Convince me to go T61p 15 inch wide vs 14 inch standard

Pluses of 15 inch:

- Movies look better
- Games look much better with better graphics card
- Brighter screen
- Higher resolution

Pluses of 14 inch:

- Battery drains slower
- Lighter
- Websites look better
- Much less expensive

Is there any pictures of both screens side by side out there?

 

I wouldn't recommend doing much if any gaming on either machine. I had a T61p (15" WSXGA+) and it wasn't much good for that, so much so that I sold it and am now looking at a Sager 5972. Otherwise it was a great machine and movies/media certainly looked nice on the screen.

 

Actually, I got the T61p 15" widescreen and almost wish I'd gone with one of the 14" models. The main reason I went with the 15" widescreen was because it had the highest resolution, and had the 256 MB/128-bit version of the Quadro FX 570M GPU. I wanted a desktop replacement, and didn't want to skimp on gaming performance or screen space (I'm a programmer). I was not disappointed with the gaming performance, it handled World of Warcraft at max settings (except for multisampling) at 1680x1050 resolution at 53fps. But since that first month, I haven't really been gaming much, and for any "good" games, you can have just as much fun not running at max settings...assuming it runs the game smoothly, which it wouldn't be able to do for games like Crysis. 1680x1050 resolution is nice, but it took me a little while to get used to (it produces rather tiny text on the 15" screen, I have no clue how the WUXGA screen owners read theirs at all). Combined with the matte screen, it can appear dim and grainy at times. In retrospect, I might have rather gone with a smaller version of the T61p, if it meant saving a little money, and having an easier to read screen (which might not necessarily the be the case, mind you).

If you use Windows Terminal Services much, it has some quirky behavior with a widescreen client. I've mostly ironed it out, but still, sometimes it's annoying.

So go with the 15" WSXGA+ if you absolutely do not want to sacrifice any gaming performance or resolution. Otherwise, consider getting a smaller version that'll be easier to lug around, if not easier on the eyes.

If I had a do-over, I'd be very tempted to try out the Dell XPS 1330 or the new Lenovo X300, though admittedly, having 1440x900 at 13" would probably produce even smaller text (higher DPI).

PS - One caveat: I've encountered a number of reliability problems with gaming on the T61p, particularly when on battery power. It heats up pretty quick (being on battery only contributes to that), and it's had serious artifacting problems several times after only 20-30 minutes (sometimes it'll take longer), only remedied by exiting the game and letting it cool down. I had lots of trouble running Team Fortress 2 in anything over 1024x768, not because the laptop couldn't render it smoothly, but because anything higher would cause it to overheat, even while running on AC power. Even though it has the power to be a gaming laptop, it's not designed to be one--anyone will tell you this.

PPS - the fingerprint reader is worthless, unless you intend to use it for higher security with password + fingerprint logins. It regularly took several attempts to log me in, even when I was being very careful to swipe my finger correctly. I eventually just disabled it.

 

I play games fine with my 14" T61

IMO, laptops should be small

 

Unless the specs have changed since I purchased my 15" WSXGA T61. The 15.4" model come standard with a built-in 4-1 memory card/media card slot. So this means you will have the PCMCIA Card Slot, Expresscard slot, AND memory card slot all on the same machine. The 14" model does not come with built-in memory card/media card slot. If you want a memory card slot, you will have to sacrifice the Express card slot which is a poor alternative.

BTW, my fingerprint reader works great. I'd say 99 out of 100 times it works great. The 1 out of 100 time that it doesn't recognize it has been my fault. I don't pretend that it provides "ironclad" security, but it provides some security and it sure beats typing in my password.

Perhaps you need to decrease the sensitivity settings, fignuts.

 

Quite possible, I haven't tried that. I left it set to its default (balanced between security and convenience), I figured anything less would be insecure, but I didn't do any testing with that .

 

I'm still leaning towards 14 vs 15 unless someone shows me "dramatic" difference in screen quality....

 

I thought I left my set to default, maybe not. Anyway, I have had a few other people try to swipe there finger just for kicks. Nobody can get in but me. I have it configured to use any of 6 fingers (3 on each hand). No probs with any finger I try.

 

I have the T61p 15 inch and...

..for web sites and web surfing, just hit "CTRL +" and you get larger type with super clarity.

..gaming is great with any game I have tried (8-10). And, all types of great gaming drivers @ laptopvideo2go.com in support of FX570 gaming. Fun with a few minutes to spare to go into multiplayer with the laptop ... on the lap....

..unless you travel a high %, recommend the 15" mobile workstation

 

The FP reader was hit and miss affair for me until I updated to Thinkvantage FP software v5.6. I'm surprised at how much better that made the fp reader..I hardly get misreads now. So make sure that is updated.