T61: 14.1" 1440x900 vs 15.4" 1280x800 ?

Hi all,

There is a limited number of days left on Lenovo's current deals, so I'm a little under the gun (especially as I'm selling my Powerbook G4 Titanium, and don't want to be without a laptop for long). I've narrowed things down quite a bit (still debating the Latitude D630 vs. the T61, but am leaning towards the T61).

My final dilemma is the display --it'd be a lot easier if Lenovo offered WXGA+ on the 15.4" (I'm sure that's a common gripe). My eyes are decent, but I'd like the fonts to be relatively readable at a standard size. What is everyone's experiences on this? I'm having a tough time deciding between the 15.4" WXGA and the 14.1" WXGA+. Brightness and display quality differences between LCD panels are also important to me as well.

Finally, why does Lenovo list their display options (in the Help area) like this?

• WXGA: Widescreen XGA
Resolution: 1280x720,1280×800, 1440×900, 1280x768
• WXGA+: Widescreen Extended Graphics Array Plus
Resolution: 1440x900

Are the resolutions listed for WXGA dependent on the size of the display in the model IBM is selling, or are they talking about if an external display is used? I'm fairly sure the 15.4" has a native 1280x800 resolution, but it isn't completely clear from that description, and Lenovo doesn't make it any less confusing.

EDIT: A smaller display size doesn't mean the laptop is smaller in the case of the T61, does it? There is just a larger bezel around the LCD, correct?

Thanks for the help, folks.

 

All the displays are the same size. For example in a WXGA+ display, there are 1440 horizontal pixels versus 1280 for WXGA, so each pixel in the WXGA+ is slightly smaller allowing for more viewing space in a same-sized screen.

To answer your main question, I would go for the WXGA+ 14.1" screen. IMO WXGA is just too small a resolution for a display of that size.

Edit: I might have interpreted your post wrong, but to clarify the screen size only changes with a different laptop model.

 

Why not opt for the WSXGA+ resolution? You could always tone down the resolution if you wanted to. Although text wouldn't look as nice as at the native resolution, it'd still be a step higher than WXGA.

Probably a typo, as you already know WXGA is 1280x800.

I'm not too sure what you mean here, but I'll give it a shot. WXGA refers to one resolution only, 1280x800. It does not depend on the screen size, WXGA will always be 1280x800.

If you order a WXGA screen, the native resolution will be 1280x800; likewise, if you ordered a WXGA+, the native would be 1440x900.

The 14.1" T61 has a smaller footprint (13.2" x 9.3" x 1.2") than the 15.4" T61 (14.1" x 10" x 1.4"). So yes, the smaller display size does denote a smaller notebook.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

Chubby,

Thanks for all the help! While I probably didn't make myself clear with every question, you did a great job answering. This sways me towards the 14" WXGA+, also due to the smaller size of the system.

This does lead me to one last question --subjectively, how do you think it compares to the T61p 14" SXGA+ (1400x1050) with its better graphics card, but standard-aspect screen? It appears (unfortunately) that Lenovo didn't carry over the widescreen option to the 14" T61p like they did with the 15".

Does anyone know the brightness specs of the two LCDs, and does anyone know of a wiki that lists pixels-per-inch by display resolution? Thanks once again for the help.

EDIT: I also just realized something, after re-configuring again --will anything larger than the 4-cell battery stick out on the 14" Thinkpads?

 

Not too many differences to be found between the widescreen and standard T61s, other than the aforementioned graphics card and, obviously, the screen ratio. You do lose a few ports (Firewire, card reader), but for some that may be worth it for the standard screen.

The WXGA+ screen is rated at 200 nits, with a 300:1 contrast ratio. The SXGA+ screen is rated at 150 nits, with a 200:1 contrast ratio. This table (I do not know its accuracy) lists the WXGA+ as having a ppi of 120.4, and the SXGA+ as having a ppi of 124.1. Pretty similar.

For the widescreen versions, the 6 and 7-cell batteries stick out; the 4-cell stays flush.

For the standard version, the 6-cell remains flush, while the 9-cell sticks out.

 

My F3SV has a 1440x900 on a 15.4" widescreen LCD and I believe that it to a perfect resolution.

I have issues with my eyes and I find it annoying when the pixels are too small.

The only negative thing to this res to screen size ratio is that hauling around a 15.4" laptop sucks.

14" widescreen, in my opinion, is perfect for transportation, but I would need to have it at 1280x800 because I don't think teh WXGA+ resolution would be big enough.

My advice would be to try to find someone with different laptop resolution setups and see which one caters to your eyes the best. Everyone is different.

 

Hi Ohmide,

I did that to a certain extent. My previous three laptops have been a 15" 1600x1200 (Dell Latitude C840), a 14.1" 1024x768 (Latitude C640), and a 15.2" 1280x854 (Powerbook G4 Titanium).

The C840 was WAY too small. Bought them at work spec-ing for desktop replacements, and to this day, I wish I could go back and get the 1400x1050 version. We later switched to having desktop PCs as well as laptops; at that time, this machine fell by the wayside, as it was too heavy to lug around all the time (8lbs). This machine is why I didn't choose 1680x1050 on a new Thinkpad.

The C640 was great on weight (6lbs) while still having most of the features. Still, I wanted a bit more display, and web pages are increasingly higher-res than 1024x768. Time to retire this otherwise great system or hand it down; its P4M also gets a bit warm during full-bore operations.

The Powerbook G4 was definitely the best of the three. Crisp, bright, perfect resolution. Processor is just starting to get a little too slow for certain video playback. I'm selling it to a friend, thus the need for a new machine. I'll miss it; it was an enjoyable machine. (Didn't hurt that I'm a former Apple Certified tech, so upgrading most of its guts was fairly easy).

After thinking long and hard, I went with the 15.4" 1280x800. I couldn't risk things being too small for my eyes, and going to the 14.1" machine got rid of a few features I wanted. Really wished Lenovo had a 15.4" 1440x900, but it can't be helped, and current coupons expire at the end of today, so I had to make a decision. Here's what I went with:

1 6459CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM
03/11/08 $1,089.77 $1,089.77
43Y3427 SBB INTEL CORE2DUO PROC.T8300 42V8010 VBB MS WIN VISTA BUSINESS 42V8504 SBB MS WIN VISTA BUSS.32 US EN 42V8286 SBB 15.4 WXGA TFT
42X5975 SBB NVIDIA QUA. NVS 140M-128MB 41W2060 VBB 1GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 1DIMM
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42V8297 SBB UN(TRCKP TOUCHPAD)FINGERRE
42V8165 SBB 120GB HDD,5400RPM
42V8172 SBB DVD REC.8XMAXDUAL LAY UB-S
42X0805 VBB PC CARDSLOT EX CARDSLOT 41W1685 SBB 11ABGWIFI WL LAN USEULAANZ
62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN 41W1508 SBB 6 CELL LI-ION BATTERY 39T6442 SBB COUNTRY PACK NORTH AMERICA
42X1524 SBB LP-US ENGLISH
41C9169 LENOVO THINKPLUS EXTENDED SERVICE AGREEMENT - 2 YEARS - PICK-UP AND RETURN

The price was better than the Dell Latitude D630 I'd been looking at, but more importantly, the mobile Penryn processor isn't available on the Latitude yet. I didn't really need the T8300 CPU, but after looking at what Merom CPUs cost bare from vendor (Penryns aren't for sale yet), I figured it was better to spend $35 upgrading at Lenovo than a few hundred going up from the T8100 a couple of years down the road. I made a similar decision going from the 80GB to the 120GB HDD. Considering that my budget is tight, I think I came out fairly well.

Already have another gig memory module on order from the `Egg, and I'll probably call Lenovo once I get the unit to get the XP downgrade kit in case I need it. Only thing that bugs me is that if I ordered 3-4 days ago, I could have gotten the second gig of RAM for the same price; for some reason Lenovo changed the configs. But I don't buy until I've fully researched something, so that's the price I pay. I'll probably end up dual-booting between some variant of Windows, and either Ubuntu, or a hacked-up version of OS X.

Est. shipping date is 3/11. I can wait....I can wait...(taps foot impatiently)

 

lol I remember messing with a 15" 1600x1200 (Dell Latitude C840) like yours. It was a work laptop that came in for service and my eyes were hurting by the end of the initial diagnostic session.

Yeah I think you made the right decision. I once made the mistake of getting a 14" T43 with 1400x1050 and I was so disappointed at the resolution that I took a $200 loss to get everything shipped back to IBM.

When in doubt smaller is better if you don't want to take the risk at getting a resolution that is too high for your eyes. Before I went with my current Asus I had to go to an Apple store to look at the MacBook 15" with 1440x900 and Best Buy to look at the G1 15" with 1680x1050. The G1 was far too small of course and the Apple seemed good.

I'm not sure what you're looking for in terms of requirements, but the Asus F8SV is a 14" that comes in both an WXGA and WXGA+ resolutions. It has a 8600GT video card which is of some interest if you're a gamer. I would have gotten the WXGA version if it was released when I was in the market.

I'm certain that you will enjoy your Thinkpad though. The plus for those are pretty decent resale prices via Ebay when the time comes. Getting rid of my Asus will be more of a problem.

 

Craigslist is great for getting rid of used machines, and you can avoid all of those nasty Ebay fees. I'd suggest it.

I would have looked at other brands, but Dell and Lenovo had Trackpoints, and I love them --I can type 75-80wpm, so I hate having to leave the keyboard to use a pointing device. That, and the Luddite part of me still uses IBM Model-M keyboards on my desktop machines, I love them that much.