ibm thinkpad screens....

Hey everyone,

I'm pretty much ready to pick up a t42 but i was wondering about the offerings for screens. I've been really impressed with all of the new screen offerings of other companies with clearbright, xbrite, etc. I was wondering if IBM has anything like this? A friend of mine was telling me that the t42p models had nicer screens than the standard t42s? The IBM has everything i want in terms of build quality, performance, battery life, styling, etc., but the screen might be a deal breaker for me.

I also read about the Fujitsus having relatively good build quality. How would they compare to the IBMs? Do they also have the magneisum casing that the IBMs have? Are there any other companies i should be looking at if IBM doesn't have the type of screen i'm looking for?

By the way, i'd be looking for either a 14" screen for the IBM, or something in the widescreen variety for a different brand.

Thanks in advance for the reponses!

 

Hi hoomza444,
IBM has two kinds of LCDs, flexview and non-flex view. All of the 14" LCDs are of the non-flexview types and most of the 15" are flexview, but not all of them. All 15" T42 notebooks have the flexview and all 14" T42 notebooks do not have flexview. It does not matter if it's a T42P or not, so what your friend said was wrong. I've owned notebooks with both types, I like the 15" flexview a little more than the 15" non-flexview I had in my R40. The only real difference I have noticed is that the flexview has a wider viewing angle.
To tell you the truth, I would not put too much into the what each manufacturer calls their LCD displays..clearbright,xbrite,flexview,and other names....they are only marketing gimmicks just like the centrino name is to Intel. The Fujitsu notebooks have fairly good quality and I would put them in the top three or four. I don't think they have magnesium casings, probably just plastic.

"Are there any other companies i should be looking at if IBM doesn't have the type of screen i'm looking for?"
Well, it depends what your looking for. The IBMs have very nice screens, but I personally would not pick a notebook just on the type of screen it has, but everyone has their needs. I picked the thinkpad because of it's top notch build quality, relaiability, service/support and it's keyboard...they do make the best keyboard, it's far better than all the others.

I'm sure IBM does not make any widescreen notebooks. If you want a widescreen get it for the reason of having a wider aspect ratio, not for watching DVDs; the reason I say this is that even "widescreen" displays are not the correct aspect ratio for DVD viewing, so there will be black bars either way.

Jack


"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" (Ben Franklin)
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

Hey thanks for the great response. Right now i have a dell inspiron 8200 with the 15.1" ultrabright screen. I love the screen but my sister recently picked up the dell 700m and i was amazed at the difference that the coating made. The screen seemed really crisp and the contrast overall seemed better. Generally i'm in front of my computer for around 6+ hours a day since i do a lot of programming for school and photoshop in my free time, so having a nice screen is one of my top priorities. Similarly, i want something with great build quality, a decent battery life, and more portable than the monster of a machine that i have right now.

I've seen the 14" ibm with the 1400x1050 resolution and thought it was decent but after seeing some of the newer laptops with the reflective coating the thinkpad screen doesn't seem all that nice.

You also mentioned that fujitsu is among the top 3-4 in terms of build quality. Who elsle should i be looking for aside from IBM and Fujitsu? I'd prefer to steer clear of sony and dell, since i haven't been impressed with their quality in the past.

 

I agree with your opinion of Dell, I have not used a Sony yet but will be reviewing the Sony S260 later this week so I shall see. I would checkout the Toshiba notebooks as their quality to pretty good as well. If you go with the 15" flexview LCD on the T42 you will see a difference from the thinkpad LCD you have looked at.

Jack

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" (Ben Franklin)
http://pbase.com/joneill