SZ: A Tale of Two Screens

Yes, there is a difference between the non-premium (110/120/140) and the premium screen (160). A noticable difference.

I had a chance to see them side by side at Fry's in Los Angeles.

The 160's white are much cleaner. To my eye, the "pop" or brighteness is about 20 to 25% more intense. Also the text appears somewhat sharper.

Since the two units share the same NVIDIA card I suspect the difference is in the way the backlight lcd's are engineered for the razor thin 160 lid.

Let me also add that I think BOTH screens are excellent - even when compared to the FE x-brite high color (an amazing screen!).

The bottom line: the x-brite displays are still the best on market. if you are very screen sensitive the 160 is the way to go. Otherwise, the non-premium models should make the avearge person very, very happy.

 

The SZ-160s and higher use the new LED-backlight display technology.

The SZ-140s and lower use the older traditional XBrite display technology.

Very different screens in their construction.

- ncdave

 

I definitely agree. The screen on the SZ120 looks dull to me.

The color saturation looks more vivid with my SZ160.

 

Did you see any issues with dead pixels on the LED premium screens?

When you are viewing the SZ premium model do screen colors stretch solid across the display or does the color fade towards the edges?

 

No dead pixels, no color fade at edges.

 

Your continued raves about this machine are most reassuring. I have a dream that the thing will show up and all the chaos of actually buying the d*mn thing will have been worth it.
Looking forward to a formal review.

 

if the keyboard is still the same to me it's not worth paying 2.5k for it just to get a slightly better screen... my .02 cents

 

Whats wrong with the keyboard?

 

cheapo keyboard