Even though you may keep the brightness setting down, has your backlight started to diminish?
I’m pretty sure that mine has started to diminish a little and I’ve had mine for nearly 8 months now. My friend just bought a TR and I’m setting it up for him and I have it side by side and can tell the difference. It’s very minor but you can tell.
My TR’s screen is still brighter than other laptop screens I’ve seen but it’s not as bright as it used to be. I knew it would happen at some point but it’s gone a little quicker than normal. I have used my TR more often (for hours everyday) than my previous notebooks so that could explain how it’s gone down a little.
Mine is about 6 months old, and it has noticeably dimmed as well. I usually work at about 4 bars, but now I have to bump it up to 5. I do use the TR for a good 5-6 hours daily though. I’m just glad the the backlight is still white, as my previous notebooks went yellow or pink as time went on.
I’m disappointed that you guys are seeing these symptoms at only 6-8 months. I try to collapse the TR when I am not needing it for more than 10 mins. This turns the LCD off but the computer does not hibernate or go into standby so I don’t have to wait for it to “wake up”. I hope that habit helps me down the road!
Yeah, unfortunately, it is to be expected with LCDs. Every single notebook I’ve had has seen the screen diminish by at least the first year. I do feel that I use my TR a lot compared to my other notebooks so that may have something to do with it and very early on, I ran the screen at full brightness all the time just because it was so amazing.
At any rate, yeah, I do suggest closing the screen or turning it off with the power management tool when you’re not using it.
I do have a question for everyone…does anyone know of a screensaver that can control the brightness levels of the screen?
For instance, on a Mac iBook or Powerbook the screen will automatically dim the screen if it’s inactive for a few minutes. If you wait longer it dims a little more and then it finally goes out.
Is there a screensaver or utility out there for Windows that can do the same thing? I know I can turn it off completely with the screen saver but I’d rather have “steps”.
I wonder if there’s a way to get to the API…then I could program it myself.
gr00vy0ne, I would think that because of the small footprint of the screen, the issue you raised could be minimized.
Rahul, don’t read into it too much. Keep in mind that a couple of years down the road you will want the next latest notebook. Then you can sell your TR on EBay for just under $1,000. Put that towards the next laptop. It is just like buying a new car. Only notebooks will not last as long as cars, mainly due to technology advances instead of hardware failure. The next owner of the TR will not expect blinding brightness from the LCD in as much as you would expect a used Lexus to have that “new car smell”.
Sorry to keep on rambling. I hope the analogy worked. :wink:
Yeah, I’m not trying to alarm anyone. As a person who has owned 5 laptops, I almost always expect them to diminish (screen or battery) at some point. Actually, if anyone has ever owned a laptop then they typically know this going in.
And Truthseeker is right…when the time comes to sell this notebook, it will still have relatively high resale value because of the performance, size, weight, and features. The car analogy is right too…for instance, your car runs fairly quiet and smooth when you first get it. And even when you take good care of your car it still isn’t the same after a couple of years…or even the first year.
i wasn’t that sad also like it appeared but I was certainly unaware abt these 2 things regarding laptops. ne ways, dont u’ll think that the screen brightness on this laptop should last a little longer than regular laptops ?
XBrite sure is pretty, but I don’t know how it stacks up with the other caveman technologies as far as longevity is concerned. Does anyone know what Sony product first came with XBrite? That may help to answer your question, Rahul. I’d be curious to know myself. I wanna make sure my used laptop will still get top dollar when I trade her in. :wink:
XBrite only refers to the coating and the light diffusion layer on the screen, which don’t wear down like the backlight lamp on the TR. I would assume the longevity is comparable to most other high quality laptop displays out there.
I’m gonna have a hard time if Sony eliminates the TR series in favor of a new line several years from now. Maybe gr00vy0ne can start a new forum everytime Sony changes its product line. No pressure, gr00ve. :wink:
That has crossed my mind…I may do that anyways…or at least a more general subnotebook forum. I’d love to get a Sony Z1 as it has a lot of things I like but it’s missing the XBrite widescreen…
