W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

Just a couple of questions if you don't mind (when I ordered my w701, the Dream Color panel was not offered in the IPS flavour, as far as I remember):

1. Has the HP's Dream Color display a LED backlight?
2. How often do you (have to) calibrate the display?
3. How large is the difference between the factory provided ICC profile and the one obtained after calibration?

PS
OK, there is a flaw in the w701: the keyboard flex (looks like they trade FlexView for FlexType technology... )

 

I didn't see DC2 available lately. I did read some (rumors?) that LG lost patent lawsuit to AUO and was forced to stop sales of some panels, particular IPS model included...

 

can w701 run 4 independent monitors with eyefinity like the 8740w?

 

maximum of 2 external LCDs. Eyefinity is only limited to certain ATI GPU equipped laptop. W70x uses Nvidia GPU.

 

in that case, 8740w wins hands down.

 

... if running 4 external monitors is a key feature part for you, then yes, certainly

(now this thread needs only couple of Dell M6500 owners to become 97.95% irrelevant to original question )

 

Thanks. Some interesting comments so far.

I'm wondering whether I should look at the W701 - the digitiser does interest me a good deal - to partially make up the numbers for the M6500 Covets that I've got rid of*. I only have one 8740w at the moment, and I am happy with it - thermal characteristics / stability are good, it's very versatile in terms of options, and it pretty much does what I expect of it - and above all, the buying experience was far better than Dell. But the W701 does bring a little more to the table. Any replacement would end up being wholesale, i.e. all-W701, or all-8740w after an evaluation period.

The only major concern with the W701 is that I'd be getting performance that I had at the start of this year. The Dell and the HP have both received refreshes if I'm buying now, whereas the W701 still packs the 920xm and the 3800M.

I'd also be interested to see if the comedy colours / ridiculous default profiles of the Covet could be avoided with the Lenovo setup since I could never get it looking quite right even with a calibrator.

After the Dell, the HP is definitely a stylistic disappointment - and combined with the fact that my daily carry has taken a huge turn for the uglier with the X201T, I figure that especially in terms of a mobile workstation - which I'm not going to carry around with me every day - yet another 80's carbuncle in the vein of the W701 won't be a big deal.

In terms of my use, it will be solely as a mobile workstation, i.e. a lugged power machine. I won't - although a single 30" + internal is a possibility - generally speaking be using it as a docked unit, although I will buy docks to sit them on when not in use.

So generally I'm looking for reasons one way or another. I might post a similar thread in the HP subforum - Carry on please.

Also, just one very minor functional question since the UK Lenovo site is out of date and the link to the specs was dead when I last clicked - does the W701 have Thinklight?

*Primarily a combo of a lemon / customer service & account management issue. I will not be buying new machines from Dell for a long time.

 

I does have 2 thinklight leds...

As for colors - RGB LED panel on W701 is the same as on M6500 (LTN171CT08)
To my experience, calibrators never work well with RGB LED backlight - they just can not handle very narrow-spectral light source. This screws their white balance calculation. Not to mention that perception of far red varies greatly from person to person.
That's why I've personally found that with RGB LED it works best when you calibrate white point manually, based on how you see it (comparing with white sheet of paper works well).

However another problem is regardless of how you calibrate, most "usual" software like Windows GUI, web browsers, etc will ignore color profiles and will pump sRGB-intended content to wide gamut, making everything ridiculously oversaturated.

It became perfect in usability when I've found how to switch colour temperature to coolest and sRGB mode, using panel own built-in color transform (Lenovo have hidden it deep inside Advanced Display Settings).

 

Interesting. Thanks

 

Yes, the IPS has a RGB LED backlight.
You don't need to calibrate it at all. That's why I'm still debating on whether to buy the HP calibrating tool, or leave it as is. There's no color oversaturation as on my M17X, you can see the pics in the reviews section.

On a side note, performance wise, if you don't need CUDA, M7820 wins hands down. FX2800M/FX3800M is almost 2 year old, based on an even older desktop chip.
Initially, I wanted a W701, and could get one with a whopping 40% off here in Canada. But the lack of IPS screen, 840QM and an ATI GPU, made me switch.


@Ingvarr,
Regarding the temps - could you please run the latest Furmark (stability test) + Prime95 and post a screenshot of those with the temps monitor in the background? Also, what's the ambient temp?
I find it hard to believe that your temps stay under 75C during serious load, that's for the gaming notebooks league. And it doesn't matter how many fans you got, it's the combination of pipes, HS's, fans, vents, etc.
If what you claim is true, - kudos!