Suggest VisionPad: business notebook with premium screen [ Edited ]

[fmyhr]

Thanks for bringing up e-IPS, Puppy.

The Dell 2209WA external monitor is one of the first to use it. It's relatively inexpensive yet gets generally positive reviews:

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2009/review-dell-2209wa.html

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1387587

Dell currently shows a 3-5 week lead time for these: it appears that there is a large demand for such high-quality reasonable-cost displays.

I agree with you, it would be great if LG would make e-IPS panels for laptops.

Message Edited by fmyhr on 2009-06-21 04:49 PM

[Puppy]

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fmyhr wrote:

I agree with you, it would be great if LG would make e-IPS panels for laptops.

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Actually it would be great if Lenovo asked LG to make such panels for them. We are running into the chicken-egg problem :-)

[azay]

Developing e-IPS laptop screen from scratch is a total pipe dream as well. It would take at least a year to engineer something like this and then put it into mass production. Then ofcorse lenovo would have to integrate it into their line-up and considering that they almost never offer panel "refreshes" it would take a whole model cycle. So i dont see this happening in the next 2-3 years. By then OLED dispays which are superior in image quality anyway (and better contrast ratios than IPS) should be becoming mainstream.

http://dvice.com/archives/2008/05/samsung-shows-o.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_XEL-1

IMO the best thing right now would be to get Lenovo to use whatever higher quality TN panels are available and simply wait for the new tech. As great as it is, IPS is 13 year old tech and there probably was a good business reason why it died in laptops to begin with. That said, for now all my desktop monitors will stay IPS.

[Puppy]

The e-IPS technology is already developed. No need to wait several years. LG.Philips was also the latest manufacturer of FlexView panels for T60 series. Notice that those IPS panels were always produced as "custom" for IBM exclusively by various vendors (IBM, IDTech, Boe-Hydis, LG.Philips). The reason it died for Lenovo laptops was the only one - cutting the costs and hoping customers would not notice.

IPS technology is still evolving. Latest version H-IPS has several improvements regarding better contrast ratios and used by NEC or consumer-oriented brands like HP. LG.Philips is able to produce custom panels in mass production as well. My NEC 2090UXi monitor has custom A-TW-IPS panel (4:3) developed for NEC by LG.Philips. Lenovo could do the same.

OLED might be the future technology but it would take at least four years to get reasonable prices of it.

[azay]

interesting quote from Franciso Carias, worldwide product marketing manager for ThinkPads in this article about new t400s:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=hardware&articl...

"Lenovo is also thinking about adding a multi-touch screen to future ThinkPads, and will consider releasing a slim model of its T500 with 15-inch OLED screen "if demand is there," Carias said."

So perhaps they are considering bring in some quality screens in the future.

[Puppy]

This is very far future anyway. Why to speculate on technologies like OLED while non-TN panels like e-IPS ones are available now. It is matter of marketing decision only. I don't want to wait another few years. I'd like to replace my five years old ThinkPad R51 15" SXGA+ IPS with something up-to-date but not a refurbished model.

[bhtooefr]

I'm posting as an owner of the almighty QXGA IPS screen, and my previous machine was an SXGA+ X61t. (Had I seen that X61s SXGA+ mod when it came out, I'd be drooling - every day, I wished my X61t were an X61s, but still with that screen. But, the QXGA panel is better than the SXGA+ panel, and QXGA into a T60p is much, much easier than SXGA+ into an X61s.)

Anyway, I'm definitely an enthusiast, in my case. When I recommend machines, I end up usually recommending WXGA machines with integrated graphics. But, for my own machines, I like extreme DPI. Portability is important, but I can compromise to get the DPI I want - see this T60p.

While I definitely like IPS panels, I can even settle for a good quality TN if need be, to get the high DPI - I'm pretty sure my iBook G4 that I got to play with Mac OS has a TN display, and it's passable.

Widescreens don't bother me that much, although I prefer them in smaller applications. I voted the 1920x1200 T400, but what I'd really prefer is a 2560x1600 screen, on anything 15.4" or smaller. Yes, I'm crazy. But, IBM/IDTech had the technology to do it back in 2001 - that's 196 PPI, the IBM T221 was 204 PPI. And we've got 300 PPI technology nowadays, although yields are poor on that. But, 200 PPI is mass market - I mean, I can get an almost free cell phone with a 200 PPI screen, why can't I get a laptop with one? (Yes, I know, OS support is poor for ultra-high PPI, but I just like having more stuff on my screen at once.)

[Puppy]

As for higher resolution, HP has introduced netbook with 10.1" 1366x768 display resolution
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/24/hp-mini-5101-cleans-up-nice-shows-the-serious-side-of-netbooks/

[fmyhr]

Everybody who wants a T500 with OLED screen, raise your hand! (Both of mine are up, waving around wildly ) I've been waiting for OLED screens in external monitors and HDTVs as well. AFAIK they're currently only used in small screens like cell phones and GPSs and in just a few extremely expensive--and smallish--HDTVs. Anybody know of 15" OLED panels being used anywhere? Has panel lifetime improved? (I remember that used to be a concern.)

On a different note, I'd been wondering about the screen in the new T400s. Looks like it's a TN with average viewing angles. Very nice machine otherwise! LOVE the eSATA port. Though I wish the docking connector had remained compatible with the docks for T60-T400. But I digress...

[azay]

Forget IPS, let them push the development of OLED screen. Business notebook with this tech would be very innovative. As long as it has the lifetime of 3 years i'm okay with that. Considering that alot of handhelds are coming out with these screens, they must have sorted out the life expectancy of the these screens.

The T400s supposedly uses same panel as T400 WXGA+ LED, LTN141BT which is okay, but not very good.
Here is a few better pics form engadget, the viewing angle doesnt look that great;

http://www.engadget.com/photos/lenovo-ideapad-u350-thin-and-light-hands-on/2104921/

http://www.engadget.com/photos/lenovo-ideapad-u350-thin-and-light-hands-on/2104931/

http://www.engadget.com/photos/lenovo-ideapad-u350-thin-and-light-hands-on/2104930/

http://www.engadget.com/photos/lenovo-ideapad-u350-thin-and-light-hands-on/2104942/