Help choosing processor and display for X240 please

I'm about to purchase an X240 today or tomorrow and, after doing multiple forum searches and reading the 67-page X240 Owner's thread, I would really appreciate some help choosing a processor and a display. If it makes a difference, I've decided on:
*Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
*8GB of RAM
*256GB SSD

I intend to use the laptop for viewing/editing Word documents and Powerpoint presentations, streaming movies, and streaming recorded lectures. I'm not sure what lecture viewer/player my school uses yet, but I do know that it has options to play the lectures at accelerated speeds (1.5x, 2x, etc.) and that I will definitely need to use this feature. I'm not computer literate enough to discern whether the processor type has any effect on this. I will use an external drive if I need to download and save any lectures. I also plan to do some infrequent and basic photo editing with Windows Photo Gallery and MS Paint. I'm willing to pay extra for a smoother/faster experience, but I don't want to go with the i7 processor if it's overkill for my purposes or if there are other significant trade-offs besides price.

As for display, I'm torn between the regular HD (1366x768) IPS Non-touch, regular HD IPS Touch, and FHD IPS Touch. Re: HD vs FHD, I've been using a 1280x800 13.3" non-IPS display for the last 6 or 7 years, and I'm pretty happy with it except for the limited viewing angles. Wouldn't regular HD on a 12.5" screen be a step up in resolution? A lot of the reviews of the regular HD on the X240 express disappointment with the "low" resolution, but I don't know if it's really that bad, or if people just have much higher expectations/standards than I do. I'm leaning towards regular HD because my glasses are so strong that increasing the sharpness of what I see also has the side effect of making things appear smaller (minimization error), so I'd probably have to mess with text/DPI scaling if I went with FHD, which isn't a perfect solution from what I've read. I'd only consider getting a touch version if I need FHD (since it doesn't come in non-touch in the U.S.), or if a touch screen somehow makes the HD display sharper or more vibrant--I have no intention of actually using touch features.

Apologies for the length, and thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Hello, welcome to NBR!

For your usage patterns, even the base i3-4010U CPU will be more than powerful enough. A nice, solid option for minimal additional cost would be the i5-4200U. The i7 is definitely overkill.

Personally, I would opt for the FHD display option, as it's very, very useful to be able to fit two side-by-side Word documents, which is basically impossible at 1366x768. That said, text will definitely be smaller without messing with DPI settings, so that can be an issue: my best advice would be to go check out laptops at a local Best Buy or other computer store. Some of the high-end Dell or HP computers may have a 12.5" FHD panel. If you can find a 13.3" FHD, that can give you a rough idea of what to expect as well.

As for IPS versus non-IPS, the upgrade is most definitely worth it. Colors will be far more accurate and vibrant, with much better contrast. That's worth it for photo editing alone, not to mention other usage.

As a final note, I would personally go with Windows 8.1 over Windows 7, as these latest-generation laptops have been designed with that OS in mind: there will be fewer driver headaches to deal with in the future, and in addition, DPI settings are much improved in W8.1 over W7.

PS: If you haven't already, I would check out the Lenovo Barnes & Noble Gold site (make an account). Great discounts on Thinkpads there!

 

Thanks so, so much for the advice (and the welcome), MidnightSun! That's a ton of helpful info, and a lot I hadn't considered! It didn't even occur to me to check out FHD on different laptops of a similar size, but I will definitely do that and play around with W8.1 DPI settings before making a purchase. I appreciate the B&N Gold site tip, too--hadn't heard of it before!

Thanks again!

 

Do bear in mind that scaling in W7 - which is the OS that you were referring to as your choice in the first post - leaves a lot to be desired...

 

Yes, I failed to pay attention to whether the scaling issues I was reading about before were encountered in W7 vs W8 when I first looked into it, but I stand corrected by you and MidnightSun. Thanks for your input!

 

Provided you can read the 176 pixel density. I would say in my experience that's too high for most users, though some do like it. By all means take a look at one or something similar to see if you like it, before plunking down you're hard earned cash. Most browsers, office suites, PDF readers, where you want the extra resolution, allow users to make text small and fit more onto the screen, though like DPI, it's an imperfect solution. If you were mostly happy the WXGA LCD you had before, the HD IPS will be a nice step up in terms of picture quality.

 

I would rule put the 768p touch as the modest savings over the 1080p screen is not worth it.

If you must settle for 768p go with the IPS nontouch. It is worth the small price increase.

For your usage requirements, RAM and a SSD will give you the largest performance boosts.

The X240 has two battery bays. You may wish to buy an extra battery and take advantage of the 240's ability to hot swap.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk

 

I caught a lucky break and ended up being able to keep a 17" monitor from work that IT doesn't want anymore, so it looks like that could take care of any side-by-side tasks (can't imagine having to do anything like that on the go.) I suspected the HD IPS would be a step up from something I was already satisfied with, but wasn't sure I was making the comparison properly; thanks for confirming! I'm still going to take a look at FHD (and HD) on a comparable screen size in a store to make sure, but nice to know I'm not going to end up with a downgrade either way.

My only concern with going with the 768p IPS nontouch vs 768p IPS touch was that there might be a major difference in the quality of the display--either related to the coating/layer that allows touch functions or due to the screens being supplied by different manufacturers not producing the same level of quality (as is the case with the LG vs AUO crapshoot going on with the T440s). My research hasn't turned up anything like that with the X240, however, so it looks like I've narrowed down my choices to 1080p touch and 768p nontouch. Thanks for the advice, and for the battery tip!

 

I might suggest the 13" MBP Retina, which you can find at BestBuy, Apple Store and the like. You can run it at 1920x1200, which would be pretty close to FHD on the X240.

If you do decide on the HD screen, you might want to consider the X230, which also has an IPS option. It offers a couple benefits - the mSATA SSD can be had in larger sizes than the M.2 SSD of the X240. It offers a better keyboard and trackpoint setup. You might be able to get a better price on it. Since it uses full voltage CPUs compared to the X240, it should offer at least as good performance than the X240 if not better.

 

That shouldn't be the case with the X240. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe there is only one supplier for the X240 HD display (LG), so there's no screen lottery. The HD Touch panel just has an additional digitizer layer over it, which will not affect screen quality (if anything, it might reduce display clarity slightly).

The X230 could be worth looking at, depending on your priorities. If battery life, weight, and the FHD screen are priorities, however, the X240 has the advantage over the X230.

 

Thanks a bunch for the suggestions, ZaZ and MidnightSun! Going to take a look a the MBP retina display and will weigh my options with the X230, too.

 

I was misinformed. I was at Best Buy yesterday and the highest resolution offered the 13" retina was 1680x1050. That's a pixel density of 148 versus 176 on the FHD X240. Text will be smaller on the FHD X240.2 While the MBP was readable for me, it was small.