Getting a ThinkPad. Please help!

[Crossword]

Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not. Obviously when it comes to resolution more can be more, but it seems that whatever Thinkpad I choose there are compromises. For my purposes, and for the price, the x220 seems like the best deal.

[ZaZ]

it does not meet everyone else's needs.

I don't recall saying it did. I was just pointing out a higher resolution LCD on an ultraportable will offer small text, which is worth considering if you're going to spend a lot of time on it. In my experience, most people don't prefer the amped up resolutions, though some certainly do.

[pianowizard]

Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not.

I was not being sarcastic. You are indeed lucky that you are used to 1366x768. If you look around on this forum, you will see countless folks avoiding 1366x768 like the plague, because they have experienced higher resolutions.

In my experience, most people don't prefer the amped up resolutions

That's also my experience, but in many cases, the reason they don't prefer high resolutions is that they have never tried high resolutions -- there's no way they would prefer something that they have never tried. Also, some people prefer low resolutions mainly because they want to save money. Now, I do know folks who actually prefer low res over high res, but these people either have poor eye sight, or do very simple tasks that don't require high screen real estate. If all I did on my computers were basic things like always viewing just one window at a time or watching YouTube videos or playing Solitaire, I too would rather make everything look as big as possible. But I still wouldn't want a 12.5" 1366x768 laptop, because there are so many 13.3" and 14.0" ultraportables to choose from, and 1366x768 would appear even bigger on 13.3" and 14.0" than on 12.5". I might even prefer something like Samsung's 15.0" Series 9 with 1600x900, whose pixel density of 122.4 DPI is actually lower than the 125.4 DPI on 12.5" @ 1366x768, and yet it still weighs only 3.5 lbs. Again, IMO the 9" - 12.5" size range is getting obsolete for laptops, though it's fine for slate tablets since they are intended to be viewed closer to the eyes.

In general, I have noticed that many people who seek advice on what laptops to buy know nothing about screen resolution, and I feel that I have the responsibility to make them aware of it. On the other hand, I would never say "the higher the better" like some people do, and in fact have cautioned many people against getting FHD on 13.3" or 14.0" screens, even though such screens are perfect for me. I don't make recommendations based on what works best for me, but instead on what I think would work best for the people seeking recommendations. That's why I have recommended 12.5" 1366x768 laptops on a couple occasions, because the buyers explicitly stated they wanted something that small.

[Medessec]

you will see countless folks avoiding 1366x768 like the plague, because they have experienced higher resolutions.

Me being one of them. I'll attest to this- I find 1366x768 to be the generic resolution for 16:9 aspect ratio screens, and a lot of "basic models" have it. But this advantage with these screens is that they're never short in supply-since most models were shipped with these screens, you'll never be out a replacement screen if you ever need it. You'll also enjoy the lower pixel depth, a lot of people on here complain that 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 on 15" is too high a pixel depth, and they can't make out the text.

From what I've seen, the absolute smallest resolution one should be troubled with is 1280x800, the basic res a lot of 2006-2008 era laptops had, particularly the Thinkpad T400/T500. 1366x768 is pretty much that, but in 16:9. Little bit more horizontal space, little bit less vertical space. But laptop screens should always be what you need exactly, because it doesn't come off the laptop. You can always plug in a desktop monitor of preference and use that- but if you experience even slight discomfort using a 1600x900 or other high res screen, get a lower-res one for your laptop.

Really hope your Thinkpad search is going alright otherwise!

[sir_synthsalot]

You can always increase text size if you find it's too small.

[pianowizard]

From what I've seen, the absolute smallest resolution one should be troubled with is 1280x800, the basic res a lot of 2006-2008 era laptops had.

Actually, 2003 - 2008. Thinkpads resisted migrating to widescreen until the Z60 series came out in late 2005, but other brands started using 16:10 screens as early as 2003, and the basic models had 1280x800.

But laptop screens should always be what you need exactly, because it doesn't come off the laptop.

Exactly. HDD and RAM are easy to upgrade, but the screen isn't.

You can always increase text size if you find it's too small.

Scaling isn't a perfect solution. While text size is easy to adjust on web pages and in Word documents, many other elements such as icons and menus often don't scale properly. In a way, reducing screen resolution is a better solution, but of course things would look fuzzy.