6 ms·

Thank goodness for the transition away from the terrible 16:9 screens that have plagued almost every single PC laptop for years. These are all 16:10 with a few

by waffl 6y ago

Thank goodness for the transition away from the terrible 16:9 screens that have plagued almost every single PC laptop for years. These are all 16:10 with a few screen options (at least for the X1C9): - 14" UHD+ (3840 x 2400) IPS, low-power, HDR400 with Dolby Vision™ DCI P3 100%, 500 nits, TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions - 14" FHD+* (1920 x 1200) IPS, anti-glare, low-power, 400 nits, Low-power, TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions - 14" FHD+* (1920 x 1200) IPS, anti-glare, touchscreen, 400 nits, TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions - 14" FHD+* (1920 x 1200) IPS, anti-glare, touchscreen, PrivacyGuard, 500 nits Also nice that the HiDPI version is low-power. Interesting that the smaller x1 nano is also using the 16:10 screen, what a relief to have this across the range.

helmholtz 6y ago
Utter joy. There are even 3:2 SKUs. 16:9 screens are an unbridled plague that deserve to be binned tout de suite, especially on 13" ultrabooks. It's like typing while looking at code through a keyhole. I welcome a future where gamers are told to fuck off, and laptop manufacturers instead embrace professional looking laptops with tall displays with very high PPI, long battery life, non-gamery keycap fonts, and no RGB anywhere.
- jpalomaki 6y ago
  On Windows moving the taskbar to side of screen gives few extra pixels.
  - helmholtz 6y ago
    And you bet yo ass I use it :) I hide all kinds of shit like ribbons, status bars etc. to gain every last vertical pixel I can. Even better if an app will let me rearrange toolbars vertically.
  - r00fus 6y ago
    Dock/Taskbar on the side looks even better on 16:10 vs. 16x9. 16x9 is simply unusable for me on a laptop screen. Using an 4:3 iPad with keyboard/mouse reminds me of the good ol days before the HD screen size abominations.
- Clubber 6y ago
  >gamers are told to fuck off I thought the 16:10 plague was because TV's were typically made in that aspect ratio and therefore it was cheaper to use the same panels in a laptop. Gamers care more about refresh rate than the aspect ratio. Anyway, hip, hip hurray for Dell and Lenovo going back to a good aspect ratio for coding.
  - emilecantin 6y ago
    HDTV has done a lot of damage to computer screens. You used to be able to get pretty hi-resolution CRT screens, but when "HDTV" became a thing manufacturers actually lowered the resolution to 720p so they could call it "HD". It took 4K for computer screen resolutions to start going up again.
    - thereddaikon 6y ago
      You could get CRTs back in the day that were higher than 1080p with over 100hz refresh rates. I think some of the Trinitons went even higher res. It's only in the last few years that LCDs have caught up.
      - user5994461 6y ago
        There's the matter of size. A 24" CRT display is the hell of a thing to have on a desk.
    - mcv 6y ago
      I used 1600x1200 through the 1990s, so even 1080p wasn't all that impressive to me. Now 1440p is getting interesting. But even apart from the number of pixels, why must screens be shaped like a letterbox? The only thing 16:9 is good for is watching movies, and if you happen to want to do that on your laptop, small black bars at the top and bottom really aren't any problem at all.
      - maxerickson 6y ago
        On larger screens you can do 2 documents side by side and such. For a laptop size screen, yeah, wide aspect ratio is not as useful.
caskstrength 6y ago
Unfortunately Lenovo reduced key travel in this generation yet again (to 1.35 mm).
- mcv 6y ago
  For something so thin, that's probably unavoidable. Personally, I don't think I want a thin laptop. Not for any kind of meaningful work, at least. Thin doesn't just mean less key travel, it also means less space for battery, and less space for cooling. I mean, I don't want an excessively bulky laptop, but there's definitely a point where the returns from thinness diminish really hard.
  - fomine3 6y ago
    Agreed. What I need is lightweight but not thin. It also reduces available ports like USB Type-A, RJ45, and HDMI.
  - caskstrength 6y ago
    Well, I would prefer them to leave the chassis at x1g6 dimensions with good enough key travel and introduce new x1 "paperthin" model for people who like such designs. Now apparently I will have to switch to T14s during next upgrade. Unless Lenovo also mutilates it somehow...
jseliger 6y ago
Will be interesting too to see if OLED displays for computers become relatively available: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/lg-2021-plans-include-brighter-hdr-in-tvs-its-first-oled-pc-monitor-and-more/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/lg-2021-plans-includ...
- SomeHacker44 6y ago
  After having gotten a Dell Alienware laptop with an OLED display (just turned four years old last month), I intend to get OLED displays on all future laptops.

by waffl 6y ago

helmholtz 6y ago

Utter joy. There are even 3:2 SKUs. 16:9 screens are an unbridled plague that deserve to be binned tout de suite, especially on 13" ultrabooks. It's like typing while looking at code through a keyhole. I welcome a future where gamers are told to fuck off, and laptop manufacturers instead embrace professional looking laptops with tall displays with very high PPI, long battery life, non-gamery keycap fonts, and no RGB anywhere.

jpalomaki 6y ago
On Windows moving the taskbar to side of screen gives few extra pixels.
- helmholtz 6y ago
  And you bet yo ass I use it :) I hide all kinds of shit like ribbons, status bars etc. to gain every last vertical pixel I can. Even better if an app will let me rearrange toolbars vertically.
- r00fus 6y ago
  Dock/Taskbar on the side looks even better on 16:10 vs. 16x9. 16x9 is simply unusable for me on a laptop screen. Using an 4:3 iPad with keyboard/mouse reminds me of the good ol days before the HD screen size abominations.
Clubber 6y ago
>gamers are told to fuck off I thought the 16:10 plague was because TV's were typically made in that aspect ratio and therefore it was cheaper to use the same panels in a laptop. Gamers care more about refresh rate than the aspect ratio. Anyway, hip, hip hurray for Dell and Lenovo going back to a good aspect ratio for coding.
- emilecantin 6y ago
  HDTV has done a lot of damage to computer screens. You used to be able to get pretty hi-resolution CRT screens, but when "HDTV" became a thing manufacturers actually lowered the resolution to 720p so they could call it "HD". It took 4K for computer screen resolutions to start going up again.
  - thereddaikon 6y ago
    You could get CRTs back in the day that were higher than 1080p with over 100hz refresh rates. I think some of the Trinitons went even higher res. It's only in the last few years that LCDs have caught up.
    - user5994461 6y ago
      There's the matter of size. A 24" CRT display is the hell of a thing to have on a desk.
  - mcv 6y ago
    I used 1600x1200 through the 1990s, so even 1080p wasn't all that impressive to me. Now 1440p is getting interesting. But even apart from the number of pixels, why must screens be shaped like a letterbox? The only thing 16:9 is good for is watching movies, and if you happen to want to do that on your laptop, small black bars at the top and bottom really aren't any problem at all.
    - maxerickson 6y ago
      On larger screens you can do 2 documents side by side and such. For a laptop size screen, yeah, wide aspect ratio is not as useful.

caskstrength 6y ago

Unfortunately Lenovo reduced key travel in this generation yet again (to 1.35 mm).

mcv 6y ago
For something so thin, that's probably unavoidable. Personally, I don't think I want a thin laptop. Not for any kind of meaningful work, at least. Thin doesn't just mean less key travel, it also means less space for battery, and less space for cooling. I mean, I don't want an excessively bulky laptop, but there's definitely a point where the returns from thinness diminish really hard.
- fomine3 6y ago
  Agreed. What I need is lightweight but not thin. It also reduces available ports like USB Type-A, RJ45, and HDMI.
- caskstrength 6y ago
  Well, I would prefer them to leave the chassis at x1g6 dimensions with good enough key travel and introduce new x1 "paperthin" model for people who like such designs. Now apparently I will have to switch to T14s during next upgrade. Unless Lenovo also mutilates it somehow...

jseliger 6y ago

Will be interesting too to see if OLED displays for computers become relatively available: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/lg-2021-plans-include-brighter-hdr-in-tvs-its-first-oled-pc-monitor-and-more/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/lg-2021-plans-includ...

SomeHacker44 6y ago
After having gotten a Dell Alienware laptop with an OLED display (just turned four years old last month), I intend to get OLED displays on all future laptops.