[PLUG] Lenovo T410?

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 11:35:51AM -0700, Rich Shepard wrote:
>   Has anyone here experience with the Lenovo T410 and linux?
> I'm looking to replace my Sony Vaio and prefer a smaller screen,
> business oriented unit rather than the oversize, wide models that
> appear more suited to movies and gaming.

Some are tired of hearing me say this, but they are no longer
making business oriented laptops - that is, somewhat more
suitable for editing 8.5x11 pages and vertically oriented content.
The current crop are, as you note, more suited to movies and
gaming, which are loser time sinks, IMHO.  You won't advance
green tech, cure poverty, or get rich watching movies.

All the new laptops are "wide screen", that is, screens with
the top two inches removed so they can get two screens out of
a piece of glass.  Rather than accurately name them "short"
or "runt" screens, they call them "wide".  The T410 is one of
these, a 14.1 inch screen with less square inches than the
previous 4:3 aspect ratio 14.1 inch screens.  Sigh.

I purchase used 15 inch 4:3 T60s and replace the 1024*768 or
1280*960 screens with reprogrammed aftermarket 2048*1536 screens. 
There are issues with some applications that choke on so many
pixels, but most Linux apps handle this better than Windoze apps.
It still lets me see the apps designed for widescreen.  This may
be a little too much of a science project for your needs, though.

                                    8.5x13 (w/banner) pages
                                    scaled vertically
               X in.  Y in.   in2    scale   #horiz.
14.1 in. 4:3   11.3   8.5    95.4    0.65    2.03
14.1 in. wide  12.3   6.9    85.0    0.53    2.72
15.0 in. 4:3   12.0   9.0   108.0    0.69    2.03

The 14.1 wide takes up more sideways desk space than the 15.0
4:3.

Who needs more than 2 up side-by-side?  If someone develops a
good word processing program with the controls and banners on
the side, then the wide screens won't be as disadvantaged. 

I am mystified that these wider, shorter screens are accepted in
east Asian countries with vertical writing systems.  Although
the ideograms can also be displayed horizontally, proofing an
output page must be a pain in the butt.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs