Thinkpads Forum

I am considering a change. I have this T60p in mind but know nothing about they're history. This particular model does not have the Nvidia chip so that's not a concern. Does this model have any genetic deficiencies? Description from seller is as follows:
IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad T60p 2613-ESU - Intel Core Duo T2500 2.0GHZ CPU - 2GB DDR2 RAM - 120GB HDD - 256MB ATI Mobility FireGL V5200; SXGA+; PCI Express - 14.1 in active-matrix/TFT/XGA - Wireless B/G Card - 56k Modem - Fingerprint reader, Secure Chip

Can a core duo be upgraded to a C2D or are the sockets different?
btw; not unhappy with the T40p but the flash laden sites are killing it's performance at times.
Thanks, Keith

Keith:

First, the T60 you are mentioning (2613-ESU) has a 14.1" SXGA+ LCD (and not XGA, as you typed).

Next, your question is a bit difficult to answer, because you don't specify what are your requirements to a "new" e.g. T60, such as what applications you need to run, the max. physical size/weight, the min. battery time, your budget etc. etc.?

Anyway, having both T42's (15" SXGA+) and T42p's (15" UXGA) as well as a couple of T60's (15" SXGA+), all these being 4:3 models having the outstanding FlexView/IPS LCD's, I'd suggest that you consider getting a regular (4:3 format LCD, non-widescreen) 15" non-p T60, and not a T60p, unless you know for sure that you need the more powerful GPU of T60p's. The reason why I suggest you to consider the "non-p" T60's is that the more powerful GPU's in the p-series T60's (ATI V5200 and V5250) are known to cause much higher fan-noise compared to the non-p T60's with the X1300 and X1400 GPU's... for more information you may search this forum for "T60 fan noise". Also, I suggest you see the thread Advice please - $700-$800 TP for college student. Also, see the thread T60 - the best Thinkpad ever made?

As to whether the CPU's in T60's can be upgraded from Core Duo to Core 2 Duo, the answer is yes, but a Rev. 3 motherboard is required... see more info in the thread Need advice on CPU upgrade for T60 2623-D6U. The speed increase if upgrading from a Core Duo to a Core 2 Duo is however very modest for most applications, as evident from the thread T60 CPU upgrade - currently a T2300 CD, can a T5200 C2D work. If you want a faster ThinkPad, it much better pays off to replace he current (and relatively slow) mechanical harddrive by a super-fast, totally silent SSD, compared to swapping the CPU... search this forum for yourself for "T60 SSD" and you will see!

My recommendation: Keep an eye out at the forum.thinkpads.com Marketplace for used and MINT condition T60's... this is a MUCH better place to shop, compared to eBay. See e.g. FS: Beautiful MINT T60 ThinkPads with 15" SXGA+ Flexview or post a "WTB" (Want To Buy) of "LF" (Looking For) adversitement at the marketplace yourself.

Johan