Lenovo x230 screens

[David Sturzenbecher]

I have a Lenovo x61 that I used for last season. The price was right, it did what I needed it to do, and i really like the form factor/ style etc. I am looking at the x230 line as an upgrade. Obviously faster processor and brighter screen are the main reasons. This comes in two flavors screen wise... a regular multi touch screen and an "outdoor" gorilla glass screen that is not multi touch. Both screens have the same brightness of 300 nits, over the 150 nit (i believe) of the x61. Is anyone using an x230 and can comment on the screen that they are using?

I have heard windows 8 is very multi-touch friendly but have zero experience with it, nor do I think it will be in the immediate future due to program constraints.

 

[Marlow Wilson]

Re: Lenovo x230 screens

I have a Lenovo x61 that I used for last season. The price was right, it did what I needed it to do, and i really like the form factor/ style etc. I am looking at the x230 line as an upgrade. Obviously faster processor and brighter screen are the main reasons. This comes in two flavors screen wise... a regular multi touch screen and an "outdoor" gorilla glass screen that is not multi touch. Both screens have the same brightness of 300 nits, over the 150 nit (i believe) of the x61. Is anyone using an x230 and can comment on the screen that they are using?

I have heard windows 8 is very multi-touch friendly but have zero experience with it, nor do I think it will be in the immediate future due to program constraints.

I have Windows 8 on two x61 tablets and I think it's great. With SSD's and upgraded ram the machines are very capable and Win 8 appears to be more resource efficient than Windows 7. The start button thing is a bit shocking at first but it's easy to get used to. If you don't like it there is always the option of Start8, Classic Shell and many others to bring back some familiar UI elements (or eliminate some unfamiliar ones!).

As far as I know, multitouch in Lenovo speak means it has two digitizers. One for finger touch and one for stylus input. IOW, if you don't have multitouch you ONLY have stylus input. This is separate from the issue of multi finger support for the many multi finger gestures in Windows 8. Because I've only used Win 8 with old multitouch devices that only recognize one finger, I don't have much experience with them. I know with the iPad and Mac trackpads that multi finger gestures can be a powerful and useful tool. If I was buying a new tablet I wouldn't buy one that didn't offer finger touch input. If your specific application is stylus use only, then maybe that doesn't matter.

Also, I would seriously consider waiting until the new year. The new crop of Windows tablets look really good. Even the Windows Surface Pro with the type-cover give you many of the best aspects of a full laptop (classic Windows Application support) in a nearly iPad sized platform. The more traditional 'twist' tablets are starting to look bulky and inflexible in comparison.

I will be keeping on eye on what comes out with the goal to replace my daily-use Macbook Air and iPad. One feature I like about the new devices is the ability to use the screen vertically for editing documents or reading PDFs. I generally hate widescreens unless they are 15"+ and refuse to buy anything wider than 16:10.

On a final note, I just looked locally and some very nice x220's are selling for $500-600 (some with SSD's and lots of ram). I'm not sure there is much to be gained by getting a slightly newer machine at nearly double the cost...