Rob Galbraith checks out the screens on the three hottest notebooks in their respective classes from a pro photographer's standpoint—new MacBook Pro, Dell Mini 9 and Lenovo W700—and how they stack up will surprise you
His reference monitor is a Eizo ColorEdge CE240W and he throws a Lenovo ThinkPad T60 into the mix for good measure, since its in-plane switching LCD panel produces good color reproduction and even screen brightness.
That Lenovo's ThinkPad W700—which is geared toward pro photographers and has a built-in Pantone calibrator—tops the list for color accuracy and "could just about replace a desktop display" for pro work is probably not so shocking. What is crazy, however, is that the Dell Inspiron Mini 9—a $300 netbook—has display with better "overall hue accuracy" than the $1999 MacBook Pro, which is "one or two steps below a good desktop display." BTW, Rob loves the Mini 9 so much he calls it "a workflow-altering experience."
His full assessment of every display is definitely worth reading, even if you're not a photographer. [Rob Galbraith, Image: Rob Galbraith]