Thinkpad t61: Does the off-centered screen bother you?

How does Dell manage to fit a WWAN antenna in some of their Latitudes without an unbalanced screen? Obviously it's possible, there are just tradeoffs to take into consideration.

 

No trade off that I know of. The all aluminum magnesium alloy case has a slight trade off, but that is a different story. I think the HP business series has a WWAN antenna. The HP does not have a off center screen.

 

I think they should of made the bezel thicker on both sides rather then have it off centered. Maybe put another speaker or something in the empty space.

I also wished they had the battery in the front like the Latitude.

 

I agree. The front battery design allows me to rests my wrists on it while typing.

 

The problem is, I only have a few reasons to choose a Lenovo Thinkpad over the competition--keyboard quality and track point being the main factors. But now that they are pulling this lopsided screen business instead of just leaving the antenna exposed like in the previous generation, I am more likely to look else where.

 

I would not let a slightly off center screen be the deciding factor for a laptop purchase. It looks fairly minor.

 

I used to have a T40. I think the screen is perfectly centered...

But I think the screen of T61 is fine.. You (or other people who will look at your computer) usually will be attracted by the things showing on the screen, but not whether the screen is off centered or not...

I think you won't be so bothered once you start using it.

 

I agree. I've been using my T61 for a little over a week and I never notice it at all.

 

Yep, that was me too. Considering the 630 has a 6 cell flush fit battery, a 3 year standard warranty, all magnesium case, and much better looks imo- the keyboard/trackpoint was my ONLY reason for staying loyal to thinkpad.

I might feel better about the offset screen if I could point to the fat side and say "it's b/c there's an antenna there"- but I don't have an antenna there in mine. To me this would be like not offering two different versions of the previous generations' lids, w/ and w/o the bump on the side, depending on whether you get the antenna or not.

Bothers the hell out of me, but since I ordered one anyways, I obviously didn't vote deal breaker.

 

Why would you want to put your hands on something that gets warm or could explode ?

 

Um...

 

To be honest it is not that big of a deal to me with what I have seen in pictures.

A lot better than the bulge on the side of the screen IMO as well since when closed the laptop is flush and does not have the bulge.

I believe HP and Dell used to do the side antennas as well like Lenovo used to do. You get a bit better reception that way is what I heard.

 

Doesn't bug. Just want it out faster. =)

 

Drives me ABSOLUTELY nuts. I don't know WHAT they were thinking. I'm also slightly freaked out about the X61t keyboard being off-center. I'd buy that laptop in a heartbeat if everything lined up perfectly. Now, back to counting the parking meters and making sure i touch each one with both hands.

 

I've read all these talks about the off-centered screen, but I haven't seen one that tells us the reason they made it off-centered. Did Lenovo simply want something different and deliberately make such screens, or there's something technical involved?

 

Some sort of antenna is what's taking up all that space on the side.

 

No wonder . Thanks furrycute

 

Ok, gotta give an IN PERSON report since all you are just working off the pictures.

It actually does not feel unbalanced when using it. Since most of your icons and such are on the left side of the screen it feels just fine. After using it for a few minutes you do not even notice it anymore.

 

Yeah well people can get used to pretty much EVERYTHING. Doesn't mean everything is good though. Or even acceptable for that matter.

 

I would think that anyone who feels this strongly about it would just move on and buy something else. The off-centered screen doesn't bother me as much as this thread going on about it and getting bumped back to the top. (ooops, I guess I just bumped it) But, seriously everytime I think this topic died, it gets bumped up again.

It's off-centered. Get use to it or if it's unacceptable then buy something else.

 

Are all the T61's screens off center? Even if it doesn't have WWAN? I was considering the 14" screen without WWAN - would this be off center too?

 

Actually upon closer inspection of the instructions and my T61:

The Top and left side are the same width around the screen. So actually the "issue" side is the thin right side. The Top of the screen area houses the WWAN antenna (if you get it) and the left side houses dual Wifi Antennas.

You can see how they could not fit the antennas in the thin side (right side) as well...it is really thin and just thick enough to hold the screen in (LCDs have a bit of a cage around them as well so when you factor that in there is really no room on that side for anything else).

Seems like Lenovo had 2 options:
1) Make the screen have thick sides all around to complete the look and still house the 3 antennas.
2) Make the one side of the screen a bit thinner to save on the overall dimensions of the laptop and make it a bit lighter as well (less material).

They choose option 2.

 

Option 3: Run an antenna up either side of the housing to keep the bezel uniform and somewhere in between the thickness of the two sides as they are. Also keep the top portion thin and use the old-school 'bump' for wwan, which would 'save material' and 'the overall dimensions of the laptop'.

Option 4: Call whoever designed the Titanium Powerbook, since he or she was obviously able to run a wireless antenna around an impossibly thin bezel and ask him or her how to make something similarly elegant in the t61.

 

Only other thing is that not all antennas are created equal...maybe the T61 has a better set of antennas? (= bigger)

 

I just check my T43... (i thought it was T41 ..) anyhow... it has an offset screen too. But really very little offset, maybe 2mm to the right

 

I checked the T60p, it too has offset screen.

 

the offset screen is going to make me cut my throat!!!!..not really..it dont bother me at all..at least it aligned on one side and not on neither side lol...get a life people..complain about performance or somethin..

 

Summary of neonlazer's post:
Have a sip of Coke and relax

 

do u mean
Have a sip of Diet Coke with french fires and relax

 

or building on the subject, have a sip of NyQuil and relax

 

Does the 15.4" model have the off-centered screen as well? Just wondering.

 

not sure about 15.4", but 14" 4:3 is offset boo

 

Yes it does. I just received my 15.4" model today. To be honest, before actually receiving the notebook, i thought the off centered screen would bother me quite a bit. After working on it for a couple of hours, it doesn't bother me at all. People who stated "you will be looking directly at the screen and will not notice the asymmetry," was correct.

The bezel to the left of the screen measures 11/16" and the bezel to the right measures 5/16".

 

The off-center screen did not factor into the equation when I chose my new laptop.

 

once you have your eyes focused onto the screen, you will not notice that it is off centered.

 

The off-center screen deeply bothers me. I will never buy a T61 due to this, much to my chagrin. I find it to be a terrible, terrible design decision-- one among many. It shows that they really don't care about design, despite saying that they do, over and over and over.

I look at the beauty of their Olympic torch and wonder-- why the heck didn't they apply the same design aesthetic to their laptops? Utterly dishearening, and actually making me look at Dell (blech!)...

Suffice to say, Lenovo's quality seems to be suffering, and I deeply hope they take a step back and realize that it's time for them to be the Apple of PCs. They can create beautiful, well designed computers, and still have great hardware...

Especially since they're HQed in China I think they can afford it

Regardless, I want Lenovo to be a leader. I guess I'll see in 2 years or so if they've taken the step forward they need to.

 

Honestly, where are they gonna put all those antennae without a screen offset? They'd have to make more bumps on the sides which will get more wear. I can at least understand the reasoning behind this.

 

Now I see what everyone is talking about. Nah, it doesn't bother me.

Looked at hubby's T42 and although it is not off-centered like my T61 is, I did notice that both sides did not match ... the antennae goes up the left side on his too.

 

I'm getting the 15.4 version so I don't have worry about the bezel

 

Really?

http://flickr.com/photos/9176928@N02/585334180/

 

I have the T61 for 3 days now and I have to say it doesn't bother me at all.
I don't notice it at all.

 

quoted for truth. and emphasis. and all that jazz.


one of the first things i said right out of the box is "people made a big deal about the screen bezel? wow. nitpicky."

it's slight...and you don't knotice at all when looking at the screen.






isn't it about time this thread died?

 

lol now that I have it, the fact that the screen is off center doesn't really bother me at all.

It's the quality of the screen that makes me want to throw this pos in a dumpster.

 

What's the FRU# and manufacturer for your panel?

 

It's the Samsung.

 

How does Lenovo determine who gets LG and who gets Samsung?

Same question with the 3 types of keyboards?

 

When they run out of one brand they use the other brand.

 

I owned several IBM laptops in the past and none had a bright screen. Is the T61 screen considerably worse than the T42 screen or the R51?

 

It's bright enough, I don't think anyone's complaining about brightness.

I don't have a t42 or r51, but it's faaar worse than my 15.4" thinkpad, in terms of viewing angle (there is no good vertical viewing angle on mine), and light leakage (horrid on mine), ymmv. Most people are happy with their displays, especially if they get the LG. It was just, imo only, the worst LCD I've ever seen. If I have to have an lcd that bad, I'm going to save some cash and go w/ a budget machine. Cannot be any worse.

But this thread is about the off center display, and when you are using it, I don't even notice the uneven bezel. Non factor imo, and I'm sure alot of people voted based on pics like that in the opening post like I did, but I'm sure when they get it, and are using it, change their minds. You just notice stuff so much more when you are looking at a pic of it, because where else will your focus go?

 

I agree 100%. I wish i could go back and change my original answer.

Maybe the question should have been: "For those who OWN a T61, does the off-centered LCD bother you?" My answer would be no.

My brother-in-law has a T42 as his work computer. The T61's screen, at least mine, is noticeably brighter.