Upgrade from Z61p ... to WHAT?

[Le_noveau]

My Z61p is slowly reaching its nominal end-of-life cycle, which is 3 years of operation.

I say nominal, because the device is working flawlessly and there is still - mostly - sufficient performance for my everyday tasks. Which are mostly software development under Linux.

Since I bought the notebook in early 2008, I made some upgrades. HD is now a 200GB Seagate, it has 3GB of RAM (after learning it couldn't use more), I bought also an Ultrabay HD adapter, Combo DC and Ultrabay Battery.

I sold the Ultrabay Battery roughly one week after I bought it, because of the atrocious mechanical wiggle it performed in the Z61s' ultrabay. Evidently its mechanical dimensions are for the T61(p).

Ok. Now to the original question. If I had to buy a notebook tomorrow - I'm not aware of any contemporary Lenovo product that would satisfy my needs. Which are precisely:

* 15" class display with WUXGA resolution or better
(It seems our yellow friends at Lenovo "think" that 1920x1080 is en vogue even for business notebooks - well I would prefer not to downgrade my resolution)

* 8GB RAM, better 16GB

* max 3Kg weight, should run at least 4hours on battery

* CPU is quite irrelevant, as almost anything available today is sufficient for my requirements.

* And would you believe it: The price is kind-of irrelevant also. I'm used to pay ~3000US$ for my notebooks.


The W510 would fit the bill except the display. Last upgrade path I have seen was W500.


And so, I will probably purchase a OCZ Vertex2 240GB to give my Z61p a "contemporary performance feel" and prolong its nominal life - always in the hope, that some manufacturer will offer WUXGA in a decent package.

If anyone knows of a suitable product, I'll be monitoring this thread for as long as my Z61p still lives.

[underclocker]

Last upgrade path I have seen was W500.

You hit the nail on the head. A W500 or W700 would work, the latter may perhaps exceed your weight limit. I am sure there are still some available, new and fully warrantied from resellers...at least in the U.S.

I, too, have a Z61p w/WUXGA and particluarly like hooking it up to a 1080p HDTV. Stunning.

[Le_noveau]

A W500 or W700 would work, the latter may perhaps exceed your weight limit.

I do not think of the W500 as an upgrade, because the W500 is also a 2008 model and known for its notoriously dark display. It is, however, available (new) at my favourite thinkpad dealer here in germany at reasonable cost.

The W7xx is way of my size and weight limits. I had an A31p before that had 3.3Kg and that was quite "demanding" already. There are new 701 models available, but 3.8Kg and more...

I must say, I'm quite stunned about the Lenovo portfolio policy.

[underclocker]

Understood (although, I hadn't heard that about the W500 displays - I have a T500 w/WSXGA+ and it's quite nice). I'd say since the W500's have much faster CPUs and a couple generations newer GPUs plus full SATA speeds and support for over 3GB RAM, they should be a considerable upgrade from a Z61p.

ThinkPad displays are usually multisourced - were all WUXGA LCDs dark? Anyway, I suppose you could buy a W500 loaded and then source a new & bright WUXGA LCD. It'll still be under 3K!

[dr_st]

I do not think of the W500 as an upgrade, because the W500 is also a 2008 model and known for its notoriously dark display.

Your Z61p is a 2006 model, even if you bought it in 2008. As such, the W500 is a reasonable upgrade when it comes to performance.

I must say, I'm quite stunned about the Lenovo portfolio policy.

You just have been out of the loop. 15.4" WUXGA displays are no longer manufactured, FHD (1920x1080) is the best you can get on new 15.6" models.

If 1920x1200 is crucial for you, grab the W500 while it is still available. If the screen is really bad, you can always get an aftermarket one, like underclocker suggested. Or you can just get a far cheaper T500 with a basic screen then, if you are happy with the other parameters.

[pianowizard]

Currently, only one laptop meets your WUXGA and 3kg requirements: the 17" Macbook Pro.

I too think it's a shame that after the 16:9 aspect ratio became mainstream, the highest laptop resolution has been reduced from 1920x1200 to 1920x1080. Hopefully 2048x1152 will be offered in the future -- this resolution was available on several desktop LCDs at one point. For 18.4" laptops (the largest 16:9 laptop screen), I even hope for 2560x1440, with a tolerable pixel density of 159.6 DPI. I love this res on my Dell U2711.

[underclocker]

This aught to do it --> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=90736

[Le_noveau]

Your Z61p is a 2006 model, even if you bought it in 2008. As such, the W500 is a reasonable upgrade when it comes to performance.

Which is quite irrelevant if you want to upgrade in the year 2010 to contemporary hardware. But then again

15.4" WUXGA displays are no longer manufactured, FHD (1920x1080) is the best you can get on new 15.6" models.

Wow. No one knows if we have reached Peak oil or not, but we certainly have reached peak resolution.

I have indeed started to gather information about the W500.

I have been assured, that the display problems (too dark and unbalanced lit out), as well as the keyboard problems (flexy), as well as the BIOS problems (hissing sounds from CPU-VOltage regulating capacitors)have been fixed meanwhile. The luck of a late birth it seems...

The current configuration is a

W500 4061WFA
with 8GB RAM
240GB Vertex2 E SSD instead of the 320GB HD
3y on-site warranty
an additional 6cell and Ultrabay battery

plus I have had the Intel TurboMemory teared out. Which means there is a MINI PCI express slot free and now I'm gathering information if a mini PCIe SSD will work (and fit) in there.

Hopefully that configuration would leave me enough time to be again "out of the loop" until either mankind sees reason and offers higher resolutions than FullHD, or the world comes to an end.

[Le_noveau]

This aught to do it --> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=90736

I'm not interested in getting an used device. My dealer has told me, that the W500 are still in production and that the device I'm ordering is 6 weeks old at most. Not sure if that's completely true (have heard that lenovo uses up to 3 year old parts).

That's the base configuration I'm considering right now

http://www.lapstars.de/product_info.php ... ts_id=6437

-HD
-TurboMemory
+4GB
+SSD
+Batteries
[+ evtl. half Mini PCIe SSD]

[underclocker]

The spec's for that W500 look fantastic. Let us know how it looks and peforms when you get it. Congratulations.

[ZaZ]

the device is working flawlessly and there is still - mostly - sufficient performance for my everyday tasks.

Then why upgrade, especially if you don't particularly care for the new machines. For me the fact that the FHD, despite the loss of 120 pixels, is a better screen would hold more weight.

[Utwig]

The W510 has better screen than W500 despite lesser resolution, so if you want good screen Thinkpad it's the only option appart from X200 with AFFS aftermarket screen and W701 which is very big and heavy.

[Le_noveau]

The spec's for that W500 look fantastic. Let us know how it looks and peforms when you get it. Congratulations.

Writing this reply on the "2 days old" W500. Dualboot is configured, just tried switchable graphics in Win7, where pretty much everything works out of the box.

I think this is a reasonable upgrade compared to the Z61p. Not spectacular (except the SSD), but nice and smooth.

[AMATX]

I too, moved from a Z61p to more modern laptop, a W700. No comparison...guess a W500 would be the most direct replacement, as you're finding out.

That said, I shoved an SSD into my two Z61p boxes and really got a large boost in performance, so you might consider that as a cheap upgrade to squeeze a little more lifetime out of a Z61p.

Also, with monitors so cheap these days, I usually run a 24" 1920x1200 WUXGA external monitor on my Z61p, plugged into the VGA port. Works great, means I don't have to worry about a small 15" screen on the actual laptop.

For casual work, upgrading the hard drive to Solid State and plugging in an external monitor is a really cheap way to make 'em last longer.