Lenovo ThinkVision M14d 2.2K Portable Monitor Review Leave a comment

The Lenovo ThinkVision M14d is the successor (or a variant?) to the unique ThinkVision M14 we reviewed earlier than. It’s a 14-inch high-resolution transportable monitor that requires just one USB-C connector for each picture sign and energy.

The brand new monitor is priced at $500 (MSRP), considerably greater than the $249 its predecessor launched at. Let’s evaluation the technical specs and in-person assessments earlier than you may determine if Lenovo has priced this accurately.

Industrial Design

Lenovo has stored the general profitable design of the unique ThinkVision M14, and so they look strikingly related from a distance. The brand new mannequin is barely heavier at 1.3 Lbs (vs. 1.26 Lbs), however you received’t really feel the distinction. I solely noticed this whereas scanning the specs.

The brand new M14d has an facet ratio of 16:10 as an alternative of 16:9, which matches Lenovo’s new laptops which have additionally transited. 16:10 gives a bit extra vertical area, which is healthier for productiveness and appears higher if the exterior show matches the laptop computer show ratio.

The monitor can lay flat on a desk or get up at a 90-degree angle, making it usable as a daily show, a low-laying management monitor, or perhaps a VESA-mounted display screen. There’s even a foldable help to boost the peak of the monitor if wanted barely.

These days, I at all times journey with a few laptops and an exterior monitor. It’s simply powerful to do heavy enhancing or coding on a 14” or 15.6” laptop computer monitor, and having a further monitor boosts productiveness. The draw back is that you could transport it, which is why the featherweight is extremely helpful right here. Thankfully, Lenovo has included a safety sleeve.

In the meanwhile, I’d fear about having it inside a suitcase. Nonetheless, conceptually, that’s doable since there is no such thing as a inside battery, and airways would most likely not thoughts if you happen to transport it in checked baggage. I’d fear concerning the show flexing an excessive amount of when topic to airline transportation baggage abuse.

It’s suitable with a VESA 100 mount, though you might need to make use of shorter screws as a result of this show is way thinner than your typical desktop flat monitor. I attempted mounting it on a VESA arm, and that labored effectively too.

Dimensions: 314.35 x 215.28 x 14.05 mm
Viewable space: 301.52 x 188.45 mm

Ports and Interface

The monitor stand has two USB-C connectors, one on all sides. They embrace video sign transmission in DP 1.2 Alt Mode, and the info protocol is USB 2.0. The monitor additionally acts as a USB HUB and has a USB PD energy passthrough.

When you have a single USB-C port on the laptop computer, you may nonetheless join the monitor to the pc and a peripheral to the second monitor’s USB-C port. Ideally, the laptop computer would have two USB-C ports, one for Energy.

You possibly can join an influence supply (as much as 65W) to cost a laptop computer by way of the monitor’s USB-C port. It’s also doable to attach peripherals (USB HUB, Keyboard, Mouse, and many others.) to the out there USB-C connector. Word that USB units related to the monitor ought to eat lower than 2.5 Watts (5V/0.5A) per the USB 2.0 commonplace.

There’s a rocker to manage the show’s brightness, and for bodily safety, a Kensington lock is accessible if you wish to safe the monitor to a desk.

And not using a PC

If you happen to join the monitor to a USB-C (5V/1.5A) energy supply, it’s doable to make use of the second USB-C port to attach a cellphone, console, or different suitable units to the monitor (=USB-C DP Alt-mode ). We’ve demonstrated this in our earlier ThinkVision M14 evaluation, and nothing has modified regarding that.

The bottom supported decision is 640×480 (60/70Hz), and the most decision is 2240×1440 (60Hz). Nearly the entire commonplace resolutions in-between are supported, however obtain the user manual from the Lenovo website (PDF) if you wish to be 100% certain.

May -almost- be a teleprompter show

When utilizing this monitor, I assumed that Lenovo ought to add just a little little bit of digital to permit for a “mirror” mode as a result of the ThinkVision M14d’s dimension makes it suitable with many teleprompters.

The one factor lacking is a mirror mode, the picture that will flip the picture horizontally to make textual content readable when trying on the teleprompter’s mirror. Mac OS has a mirror mode, so mac customers can go forward with out this addition, however Home windows customers would profit from it.

Lenovo may add this easy function and finally personal that teleprompter show market as a result of “teleprompter” shows don’t usually impress with their picture high quality, design, and capabilities.

Show High quality

The picture high quality is superb, with a most brightness of 300 NITs and almost a 100% sRGB shade gamut. This stage of picture high quality is troublesome to succeed in for transportable screens, and it’s not unusual to see rivals with barely 65% protection of the sRGB gamut.

The 2240×1400 decision is visibly superior to the earlier 1080p decision. Such a pixel density makes textual content smoother, and all the things is extra agreeable in case your visible acuity can see such particulars.

This monitor is nice for basic work, together with coding, internet growth, and artistic/picture/video semi-professional work.

Conclusion

There’s no query that the Lenovo ThinkVision M14d (official page) is a good transportable monitor. It’s extremely cell and lightweight, however on the identical time, it might work in an expert surroundings and be VESA-mounted.

Its picture high quality makes it among the finest choices for professionals. The two.2K decision is noticeably extra comfy for the eyes when engaged on small textual content or graphics with minute particulars.

However the $499 worth is, indisputably, a friction level, particularly when you should buy its predecessor for $250 or much less. I believe that Lenovo understands this, and once I checked, I typically noticed this monitor being direct bought at Lenovo.com for a lot much less.

If the value appears too excessive, verify the precise “road worth” for this monitor, and also you is perhaps pleasantly shocked.If you would like one thing a bit larger, I’ve additionally tried the ThinkVision M15 as a result of I just like the 15.6” dimension. I hope to see a ThinkVision 17” quickly!

Filed in Reviews. Learn extra about Lenovo, Lenovo reviews and Monitors.