New lappy help, T60/61 or R series

[jetmn]

I am a huge thinkpad fan and we have two T30's and a T42 right now. My T30 just puked so I am looking to upgrade. The T42 issue with the GPU has me leary of them (our 15" has been fine). I also like the SATA drives a lot better, so I am thinking T60. I honestly don't know squat about the R or other series thinkpads. I did read the R51 can use a SATA drive and is based on the T42, does it have GPU issues too? It must have the joystick for control, I hate touchpads.

It is the last 2 weeks of classes and I need a new lappy ASAP and I don't have a ton of time to do some research. Thanks!!

[archer6]

I am a huge thinkpad fan and we have two T30's and a T42 right now. My T30 just puked so I am looking to upgrade. The T42 issue with the GPU has me leary of them (our 15" has been fine). I also like the SATA drives a lot better, so I am thinking T60.

I purchased three T42's direct from IBM/Lenovo and all were trouble free. Same for two T43's I bought. That said, given the small difference in pricing I can highly endorse the T60 / T60p series. I still have both of my T60's, my three T60p's, and they are my absolute favorites.

[jetmn]

I have read to get a T60 over a T60p because it runs cooler. We use them mainly for school work and internet, so they don't get worked hard. The T42 is plenty fast for most things we do. It also does some media server stuff to the PS3. I am mainly looking at price and ergonomics.

[archer6]

There is a fairly good jump up, with improvements and all from the T4x to the T60 series, in every area of the machine. If you can fit it into your budget, the T60's are likely to last you a lot longer.

[jetmn]

Thanks for the great and quick replies! Now, is there much of a difference between the T60 and T61 besides being able to take more than 3gb ram? I think I will probably go with a T60, the price is decent and it seems solid. In the little bit of searching i have done there doesn't seem to be any major issues, are there?

[archer6]

Is there much of a difference between the T60 and T61 besides being able to take more than 3gb ram? I think I will probably go with a T60, the price is decent and it seems solid.

You will notice in my signature line that I've had every model of T series from day one. The only reason I did not keep the T61 I had was that it was essentially a carry over from the T60, very little in the way of changes. Both are excellent. The ram limit of 3GB is a limitation of the Windows XP Operating System, not the computer. Windows Vista can handle more than 3GB, so if you were to install Vista on a T60, then it too would handle 4GB for example. The biggest difference is that most of the T60 series came with the more rectangular 4:3 aspect ratio displays as opposed to the 16:10 widescreen display that you see on the T61. Other than that they are essentially the same. And no they do not have any major faults or even smaller ones.

It's important to remember that when you are reading about the problems on this forum with the various models, it's simply because that's the major reason users come here is for help with problems. That in no way reflects a poorly designed machine, or a "bad model". All laptops, just like cars have certain "characteristics" that are normal. Then just like cars have certain components that require attention, so do laptops. Therefore all the people with trouble free ThinkPads are not heard from as they have no reason to seek out this site.

Those of us that come here on a regular basis are computer enthusiasts that enjoy helping others with their problems. Thus you've found a great place to help you with both your selection and service issues should you have them.

Cheers...

[ajkula66]

archer6 wrote:

The ram limit of 3GB is a limitation of the Windows XP Operating System, not the computer. Windows Vista can handle more than 3GB, so if you were to install Vista on a T60, then it too would handle 4GB for example.

Sorry, no. The chipset in T60 can't address more than 3GB RAM regardless of OS.

jetmn wrote:

I did read the R51 can use a SATA drive and is based on the T42, does it have GPU issues too? It must have the joystick for control, I hate touchpads.

The first R series to utilize a SATA drive was R60, all of R5x series still run PATA/IDE.

[archer6]

Sorry, no. The chipset in T60 can't address more than 3GB RAM regardless of OS.

Precisely, thanks for correcting me I don't know what I was thinking at the time...