After a few delays and tons of rumors, Intel's fifth generation notebook platform has arrived. Centrino 2, previously known as Montevina, comes with with it a line of new Core 2 Duo processors, upgraded graphics and Wi-Fi, and DDR3 RAM. One of the first notebooks to be released with Centrino 2 is Lenovo's newest ThinkPad, the X200. This is the update to the X61 which not only had all the new Centrino gear, but moves to a widescreen display.
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It depends on whether I'm editing code or photos. For photos, the width is necessary to give the tools and palettes room. Whatever the case, please give me a matte display and a decent resolution. 1280x800 on a 15.4 inch display is hardly worth having. 1440x900 is a bit better.
Glad to see that we have a new set of processors for the games to suck dry. Last year's games might have a fighting chance soon without breaking the bank.
Member since:2005-08-28
I've found that widescreens work pretty well if you can settle on a vertical layout for the toolbars, as in this picture. http://www.chara.gsu.edu/~riedel/images/DigitalAxis.jpg
You lose some of the width, but gain back some of the height (of course, that was my old laptop with the 1920x1200 display).
Personally, I don't think 16:10 is a good idea because the canonical widescreen is 16:9. Sure, all that means is you've got black bars, but why do you need them? Only recently (with the new Acer Blu-Ray laptops) is anyone doing that.
Edited 2008-07-17 15:39 UTC
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Yes, I have to agree. Hight is much more important than width unless you are dealing with video.
On the other hand on these small notebooks, there is another size to take into account, and that is the size of the keyboard.If the computer is too narrow, it can't hold a normal sized keyboard with the result that they get hard or at least slow to type on.
So, if a wider screen allows for a wider, more normal sized keyboard. I think this a good thing, at least as long as the screen still is reasonably high.
BTW, the screen of the X200 is actually higher thatn that of most X60 models that usually had a 768x1024 pixel screen.
Member since:2005-07-07
I have a T60 which is one of the last Thinkpads with a 4:3 display (I think it is the last T series with a 4:3 aspect ratio). I prefer the 4:3 laptop LCDs but you are right they are harder to find now. Not only that but try finding a slipcase for a non-widescreen laptop. In my search I have found none that snugly fit a 14 inch 4:3 Thinkpad.
Edited 2008-07-17 22:38 UTC
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2007-07-20
Perhaps a bit OT, but is it just me who prefers laptop displays with 4:3 (or 5:4) aspect ratio to 16:10? They're getting increasingly difficult to find nowadays. I want height, not width.