T61 owners: screen brightness?

I was playing around with a few laptops at a campus bookstore today. The Dell D620 that was there had a WXGA screen, and it was very bright! However, the ThinkPad Z61M that was right next to it was significantly dimmer than the Dell. It even had higher res... but man, a lot dimmer at full brightness.

I'm torn between the D630 and the T61 (who isn't, right?)... and the screen is kind of a big deal to me. I've heard from many here that the D630 and T61 screens are very similar. Can someone who owns a T61 actually comment on the screen brightness? I know Andrew mentioned in his review that he wished the screen was brighter. I definitely didnt feel that way with the D620.. so if they're the same.. the T61 will be bright enough for me.

Thanks in advance!

 

Anyone? I know there are a bunch of T61 owners around.

 

Most of us haven't gotten ours yet because Lenovo can't get its act together.

 

Dells suck, go with the T61!

 

I've found my T61 to be brighter than Lenovo has been known for in the past. The hi-res screen is rated at 220 nits, so equal to the Dell 630.

Much brighter than my T60 14.1 SXGA+, I would just hope that you don't get a Samsung panel as I did (LG is the preferred IMHO).

 

How do you know what panel you have?

 

Parts Lookup on Lenovo support site. Enter model and serial number.

 

You mean on the T61? What is the difference between the two? From what I know, both are 220 nits.

 

Viewing angle is bad on the Samsung to me. Not like the LG I had in my T60

 

Under most circumstances, I would agree with you that the Thinkpads are unsurpassed. But in the two weeks that I've had my T61, I've had nothing but problems. Just rebooted from another blue screen.

Definitely don't go for the T61 till Lenovo addresses some of the many issues plaguing this model.

 

What sort of problems have you been having?

 

jjfcpa - are you running Vista?

I'm planning to get XP either way. Vista is not ready for the public, imo.

 

If you want, you can email me the memory.dmp file located in the c:\window directory and I'll get it under a debugger and try to figure out what it blue screened. [email protected]

 

Please tell us what you will find there.

 

I'm running VIsta Ultimate 32-Bit with no problems and no Blue screens (knock on wood). I did a clean install. I even have the Intel Turbo Memory and everything is running smoothly! Even with the dock now

 

I have had my T61 since October, 2007 and love it. The screen is plenty bright--in fact I usually dim it from full brightness.
Vista has given me a few problems, but I like tweaking computers, so not a big deal to me.

 

I ordered my T61 CTO and within 3 days they aired it over from Asia. There are a few minor quality issues but they have been well documented by others. The machine runs flawlessly and is better than any consumer notebook I have ever used ot seen in a Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. I think the hardware on your machine should be tested. Am sure it runs fine. Problem is probably user caused ie messing around with software and settings w/o asking questions or reading instructions. Mine runs fine out of the box. I deleted some software and installed a ton. It runs perfect.

 

I have a D630 and a T61p. The screens are virtually the same brightness.

 

neocryte,

I have a 10 day old T61p running on an XP Pro o/s. Both the screen and the PC are dynamite.

I might be lucky with an LG (Phillips) screen but others have talked about Samsung and Philips being roughly equivalent after an LCD tuning process on Samsung.

Screen is bright and crisp. Love the matte screen on Lenovo also.

Alacrity

 

After owning two Thinkpads with Samsung WSXGA+ panels (T60, Z61m), I was through with the Hi-Res Samsung Panels.

Note:I've also ordered two other T60 with Samsung WXGA panels which were considerably brighter, had better viewing angels, and didn't have the sparkle/grainy affect. I would be fine with those but I prefer wsxga+.

I now use a T61 w/ a WSXGA+ LG panel which is the best I've seen from Lenovo (excellent viewing angles, no sparkle/grainy effect, etc). With the additional nividia control panel brightness settings I don't think you will find any other matte screen brighter.

Both the Dell and the Lenovo you are looking at are fine laptops, but many of the unique Thinkpad features like a middle scroll button, comfortable trackpoint, APS, superior keyboard, local authorized Thinkpad repairs, etc would heavily sway me Lenovo's way

 

I understand brightness is important for laptop. But for me I find that my Thinkpad R40 is quit dim but easy on the eyes. I could live with it though

But of course if your going to spend a lot of money on notebook it better suit you perfectly.

But having a dim LCD screen isn't so bad as long as its clear and easy to view