Thinkpad Screen Quality (non-Flexview) Z/R/T Series, XGA/SXGA

I don't have local source to look at Thinkpads so I'm hoping you guys can help.

I'm in the market for a notebook again after my 2 month old Sony FE crossed paths with a bottle of wine. I picked that model primarily due to the WXGA screen quality (HiColor option) which was bright, even, and offered wide viewing angles horizontally and vertically. My second choice was a T60 with Flexview, but it lost out due to high price and lack of Firewire. I was very happy with the FE except for the mediocre build quality - all plastic and noticeable keyboard flex.

So now I want a notebook that has excellent screen quality (13-15"), solid build quality, and a *spill-resistant* keyboard. That basically leaves me with Asus and Lenovo. Only the very high-end Asus models (near $2k) come with a screen that has good viewing angles, or so I gather from the reviews, and I'm not a gamer so Thinkpad seems to be the logical choice.

However... I'm a little obsessive about screen quality, and with the Flexview option no longer available, I'm trying to figure out what is the next best option available on a Thinkpad. I'm less concerned about resolution than I am about viewing angles. Most of the LCDs I've seen on various notebooks have terrible viewing angles and I find that irritating.

On Lenovo's website, they claim...

Benefits of XGA TFT display features:

* Increased brightness and high contrast
* No color shift or discoloration at any angle
* No ripples from pen/screen contact
* Faster response time
* Low backlight power consumption to maximize battery life
* Exceptional high image quality suitable for advanced graphics playback, presentation sharing and television viewing


Is that an accurate statement? Sounds great, if so. And does that apply to the SXGA+ option as well? I read in another thread that a fair number of people are unhappy with the T60 widescreen display quality.

I could go with a standard 4:3 display, or widescreen, XGA or better.

To summarize, which model in the Z, R, or T series offers the best screen? Viewing angles, brightness, and even backlighting are important to me.

TIA.

 

If you're okay with not being able to see with any Direct/Reflected Sunlight (and only sunlight, indoor lighting hasn't bothered me, if its Sunlight, my screen goes green) then its okay. I'd say the screen quality is good to excellent indoors. Just have the screen angled right when you're position and you won't (or barely will) notice any difference in the vertical brightness.

Ripples are less sensitive from contact than other screens I've used and had (in this case, desktop LCDs). It is an LCD.. not sure if you can completely remove that unless there's a hard medium between the screen and contact. But Television watching, Gaming is fine for me, no ghosting or any annoying crap. Then again, I usually do this stuff in a stationary position so take it for what its worth.

For power, *shrug*, I'm usually plugged in. I wouldn't mind one extra brightness but its not bad

 

Can probably still shag a pre-configured model with the FlexView.

 

I can't give you any help with screens other than my own. I have a 15.4" WSXGA+ LG panel and I can say that it's great. The horizontal viewing angles are pretty good; I haven't had any problems with it. The vertical viewing angles are not so good, but if the screen is angled right, then there's no problem. I just have to adjust the angle if I change positions. Though, I've noticed that the viewing angles on it are not any worse than other laptops I toyed with in stores. The coloration has a slight blue tinge that's unnoticable unless I look for it. The only time it's caused any trouble was photo editing, but then again, that could have been my own fault because when I looked at it on my ext. monitor, it still looked wrong. The screen isn't the brightest around, but the picture is crisp and clean.

 

The Flexview screens are still available although they aren't listed except on the educational discount site. I called sales support and got a T60 configured with the 15" Flexview screen (confirmed order) - about $200+ more than the 14.1" SXGA screen (with EPP).