W510 screens?

Hi Guys,

I wonder if you order W510, which screen option would you choose?

 

Personally, I would get the FullHD 1920x1080 screen. It has the most vibrant colors (covering 95% of the NTSC specs) and the highest resolution available.

I would not recommend the multitouch screen, as a touch-sensitive layer on the screen generally decreases the viewing quality of the screen, and plus, it costs more.

Obviously, if you are running on a limited budget or do not like everything on the screen to be very small, you may not want the FHD screen.

 

FHD multi over here.

I think the screen causes a slight delay in delivery. Some people who ordered the W510 without have 7-10 day better delivery estimates.

Saw the same thing with delivery times on the T400s with multi touch.

 

FHD is good in theory and if you watch a lot of blu-ray movies then you should definitely go for that. But if you do a lot of word processing and reading, then HD+ hits the sweet spot for the 15.4 inch form factors, otherwise you will quickly fatigue your eyes.

What you need to decide is what pixel per inch is your ideal pixel density range... if you never used WUXGA in a 15.4 inch laptop before, then you should think carefully before you choose the FHD 15.6 inch option.

 

Well, you can increase the DPI the OS uses to render elements, or simply make fonts bigger. IMO it's easier to make things bigger than making them smaller, so I'd definitely go for a FHD screen.

 

In theory, you are right. In practice, some programs use bitmapped icons / fonts that either don't increase in size when you change the OS screen DPI, or look terrible when they're enlarged. I've recently been looking at accounting software. Both QuickBooks and Peachtree fonts are already very small on a 1680x1050 15.4" screen. My middle-aged eyes can read them, but not comfortably for long periods. I end up with my face about 10" from the screen, which gives rise to a whole set of problems: bad posture, aching eyes from having to focus so close, etc. I think lead_org states the situation quite well above: 1600x900 is a decent resolution for text legibility on a 15.6" screen. At least until software like QuickBooks and Peachtree get their act together and become truly resolution-independent.

 

It's safe to say though that Word and Excel would work fine at FHD resolution, right?

 

FHD (1920 x 1080)

 

Windows 7 is supposed to handle high res screens a lot better. The whole "high res = small everything" problem is much more of a Windows XP issue than anything. Unfortunately it's had the effect of making manufacturers gunshy about putting high resolution displays in 15" laptops as people associate high res with tiny fonts.

Doing word processing with an operating system that is aware of your screen DPI on a high res screen is a thing of beauty, and far easier on my eyes anyways than looking at blocky low res fonts. Linux / OS X have been screen resolution aware for quite some time.

 

Agreed.
But latest QuickBooks and Peachtree on Windows 7 show tiny text on high DPI screens. At least I haven't found a way around that.

 

Right click on your desktop, go to screen resolution, and then in there click the link to make text larger. Change the setting and it should apply to every program you run.

 

Went with HD+ since I already have an external monitor at home to connect to. (2048 x 1152). I used the money saved on the upgrade to get the i7 820QM processor... if your on a budget I would invest the money on the CPU instead of the screen IMHO.

 

Honestly, screen resolution is a personal choice. If you have good eye sight and do picture editing, go for the FHD screen w/ full gamut. If you have poor eye sight, HD is fine (which btw is 1366x768, not 1280x800).

 

infinus, thanks for your attempt to help.
I already had Win7 resolution set to 125% which is about right for the OS itself and most programs. I tried increasing it to 150%, which required me to log off and back in. Result is better in some programs than others:

Win 7 GUI and QuickBooks:
Text is larger and crisp.
(QB "Company Snapshot" text is still tiny, but guess that's excusable when showing so much info on one screen, lol.)

Peachtree and OpenOffice
Text is larger but blurry, like on an analog monitor with bad cable.

Because I spend a lot of time in OpenOffice, and because I'd do photo editing on a good external screen anyway, I'd still go with the 1600x900 resolution.

But as sgogeta4 notes, resolution is a personal choice. It depends on your eyesight, as well as your intended application. Still, poll is interesting.

 

I don't think the choice should be so much to do with your eyesight, but rather to do with any HD-compliance limitations of the programs you will be running. Some programs are just not HD-friendly and will not adjust adequately to visual settings other than the defaults. In these cases, eyesight is indeed a factor - as well as usability. For most modern programs, which are HD-friendly, the higher the native resolution of the screen the better, as the software can be adjusted without ruining the look of the software. For these programs (and the OS itself), the higher the PPI the less strain on the eyes...

 

Unless you can't afford it, it's crazy not to go with the highest resolution you can get and make the necessary adjustments as others have said to get the text size the way you want it.
FHD gives you more freedomto decide how much you want to fit on a screen, to watch movies at true HD, to work better with pictures...
It's better for your eyes and the FHD monitor has better qualities not even available in the lower monitor.
Bitmapped fonts might not scale as well who uses bitmapped fonts these days?
Overall the FHD high res experience will be way more enjoyable.

 

Personally, I wouldn't be able to live with less than 1680 horizontal pixels anytime soon - being able to have 2 pages side-by-side at 98% is just fantastic. On a 1920-pixel-wide screen, you would be able to easily fit 2 100% pages. If anything, a FHD screen may boost word processing productivity. If text becomes too small, you can easily press the magnify button.

 

Which is why it is recommended that the OP have a look at the actual offering of screens before he take the plunge. Personally i hate fitting two pages on a 15.4 inch screen on WUXGA screen. My friend likes to do it on his Alienware laptop, and his eyesight have steadily declined over the years because of his bad reading habit.

 

Not sure those two are connected, but yes, the only way to choose a good screen for yourself is to test them out and see what is comfortable for you

 

I think that's an urban legend.

 

Probably. But it can certainly give you headaches. Declining eyesight -- something I'm dealing with myself -- is usually due to age, not due to usage of high-resolution LCD panels.

 

ayup

http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-nature/health-myths/reading-in-dim-light.htm

 

it is not an urban legend, as i have said he has a bad reading habit, he likes to view the two full A4 pages side by side on the WUXGA 15.4 inch LCD.... and starring at the same small size font for a long period of time does cause your eyesight to deteriorate.

You can ask your Optometrist and google Myopia.

 

but we are not referring to reading in dimlights, but rather extended reading of small fonts from close distance.

http://www.myopia.org/

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0161642003007048 <-- you would need subscription to view the article.

There is also such thing as called School Myobia.

 

The size of the fonts isn't so much the problem as the focal distance. If you sit with your laptop on your lap (like I'm doing right now!!) and read for hours without taking any vision breaks then yes, you're not doing anything useful for your eyes. But the actual SIZE of the text has little to do with it, unless you're finding yourself needing to be closer to your screen to actually read things.

In the office I have a nice pair of high res monitors with a GORGEOUS view behind them out the window. Making sure I look outside at the mountains and things as often as possible is about the best thing I can do for myself both in terms of my eyes AND in terms of my mind!

 

this is what my friend does, which is why i said he has a bad reading habit....

 

Stressing your eyes can lead to bad vision, but that's not myopia in the proper sense (called pseudomyopia for a reason).

 

In case the W510 and the T510 use the same screen...
Here you may find some pictures:
http://www.thinkpad-forum.de/thinkp...10-ist-da-ein-paar-vergleichsbilder/?b87139b8

 

The t510 which shown in the link. Is that a HD+(1600X900) or FHD(1920X1080)
i am planning to buy the W510 and the FHD W/O multi screen is not avaliable at the moment. the T510 screen in the photo looks good enough to me.

 

I would probably get the FD+...for gaming I would rather run at that resolution for better performance than the FHD. I just think it's too much for a 15 inch. I have 144x900 on my 15inch Precision m4400 and it's perfect all around at that res. Just a diff point of view. Things in general WILL appear smaller on the FHD unless you muck up it's good looks.