probably is hands down a better display than the 14" or 15" regulars, though the IPS would have been better, discrete graphics use more power and cost and the screen costs lots too, also less heavy and higher resolution than any other screen.

Sadly it cost about 240 more than the dell e1505 but about the same as the latitude D820.

If I'm in dire need of more performance I should be able to get a ~ 2.6 GHz for socket M when people are dumping other old laptops on ebay in a year or so. Swap the CPU and sell it again. (perhaps a broken laptop, Or just find the find the CPU).

It was probably more than I should have spent.

So anyway those are my thoughts.

 

I am just wondering why Lenovo doesnt make 14.1'' wide screen?

 

Is not the Z61t a 14" widescreen?

 

There are rumors that there will be a T60 14" WS soon, but I realized that those are probably false. If I was a computer manufacturer now would not be when I would be designing new laptops with old parts. In just a few months santa rosa will be out, so I'd suspect whatever design staff Lenovo has is working on product for April.

 

Sorry, i mean the T60 series

 

I think that's a great price for the machine - the build quality and weight alone are far superior to the Dell.

(BTW, if you want to swap your 6-cell for a 9-cell when it comes in, let me know - my 9-cell has only 1 cycle, and I'm trying to minimize weight)

 

Well the D820 has many of the same features as the T60 actually. It does weigh more though. I would have had some benefit from say with dell as my extra AC adapter would work and the CD drives would be swapable, but really I was not happy with a few things on my dell.

I had an ultralight so even the WS with the 6 cell is going to be heavy and big for me. I don't like how the 9 cell looks either so I probably will just stick with the 6 and if I need more battery time get an ultrabay battery.

I just hope the screen doesn't upset me and the keyboard is ok. There is a thread somewhere with the part number of my keyboard saying it was bad. I'm not a huge keyboard person though. I find the very shallow keyboard on this Dell 300m that I am writing on very fine actually. In that its fast, and I have small fingers so the small size reduction doesn't seem to matter.

 

I briefly owned a T60 WS and found the screen disappointing. It's certainly tolerable, but it was noticeably dimmer than the one on my crusty, cheap old Dell 600m, and worlds dimmer than the one on my $500-cheaper, similarly-equipped MacBook. Personally I think WSXGA+ is on the verge of being simply too fine at this screen size, and the dimness of the screen makes it unacceptable. I certainly could have lived with it, but not at the premium price Lenovo charges, and certainly not given the other issues I had with the machine and Lenovo service.

 

If you mean that Lenovo charges a premium for it, then I would point out that is no longer true. When it came out it was massively more expensive as I remember, but now its cheaper. Given that other 15.4 notebooks use the same screen, there isn't a huge choice here. The objective measurements indicate it should be better than other Lenovo screens. Lots of people also seem to be thrown off by glossy. Anyway. I'll have to see it for myself. I'm somewhat nervous about having gotten something sight unseen. But given the massive number on ebay (1 right now) I think it could be sold if I didn't like it. I have plenty of posts in this forum to show I really did buy one, after long deliberations.

 

Not to revive a dead topic, but the reason that you probably found your T60WS screen really dim was that yours came with the Samsung screen. I have been researching and found that Lenovo uses two different screens - Samsung and a LG/Phillips. The Samsung apparently is much dimmer and has a weird dust/haze/spotty effect, whereas the LG is much better. Judging from a few forum posts I've found, I believe that both drwho and myself (I just ordered one) got the LG one, because we share the same part number for the screen: 42T6590. There is another post somewhere around here that confirms that.

 

My T60WS, which I found dimmer than I would have liked, had the LG/Philips screen. Everyone has different tastes in these things, but it was definitely dimmer than my 600m and night-and-day dimmer than my MacBook. I imagine there is a bit of variability between "identical" screens, but it probably isn't too drastic.

I don't want to be a drama queen about this - it wasn't THAT bad, just disappointing, and it did make the WSXGA+ borderline unacceptable for me.

 

I actually won't be getting that laptop, they might send it to me but I ordered on off buy.com, parts unknown... we shall see...

 

the ones at buy.com are samsung screens. i bought ws from them

 

I'm not sure you can really make that claim universal, but certainly the reviewed sample on NBR and your's have that spec and have the Samsung. But... There is no reason they wouldn't build the first 300 with one type and the next 200 with another. They don't put the screen type beyond resolution in the TA book. So we will just have to see.

 

you are right. I whish you would get an LG.
But anyway, samsung is not catastrohically bad. I love my samsung.
Would you let me us know what screen you got , when you receive it.

 

I also ordered one off Buy.com yesterday, I'll let you guys know what I get once it gets here.

 

As will I. It says Wed for me. But it might really get here monday or tuesday. Based on observations of FedEx. I just hope they don't use the dept that is like an hour away. I'm never here during the day. This package looks like regular ground, so that should be the one in town.

 

Looks like they are out of stock now on Buy.com, guess I placed my order just in time.

 

I just noticed that and was going to post it. It doesn't look like the normal stock thing. I wonder if they just discounted it because it has WinXP on it. Probably not the normal stock thing as they won't be carrying WinXP ones anymore maybe.

 

You could be right about the XP thing. I'm actually glad I ordered mine with XP Pro, I've heard some not so great things about Vista. Plus, we get a free upgrade to Vista anyway.

 

you bet!

 

I'm somewhat less happy, as having a restore partition can be useful. It might be a bother if a true reinstall is needed for vista. But Vista has a backup feature in it apparently for fullish restores, so perhaps a clean restore to XP then a install of Vista, and backup will do the same thing I will have to play with vista to know. I'm not in any huge hurry for it either though. For now XP is faster, and I don't need pretty graphics much, though with the very high resolution screen the text scaling in vista is said to be better if you don't like little text. Luckly for now I'm only nearsighted.

 

Does anyone know how the RAM is configured on the buy.com model? Is it 512MBx2 or 1Gx1?

 

it is 1x1gb

 

Does anyone know if Lenovo is going to use better screens? I wish to purchase a T60 14" for Photoshop use but the screens look terrible compared to some Sony's.

 

Yes the screens are not that bright , but you can survive.
I don't know if they will use better ones

 

The screen on my new T60 WS from Buy.com is quite bright. Much brighter than my Z61m and that's the reason I'm keeping it. The screen looks very good to me compared to some of the laptops I've owned to this point.

 

The screen type I will look up later tonight (LG or Samsung) but whatever type it is it is rather great. No dead pixels and minimal light leakage, and huge step above the screen on my ultraportable 12.1" Dell. The brightness while not insanely bright like some desktop displays are capable of is all the brighter I would want it given brightness on LCD == contrast and high contrast is bad for clipping colors in photo work.

The viewing angles are also quite acceptable. Horizontal is essentially anywhere and vertical is good enough for a laptop.

All in all I'm happy today on day one with the LCD. We will see down the road.

On other things the Del key and the FN/Ctrl keys are going to take some getting use to. Other than that it seems what I expected. Its quite good.

 

Hotboy, do you already have your T60WS? How do you like it ?

 

Hey! Yes I received mine. It's a solid machine, but with not so good display.
If you are going to use it as an entertainment machine e.g: gaming,movie watching, then I would recommend you look for something with a better screen.
Light leakage at the bottom of the panel is present although it's not catastrophic.

I didn't expect it to be a good screen, the reason I went with this machine is the build quality,

 

What do you mean by light leakage? Can you take a pic?

 

Here are the pics, but don't blame me for the quality of the pics. I took them using my cellphone.

Do you see in the first pic, the bottom area is much brighter

The second pic illustrates that left and right sides of the screen are a bit darker.

 

Hmmm, I think I have a bit of light leakage at the bottom but hardly noticeable until the lights are off in my room.

Thanks for the pics!

 

Here is a bad pictures of mine. The screen is actually black look at the mouse cursor to see how true that is. I think my light leakage is minimal.

 

drwho9437, did you figure out which LCD manufacturer you got - samsung or lg?

thanks.

 

mine is samsung. And i am going to return it.
What do you guys think will buy.com replace my laptop for another one?
Has anyone have any experience returning to them.

 

So according to this page:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-66977

at the very bottom a 13N7020 is an LG

My serial lookup lists that as the first part on the list. So I guess I have the LG LCD. MFG part #13N7019, FRU 13N7020.

Its quite good. Buy.com isn't selling these anymore though.

Hotboy: looks like I was right, they aren't all Samsung... Unless I'm misreading the parts list somehow..


If anyone knows a software tool that does a low level read out of device types I'd be happy to use that too...

 

If anyone is wondering I got the Chicony: keyboard: 39T7178

Most people consider that the worst right? It doesn't seem to bad, a bit loud but ok..

 

yeah it looks like yours is lg as the light leakage is almost nonexistent on your machine.
I already got an RMA number and a UPS shipping label, but have some doubt wether or not to send it back.
Has anyone returned anything to buy.com? What was the experience?

 

I got Chicony too, and it seems a bit cheap compared to other thinkpads