WTB: Frankenpad T60/T61
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:21 pm
I am at the moment considering one of the Frankenpads advertised below in the forum, but I want to test this marketplace from the opposite site. Thus, here are my wanted specifications for a Frankenpad built upon the T60 chassis with a T61 or a T61p motherboard:
a) T9300 or T9500. (I gather these are the best choices for combining a good CPU and a low level of heat and noise.)
b) 8 GB RAM. (I prefer not to invest the time in adding the memory from e.g. 2/3/4 GB myself, both because I am not a practical person or a ThinkPad enthusiast, but just want a durable (newer browsers, office programs and video streaming solutions demand more and more memory. 8 GB should be enough for the next decade, after that I might have to rely on 3D printers or something) notebook with a non-chiclet keyboard and 4:3 screen.)
c) I will be happy with both integrated and dedicated graphics. I would prefer to have the option of switching to integrated if the Nvidia card were to fail or cause problems. How this is best done technically, I don't know.
d) NMB keyboard, usable with Norwegian keyboard settings (should be possible for most non-American keyboards, if I am not mistaken).
e) I don't need a hard drive. I have a 120 GB Kingston SSD which I am going to use.
f) Operating system: I intend to use Windows XP/7/8.1 64 bit or a Linux version like Xubuntu running one of the mentioned Windows versions from VirtualBox. If the computers comes with one of the above Windows versions, it is fine, if not, there is no need to worry about the operating system.
g) Screen: 15'' SXGA+ IPS screen or 15'' UXGA AFFS screen. (Preferably the one with the longer endurance. Brightness is not that important. What is more, I actually think a non-IPS screen is better for my eyes, but I know too little about the AFFS screen. The problem with a TN screen is 1) the reported bad brightness level 2) most importantly, that they don't come as a 15'' screen with resolution >1024x768, which is not very flexible for today's demands.)
h) I prefer the machine to be little used, both the chassis and the other components. g) is especially important in this regard.
I am new to ThinkPad, so it might strike you as odd that I want to go for such an eccentric system. However, I am tired of widescreens, chiclet keyboard and "planned obsolescence" in notebooks and don't really want to an ambassador of such a commercialistic trend we are currently seeing. Better then to equip oneself with the best components one can get in a laptop foundation that lasts.
I will use my notebook for word processing, browsing, video streaming, and occasional mathematical calculations / linguistic analysis / chess analysis (this I might do on my desktop via TeamViewer if too demanding. In this respect, I wonder if a dedicated GPU is an advantage. If so, c) might be adjusted to my preferring dedicated graphics. This is also the case if there are ways to customize the graphics so that they don't have more impact on heat and noise than an integrated card would do). However, considering that I have up to this moment still been a little in doubt about questions like if I need a dedicated graphics card or not, or how big a difference going from Dual Core 1.83 GHz on my T60, to C2D 9300 or 9500 with regards to especially CPU-demanding web sites, I have probably forgot to mention other elements which will be important for my use. "Non-marketing" comments from experienced ThinkPad users are therefore welcome!
a) T9300 or T9500. (I gather these are the best choices for combining a good CPU and a low level of heat and noise.)
b) 8 GB RAM. (I prefer not to invest the time in adding the memory from e.g. 2/3/4 GB myself, both because I am not a practical person or a ThinkPad enthusiast, but just want a durable (newer browsers, office programs and video streaming solutions demand more and more memory. 8 GB should be enough for the next decade, after that I might have to rely on 3D printers or something) notebook with a non-chiclet keyboard and 4:3 screen.)
c) I will be happy with both integrated and dedicated graphics. I would prefer to have the option of switching to integrated if the Nvidia card were to fail or cause problems. How this is best done technically, I don't know.
d) NMB keyboard, usable with Norwegian keyboard settings (should be possible for most non-American keyboards, if I am not mistaken).
e) I don't need a hard drive. I have a 120 GB Kingston SSD which I am going to use.
f) Operating system: I intend to use Windows XP/7/8.1 64 bit or a Linux version like Xubuntu running one of the mentioned Windows versions from VirtualBox. If the computers comes with one of the above Windows versions, it is fine, if not, there is no need to worry about the operating system.
g) Screen: 15'' SXGA+ IPS screen or 15'' UXGA AFFS screen. (Preferably the one with the longer endurance. Brightness is not that important. What is more, I actually think a non-IPS screen is better for my eyes, but I know too little about the AFFS screen. The problem with a TN screen is 1) the reported bad brightness level 2) most importantly, that they don't come as a 15'' screen with resolution >1024x768, which is not very flexible for today's demands.)
h) I prefer the machine to be little used, both the chassis and the other components. g) is especially important in this regard.
I am new to ThinkPad, so it might strike you as odd that I want to go for such an eccentric system. However, I am tired of widescreens, chiclet keyboard and "planned obsolescence" in notebooks and don't really want to an ambassador of such a commercialistic trend we are currently seeing. Better then to equip oneself with the best components one can get in a laptop foundation that lasts.
I will use my notebook for word processing, browsing, video streaming, and occasional mathematical calculations / linguistic analysis / chess analysis (this I might do on my desktop via TeamViewer if too demanding. In this respect, I wonder if a dedicated GPU is an advantage. If so, c) might be adjusted to my preferring dedicated graphics. This is also the case if there are ways to customize the graphics so that they don't have more impact on heat and noise than an integrated card would do). However, considering that I have up to this moment still been a little in doubt about questions like if I need a dedicated graphics card or not, or how big a difference going from Dual Core 1.83 GHz on my T60, to C2D 9300 or 9500 with regards to especially CPU-demanding web sites, I have probably forgot to mention other elements which will be important for my use. "Non-marketing" comments from experienced ThinkPad users are therefore welcome!
