Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge, Part 2

Has anyone seen both WXGA and WXGA+ side by side?
I'm wondering if it's worth upgrading my WXGA screen. It looks pretty awful but i don't want to spend money on the upgrade if the WXGA+ screen isn't that much better. What's your opinion on the screen, how are the colors etc.

 

1440x900 on a 14inch wide laptop, feels like (the size of objects on the screen) a 1280x1024 on a 17inch non-wide monitor. I think it's the closest comparison you can find.

If you have a larger LCD resolution.. try to disable scaling, and set the 1280x1024 and see how it looks (that means you should have black boarders all around the image).

1280x800 is, in my opinion only ideal on a 12/13inch laptop.. anything bigger makes the pixel distance (dot pitch) too large, so it's not precise and text is more difficult to read.. especially if you are on a 15inch laptop.. now that is the worst of the worst.

 

I had overheating problems with my first E6400. After replacing the motherboard and heatsink didn't work (no clue why), Dell agreed to give a whole new machine, and this one has been working perfectly. I really like it and I think it is a great laptop.

 

I want the higher res but that's not really what i meant. The colors of the WXGA (1280x800) are awful, nowhere near what it should be and completely washed out. Is the 1440x900 better with colors etc? That's why i asked if someone has ever done a side by side comparison.

 

The day you compare an LCD TN panel... let alone on a laptop, to a CRT or desktop decent IPS panels, all TN panels looks like junk. So, saying something is "good" is very relative. Not to mention, that if you get LED or CFL lamp in your case for the laptop varies the colors. Dell, like nearly all OEM's, uses different brand LCD's for each type (to ensure that they don't run out of them and require to halt production because of it), so it's really playing a game of chance.. unless you can try your best for Dell to send you a specific model even thought it means waiting long time, and several phone calls.

Based on people comments, if you get the WGXA+ LED LG panel, you got the jackpot in getting the best LCD offered for this laptop model. And to be honest, I find it the best LCD for laptops with a matte screen that I came across too from friends, and university class mates.

 

I had to get a replacement E6400 a while ago and had the two laptops side-by-side. One had the LG screen and one had the Samsung screen. Trust me, you'll be hard-pressed to find significant difference between them (photos don't capture this well, you get a lot more difference because of lighting and angle effects than because of the screen quality itself). I remember that the LG has slightly better colors and the Samsung has slightly better viewing angles (and I strongly emphasize SLIGHTLY).

Unfortunately both panels were 1440x900 so I cannot compare to the 1280x800 panels.

 

I never said i was comparing it to my IPS panel. I know that's no use but again, that's not what i'm asking. My question is this:
If i think the WXGA panel is crap, is there enough difference to justify the upgrade. I know this is relative but i'm asking for your opinions.
The comments you mention are helpful, that's pretty much what i'm looking for, i wish i could have a look somewhere before getting the upgrade. I'll get a quote from Dell on the price first.

Thanks!

 

there isn't any difference in color fidelity, quality, etc. between the different resolutions, just different resolutions. (at least to my knowledge)

 

There may still be some CCFL backlit WXGA panels in circulation. The LED backlit panels are brighter as well as using less power.

John

 

Actually, as I explained, quality does mater. the WXGA provide larger pixels which reduce image quality... or should I say reduces sharpness - to be specific - over the WXGA+