Anandtech T410 review

Lenovo Think Pad T 410: Built for Business

Here is what the review has to say about LCD quality:

Edit: I had to break the words in the link text to prevent the review link from being overwritten by the NBR ads link. Sigh.

 

Yeah, too bad they decided to use so poor a screen.

 

Strange. That page is reported as an attack page by Firefox and there is also a warning in Google search results that visiting the website may harm your computer. Perhaps Anandtech has been cracked.

 

T410 is a business laptop, not a multimedia/workstation laptop. I think that it's not fair if Anandtech criticizes its screen because it was designed for office uses.

 

Fair point but not one Lenovo except the T510/Ww510 (fhd and hd+ reportedly), the x201 tablet and the W700 series have good screen options. That is a lot of models with below average to terrible displays.

 

Why are poor screens excused because the machine is targeted at business users? I could understand if we were talking in terms of gaining some kind of advantage for business users in exchange for poor contrast and viewing angles but that doesn't seem to be the case.

How is this anything other than a crappy screen in an expensive notebook?

 

Just buy what you think suits you the best. There is no point getting worked up on this.

 

Agree with the above but its just unfortunate. With premium screen options Lenovo would have the best laptops in the marketplace by imho a large margin.

 

Maybe Lenovo just need to hire smart people.

 

I have to concur with this. Evidently, Lenovo feels people with 14” inch and smaller screens don’t care about screen quality…

 

It's the adblock plus filter from your firefox

 

"Why are poor screens excused because the machine is targeted at business users?"

Thats what I would like to ask. NOTHING about the lenovo makes the machine targeted for business. If it were, I wouldn't have it.

The machine is just a well engineered notebook.

Renee

 

Actually, the feature is built in to Firefox and is based on data gathered by Google. You'll see the warning even if you don't have adblock installed.

This part of the warning is rather humorous:

Note that I had to censor the word in the domain for the notebook forums bad word filter. Seeing this makes me glad I'm not using Windows anymore.

 

Or start reading forums where people post so they can see what people want and are willing to pay for.

 

The warning seems to be related to the mobile version of Anandtech. I've fixed the link and it's not a problem anymore.

 

I was pretty disappointed after reading the section on LCD quality. It becomes clear how bad the screen actually is when you see it quantified like that. Does Lenovo only use one manufacturer for the 14 inch displays, or is there the possibility that you might get lucky with a decent screen from a different manufacturer?

I've had this experience with Dell Laptops in the past. On my previous XPS M1330, the LED screen originally shipped was made by Chi Mei Optoelectronics and it was total crap. I had it swapped out and ended up with a Toshiba screen which was excellent.

Same issue with the first E6400 I bought. Screen was crap. Returned the laptop. Months later I bought another E6400, which I currently own, and the screen is great.

 

Apparently Thinkpads aren't targeted for business anymore...

 

Or maybe a more accurate way of putting it is that ThinkPads not designated as R,T,X...are not targeted for business anymore...?

 

Are there any other 14.1" matte led wxga+ displays out there that could be aftermarket swapped into the t410/s with better results? i know there are no such IPS/PVA screens out there, but are there better TN examples?

 

I was under the impression that there are very few manufacturers for 14".
I have 3 notebook's. A consumer Acer Ferrari (15.4) and consumer Toshiba Satalite (15.4) and thinkpad Z61t (14). While the Ferrari and Toshiba run Laps around my thinkpad for games or, looking at pictures, when it comes to office work such as emails, word processing, excel and web surfing I prefer my 14 thinkpad by miles.
In fact it the only screen I have that I can spend hours on and not get eye strain (and thats including TV's, monitors and projector)

 

The Elitebook 8440P/8440W 14 inch models have a good 1600 by 900 screen option with apparently pretty good viewing angles.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5453

 

The screen on my T410 (WXGA+) really isn't that bad. Sure the colours aren't as vibrant as they are on say, a Macbook Pro, but it's not something I've given a thought to beyond my initial impression (had this for about a month). I have zero issues with being able to read text or with the quality of images displayed on my T410's screen.

The only actual gripe I can think of is a wider viewing angle would be helpful to take advantage of the 180-degree rotation of the screen. One thing I'd like to be able to do is, if talking with someone face-to-face, be able to to push the screen back to 180 degrees, and use the hot-keys to flip my desktop so they can see whatever's on my screen. This isn't very practical with the current screen's viewing angle.

 

People, including myself, grip about the thinkpad screens because
1. The screens are the only real issue holding up a lot of forum members from buying thinkpads without reservation. The thinkpads are otherwise great.
2. The thinkpad is marketed as being their premium line. It's possible to buy an x301, which is very expensive, and get a $499 laptop officemax sale of the week quality screen. The macbook pros are marketed as being expensive, but at least their screens are a notch above. Some people do feel that there is nothing worse than paying the most for the worst, which it is possible to do with the thinkpad.

 

The T510 and W510 have better screen option. The hd+ is better than the T410 screen and the fhd option is better than the hd+. Now it is time for Lenovo to bring these quality screens to the T410. But the day Lenovo do that people are going to compain that the aspect ratio is getting narrawer.

 

We've already complained about the aspect ratio. It is an industry push and it sucks.

 

Apparently a random ad was distributing malware (ironically named Antivirus Soft) on AnandTech. However, according to a statement from Anand himself, the problem should have been completely resolved by now.

 

Honestly, if they can put a 1600x900 screen in the next generation 14" thinkpad, who cares about aspect ratio? The problem is if they try to force 1366x768 on us, which is a terrible resolution and basically like traveling back in time to 2001 with 1024x768... same vertical resolution anyway.

 

"T410 is a business laptop, not a multimedia/workstation laptop."

There is no such thing as a business laptop. I think "Business" is boring and there is nothing software wise or hardware wise that makes a lenovo "a business machine.

Renee

 

it is not that Lenovo think people don't care about screen quality, they knew that people do care about it a lot. But they think that the people value price more than a slight increase in image quality.