Display Quality

The last area we want to test is the display quality. We have stated repeatedly that laptop LCDs pale in comparison to typical desktop LCDs, and the X305 doesn't break any new ground.

We test color accuracy using ColorEyes Display Pro, and we test with two different colorimeters, a DTP-94 and an i1 Display2. We test the laptops with both colorimeters using ColorEyes Display Pro, generating both LUT and Matrix color profiles. The reason we do this is that some displays respond better to LUT profiling while others work better with Matrix profiling. We select the best result out of the four tests for our color accuracy charts.

Besides the color accuracy, the generated profiles allow us to determine color gamut, using GamutVision. We use the matrix color profiles for gamut, as they usually have ~10% higher gamut volume. We will also report the maximum LCD brightness and contrast ratio.

 

Laptop Display Quality

Laptop Display Quality

Laptop Display Quality

Laptop Display Quality

Laptop Display Quality

 

Very few laptop displays score well in our LCD tests, and unfortunately the X305 LCD is no exception. Color gamut is only 40.72%, though calibrated delta E is better at 1.78. Other aspects of the display are better, with good black levels that help the X305 reach a contrast ratio of nearly 800:1. Again, it would be nice if the brightness levels allowed finer control, as the maximum brightness of 189 nits is good, but the next level of just 80 nits is a huge jump.

We're hopeful that with companies now offering higher color gamut LCDs that we'll see improvements in display quality from many more manufacturers. Color gamuts of over 100% are a great step in the right direction, but we still want to see improved color accuracy, and some users would appreciate better viewing angles - something that will require the use of non-TN panels.

Power and Noise Levels Conclusion
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  • Dfere - Thursday, March 12, 2009 - link

    A business power user needs some mobility. I use a laptop as my main business computer. It would be nice to have something to play games at an ok rate. But given the bugs, let alone the power issues, I wouldn't. I need some mobility and I need my data and system operational to make revenue.

    A plain gamer/laptop lover wouldn't because it isn't a top performer, and thats why they buy.
  • JimmiG - Thursday, March 12, 2009 - link

    I used to travel a lot between point A and point B and wanted a good gaming system at both places. I was considering a gaming laptop for a while but ended up building myself a Shuttle SFF system instead. Fit perfectly in the backpack together with my other belongings, cost about 1/4th of a gaming laptop and offered 95% of the performance of a full tower system. I just used a cheap 19" CRT monitor at one place and the LCD at the other. Amazing how small and light that system was.

    Of course if you travel a lot between many different location, this kind of laptop might make sense. Just hook it up when you arrive at the hotel room, cabin etc., and you've got a full gaming setup. Of course, if you don't care about games, you'd be better served by a netbook or 13" laptop...
  • Enoc - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - link


    with the AMD/Ati 4850 and 4870 for mobile... why these companies still use the renamed 9400/9500/9600/9800gt/gtx...? and what it worse some people think the GTX 280M is the same as the deskstop counterpart but is really a 9800GTX...

    AMD has a good oportunity if more OEM embrace the 4850/4870 for the enthusiast notebook segment like MSI has done and if they introduce low power(HE) quads and triple cores for this segment that would be a nice move...

    with $1500+- you could build something better with a compal/saeger barebone...



  • JarredWalton - Thursday, March 12, 2009 - link

    Sager doesn't make barebones, I don't think; they use Clevo offerings. But yes, you can put together a better custom system I think. Pricing might not be much better, though.
  • Memph - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - link

    I'v had similar expiriences with my qosmio. The problems in the old drivers. have to uninstall them (twice) from the safe mode. and then install the newest nvidia drivers. Mine used to lock up randomly. Now everything works perfectly.
  • jabber - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - link

    I've had several laptops over the years. Best fix I've found for stability is to blitz the manufacturers build asap and slap on a fresh build with the latest OS. Go to the manufacturers site for drivers that you cant find elsewhere as they will generally be two or three versions on from the ones the laptop came with.

    There will also be a new BIOS update usually.

    Has always got rid of the quirks for me.
  • JarredWalton - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - link

    FWIW, the instability issue always cropped up with a graphics application - game - running. (Well, there was the SysInfo issue with 3D/PCMark Vantage, but that's clearly a driver problem that they addressed.) I did run Folding@Home SMP on the laptop non-stop for several days with no crashes caused there. I did not test the GPU folding client, though, which would have been interesting to check now that I think about it.

    Personally, I do not run Folding@Home on laptops (anymore); it just places a huge load on the system and is almost asking your laptop to die a premature death. For that matter, I've stopped running it on most of my desktops as well - power costs for all the running computers were too much, so it's much cheaper to just leave them off when they're not in use.
  • Wolfpup - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - link

    Be funny to people? My notebook is my main system...I mean why not?

    Anyway, I'm so glad Anandtech is continuing to cover power laptops!

    I hate how gaudy this is, but I'd certainly consider it if not for the lack of Blu Ray and LED backlight. I actually prefer the single high end GPU route...

    Plus obviously the instability is disturbing. Must be a hardware defect somewhere, or else a bad driver. I've been Folding non stop on the CPU and GPU of my (much lower end) Asus n80 with a Penryn/Geforce 9650GT and it hasn't crashed once.
  • piroroadkill - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - link

    17" is too large for a notebook in my opinion, even a gaming one. 15.4" widescreen @ 1680x1050 would be perfect. Also how did they manage to make this thing so goddamn thick?!
  • Blahman - Friday, March 13, 2009 - link

    Check this one out, matches your requirements exactly: http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?c...">http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?c...

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