Thinkpad w520: screen quality, better alternatives out there?

Hi
It is time to replace my trusty T500. I am visually impaired so the screen quality is really important to me. High brightness and good contrast is a must. This is however points where my trusty t500 really sucks.

As a replacement i am planning to buy a w520 with the fhd screen. But can anyone comment on this screens performance in bright lit rooms and especially outdoors?

The w520 is very attractively priced, but i am willing to spend a bit more and buy from another brand. But is there any other machines out there with better screens? I don't really care about colour accuracy only brightness and contrast.

Any comments are welcome.
Thanks
regards, kenneth

 

Which screen did you have in your T500? If you want a truly good screen, I might suggest either the HPs 8540w or 8740w with the DreamColor 2 LCD. It's an IPS panel, which will knock the socks off anything else on the market, though I don't know about the brightness. Unfortunately, being the only IPS option in the 15"/17" segment, they're pretty expensive. You might want to look at the HP Outlet. They're might be one in there at a more reasonable price. The Dell M6600 is rumored to be getting an IPS display as well.

If you can do a 12.5", the ThinkPad X220 is an option. It also has an IPS display. There's also lots of tablet with good displays like the X220t, T901 or 2760p, but they're kind of expensive too. The ThinkPad X201t can be purchased with an outdoor display. There's probably a few units laying around internet somewhere.

The most important factor for outdoor usage is the brightness of the screen. Unfortunately, most notebook aren't bright enough to deal with the overwhelming power of the sun in direct sunlight. Being in the shade will help some. I would also avoid glossy screens as glare will be an issue with sunlight. My X200t was rated at 200 nits. Though it seemed really bright indoors, it was fairly useless outdoors. There are some notebooks like ToughBooks, which have screens specifically made to outdoor use, but they're likewise expensive and I'm not sure about the quality on those.

The FHD on the is rated at 270 nits I believe, which is slightly less than my X220i. When I get it, hopefully soon, I'm going to take it outdoors and see how it does.

Lastly, if you don't mind used, the ThinkPad T400 was offered with an optional 680 nit LCD, which should do quite well outdoors. The SuperBright was probably the best LCD offered on the T400 in terms of contrast and brightness. You may find one on eBay or you could post over on ThinkPads.com to see if anyone has one they're willing to part with. Another option would be to buy a T400 and swap the screen out, which is probably available on eBay, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty. Good Luck.

 

Thank you very much. It really have to be a 15 inch laptop. I will take a look at the hp. There should be a new version with sandy bridge on the way. Hopefully it will get the same screen.

 

The W520 FHD screen is 270 nits. It's very bright for indoors but it isn't designed for outdoors.

 

I asked which screen you had because Lenovo uses more than one screen supplier for the T500. The LG screens, the LG WSXGA+ in particular, are better than the Samsung screens also offered in the T500. I've seen a few of the LG WSXGA+ LCDs and they're, in my opinion, one of the better matte TN displays offered right now. If you've got the Samsung WSXGA+, it may be worth investigating getting a unit with the LG LCD. Until you move up to IPS, there's probably not much better on the market right now, though I've not seen the FHD.

I don't know if they're offering the DreamColor 2 on the 8560w. Perhaps you want to ask in the HP forum and about the brightness too. I think from a value perspective, you're better off going with a 8540w from the Outlet if you can find one there with the DreamColor 2. I'm guessing the 8560w is going to be pretty expensive when it's released. Only if you push you're machine all the time, perhaps you do, will Sandy Bridge offer a tangible benefit.

You might want to ask in the HP forum about ordering over the phone with HP. I heard they give some pretty good discounts if you call and ask.

 

The FHD screen on the W520 has a much brighter screen (270 nits) than all the T500 LCD's (170-200 nits?), so it will be easier to read indoors and a little better outdoors (all other things being equal). You should have no problems in a brightly lit room.

But these business notebooks with transmissive LCD's are not designed for outdoors viewing. Decent outdoors viewing typically needs a screen twice as bright - the realm of specially designed outdoors-notebooks that can have screens of 500 nits or more, as in the Dell Latitude E6420 ATG - after all, sunlight is in the realm of 10,000 nits! - or other technologies like transflective and electronic ink screens (as in the Kindle).

 

The Dell Precision M4600 (15.6") will have an IPS option, M6600 will not be offered the IPS option.

 

Thanks. I am not sure which screen is on my t500. But compared to almost all other notebooks i have seen the screen really sucks.
I am located in denmark, so the machine has to be ordered through a retailer, but i will be looking around for a hp.

I am interested in sandy bridge due to the greater battery life meaning that i can get a great performing laptop with long battery life.

That really looks great. Hopefully it will be out soon.

Just in general. I am not planning to use the computer in plain sunlight, but i really like (or would like) to take it outdoors and sit in the shadow and work.

 

Think release is May 10.

 

The W520 is plenty bright for that.

 

Is my X201 Tablet without outdoor screen and no multitouch only a 200nit display?

 

The specs are in http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/tabook.pdf

 

only 200nit then, I should be able to work outside with a proper color theme when I get my W520 FHD then with the extra 40% brightness

 

The people at Anandtech seem to think that the M6600 will get an IPS option in the future. It doesn't make much sense otherwise.

 

depends what "outside" consists of (shaded areas, overcast or clear sky, brief periods of use or long,etc). 270 nits is better than 200; but 400-500+ nits is more the norm for screens intended for use in daylight.