How bad is the x201 screen?

I have read that the screen is buisiness quality, but being more specific:

Can you watch movies on this screen and is it that poor in brightness compared to a standard Dell or Toshiba. I understand it is not a multimedia unit but dome posters have really bashed it

 

the screen quality is comparable to those dell or toshiba matte LCD. You can watch movies on it, but people next to you may not see properly if they sit too off from the centre of the LCD.

 

The problem with using forums like this as a way to gather information is only people who complain post. The Samsung screen I got on my X200 was about as good as you'll get elsewhere. If the screen quality is an issue for you, there's always the AFFS mod.

If you're looking at the X201, I might suggest the X200 here on eBay via Buy.com. The X201 won't offer better performance and the Core 2 Duo CPUs run cooler. Plus it's significantly less expensive.

 

I think the screen is fine. Given the colors aren't as vivid as on RGB LED, but compared to m11x, they are slightly different, but unlike m11x, this screen isn't glossy, which makes it much more usable overall.

I don't know which one is mine, it says Lenovo LTN121AP03001 in the HWInfo32.

BTW if you think these viewing angles are bad, try m11x - it doesn't have viewing angles, it has a viewing ANGLE.

 

According to this review, the X201 is significantly faster and has a better battery life.

Edit: The site is acting weird. Here's a Google cache version.

 

I can't comment on battery life, but the part about CPU impacting overall performance on that review is complete bs. Unless all you do on your laptop is running wPrime benchmark, that is. I think that's a useless benchmark for a portable laptop, especially the one that is not aimed towards gaming. They talk about improvement in "3D performance".... seriously... rofl

I have the a CPU, i7-620m (2.66/3.33 GHz turboboost) on Alienware , and I can't say I saw any difference in regular work in Windows. Opening different programs? Get an SSD if you want real speedup.

 

For most uses, you'll never notice a difference. The Core CPUs run hotter, which may give you more fan noise and is a more tangible attribute.

 

the review seem to show that the x201s have similar battery life to that of the X201... which seems weird...

 

My experience with the X200 P8600 vs X200s SL9400 battery life is similar - not a big difference.

 

i guess that is dependent on the CPU, when i had the X200s with SU CPU, there was about 60 minutes difference for a 9 cells.

 

"I can't comment on battery life, but the part about CPU impacting overall performance on that review is complete bs. Unless all you do on your laptop is running wPrime benchmark, that is. I think that's a useless benchmark for a portable laptop, especially the one that is not aimed towards gaming. They talk about improvement in "3D performance".... seriously... rofl

I have the a CPU, i7-620m (2.66/3.33 GHz turboboost) on Alienware , and I can't say I saw any difference in regular work in Windows. Opening different programs? Get an SSD if you want real speedup"

A benchmark is exactly that and they do measure performace. IF you don't do CPU consuming tasks on a cpu, they will not seem to make sense, and from what you say, you haven't seen or experienced much CPU intensity.

Renee

 

Yes, I haven't experienced much CPU intensity because I'm not playing games on X200. I oly run some computer simulations and older games/photoshop occasionally. In fact, a single core ~2.4 GHz CPU would probably do just as well (we have it on few computers in my office and they work fine, if the computer has enough RAM).

I don't see your point... yes a benchmark provides a raw number that will tell you how much a CPU1 alone is faster than CPU2. And when/how often/what % of the time you're working on the laptop, do you exactly do that in real life scenario on a 12" business laptop without dedicated graphics card? In that sense, it's artificial. The article makes several misleading points, as they apply -only- to running synthetic benchmarks:

- "Overall system performance went up 30 to 50% across the board depending on configuration." (yes, in running wPrime)
- "3D-performance went up 63 to 106%..." (106% of almost zero is still almost zero...)
- " The newest Intel platform offers a huge boost in overall performance from the previous generation" - no it doesn't. Only the CPU is faster. And the difference, even in the CPU intensive apps, isn't going to be that high, if they are going to be actually utilizing other components that could be a bottleneck.

 

I don't consider that a big difference especially considering that you probably had the SU7300 CPU.

A SU processor would also be under greater CPU load in comparison to a P processor, which may even out the consumption considerably, leading to an even smaller difference in battery life. The effects will of course be dependant on the tasks/usage.

 

SU9400... don't think X200s ever had the SU7300 CPU option. The X200s that i had effectively had the same CPU as the X301. I don't do anything CPU intensive on it, just typing up reports and surfing the net mainly.

 

Yes the X200s (X200si in some countries) was offered with the SU7300 1.3 GHz CPU. I've seen it in Southeast Asia as well as parts of Europe.

 

Does anyone know what brand of screen is equipped in the current X201?

 

TFT display - ThinkWiki

scroll down the list to the 1280 x 800 part.

 

Thank, lead_org.
There are 4 screens for X201 which are distinguished by FRU.
What is FRU?

 

Field Replacement Unit

it's just a fancy way of saying "internal part number."   almost every component has a FRU number.   some parts also have a marketing part number (abbreviated MKTG) and is simply the publicly advertised part number.

FRUs are intended to be replaced by field technicians where CRUs (or Customer Replaceable Units) are common parts like hard drives, memory, and batteries intended to be serviced by the end user.

 

Thanks, erik.
How can I find out this number?
Is it printed on the machine?

 

Lenovo uses multiple screen suppliers. You can do a parts look up your machine to find which screen you got. There's a link in the sticky.

 

I used this program Astra32 to lookup the exact screen model:

ASTRA32 - Advanced System Information Tool - Free Download

it was suggested to me by Joker5150 from AW subforum.

 

I've got the Samsung 07L02 in my X201 that I bought in May this year. The the display mfg date is Jan 2009 ...seems old

 

I think that's "normal", or rather, usual. My display on m17x is also dated the same, even though I bought the laptop later than you.

 

If you want display made in 2010 then you would probably need to switch to the 12.5 inch format.

 

Just received my X201 and I found that it is not too bad at all.
I feel that it is similar to general consumer laptops.
I guess I worried it too much.

 

This is what often happens when people are influenced by the forums, where things are often blown out of proportion. Glad you are okay with the screen.

 

Same thing happened to me, I feel like its very bright too, brighter then most consumer laptops but some people say otherwise.

How are you liking the X201 so far?

 

I love the matte screen.
With my old glossy screen, I had to move around my head and the laptop to find an angle where the office lights don't glare.
However this was not a concern for me from the beginning since I use external LCDs at home and office.

It has been a couple of hours since I started the new machine.
What can I say?
This is my first Lenovo.
Solid, powerful, well-made, premium feeling.