Lenovo axes the 4:3 ThinkPad T61 -- are widescreens better?
By Nilay Patel 
posted April 21st 2008 10:32PM
posted April 21st 2008 10:32PM
Lenovo's the latest laptop vendor to go to a mostly-widescreen lineup today, as it retires the 4:3 14.1-inch ThinkPad T61. All that's left in the standard ratio are the 12.1-inch X-series laptops, and even those are something of a novelty in today's 13.3-inch dominated market. It's not a formal move and there's no announcement, but it's clearly a growing trend -- Apple, Sony, and HP don't offer any 4:3 laptops either -- and it's got us wondering what people prefer. Just amongst Engadget editors there's no clear agreement: some of us prize vertical real estate, while others say tiling windows horizontally provides maximum multitasking power, and one ed rocks both 16:9 and 4:3 displays side-by-side -- but that's probably crazy. What's your aspect ratio of choice? Hit us up in comments!
Dual screen 16:9 and 4:3 displays side-by-side. I prefer the 4:3 by far because there is less scrolling when reading engadget.
I love my 14.1" T61.
Hate widescreen !
I can't believe it! I was going to buy a new ThinkPad this very day because they still offered the 4:3 ratio. And now it's gone from their site. To me the 4:3 is the only thing that makes sense for business - I don't watch movies, and I don't want the extra width. So much for Lenovo!!
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I vote for 4:3 SXGA+ or UXGA IPS/FLEXVIEW
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I hate widescreen
you loose vertical screen estate and
the laptops are getting needlessly wider
see the borders left and right of keyboard...
why wasting space?
I think the industry has done those of us who spend most of our time browsing the Internet and reading and writing documents a major disservice by switching to 16:9. With 16:9 I am constantly scrolling. In effect a 15" widescreen is comparable to a 12" 4:3 so why in a laptop should I have to carry those extra inches around? I'm annoyed that I can't buy a 4:3 laptop anymore.