Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

I bought a used ThinkPad t61 yesterday. If new it is supposed to have a 250GB HDD but it was advertise on Amazon with an 80Gb HDD, so I suppose they changed it. But I am not quite sure if I have an original one. For starters, according to a review site the audio ports and firewire are supposed to be in the front, mine are on the left side. Also I have a gray text "ThinkPad" logo with a red dot on the "i". On that review site the logo is "IBM" in red, green and blue letters and "ThinkPad" written below it.

On the left I am missing 1 USB port but instead I have the 2 USB ports on the right, next to the dvd drive, so they are switched. The hardware seems ok, except for the smaller HDD but instead I suppose I have a stronger battery. It says 10.8V, 7.8AH and has a blue "Li-ion" sticker on the right side. Maybe you guys know what kind of battery that is and what kind of battery life I can expect from it. It's a used device though, so the battery life might be significantly shorter.

Since the 80Gb seem rather small, I'd like to know what kind of HDD can I put into the UltraBay? I have read on Wikipedia that you can use any 2.5 ide drive but need a special UltraBay-Frame to fit it in. Would you recommend that or is it possible to put an SSD drive into it? They seem to have become quite cheap. I paid over 300€ some years ago for my 80Gb Intel SSD. But I suppose SSDs are all SATA so they probably won't fit.

Also the ThinkPad seems to get rather hot on the bottom. Is that something to worry about?

Thanks.

Here is that test site I was referring to: http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-IBM-L ... 829.0.html The language is German but I suppose the language of pictures is somewhat international.

Hello and welcome to the Forum

What is the 7-digit type model number and 7-digit product ID on the bottom of your laptop? This info. is located to the left of the S/N (Serial Number). For example, one of my T61's says "7661-LP3".

Daniel.

Thinkpad Lover wrote:Hello and welcome to the Forum

What is the 7-digit type model number and 7-digit product ID on the bottom of your laptop? This info. is located to the left of the S/N (Serial Number). For example, one of my T61's says "7661-LP3".

Daniel.

Hello, and thank you.

TYPE 8889-CTO
S/N L3-G3544 07/11 <- I suppose 07/11 is not part of the S/N, just the production or release date?
PRODUCT ID: 8889W4Z

Ex factory your machine looked like this:
ThinkPad T61 (8889-W4Z)
Based on 8889-CTO: T7300(2GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVD, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 9c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32
You can replace the main hard disk with any 2.5" SATA drive, currently up to 1TB (= 1000GB).
"Thinkpad + red dot" is a Lenovo badge, "IBM Thinkpad" is obvious. The two are identical in size and interchangeable.
07/11 is the production date in YY/MM (07/11 = 2007/November).

Your machine has a 14.1" Standard 4:3 LCD, the machine in that German test has a 14.1" Widescreen 16:10 LCD.
Their motherboards have a different layout, and of course the dimensions are different.

@ TheAnyKey

Yes, as mentioned what you have is:

ThinkPad T61 (8889-W4Z):
Based on 8889-CTO: T7300(2GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVD, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 9c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

With a very nicely proportioned 4:3 (standard) ratio SXGA+ (1400x1050) high-resolution screen. For example, I have a T61 with 14.1" (1280x800) widescreen.

Also I have a gray text "ThinkPad" logo with a red dot on the "i". On that review site the logo is "IBM" in red, green and blue letters and "ThinkPad" written below it.

Yes, that is the newer Thinkpad logo introduced by Lenovo. I have the older, classic "IBM Thinkpad" logo on some of my T60's.

As for the USB port locations, see page 58 of your 14.1" standard T61 Hardware Maintenance Manual here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides- ... MIGR-67979

The design is different from the T61 14.1" widescreen, which is what is pictured on the German site you linked to above.

The design of the T61 14.1" standard is similar to the T60 14.1" . For example, I have a t60 with the following specs:

ThinkPad T60 (2007-64U)
T2500(2GHz), 1GB RAM, 100GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 128MB ATI Radeon X1400, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, WWAN, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

The location of the USB ports is just as yours (2 on the right rear and 1 on the left).

So it looks like you got the real McCoy

Daniel.

Thanks so much guys.

As for the UltraBay port, any suggestions what might be useful to add?According to Wikipedia a second battery does not fit into the T61 port, so I guess the only option then would be a second HDD. I suppose an SSD as primary drive won't work since SSD uses SATA and the T61 has still IDE?

So would you suggest a second HDD, 80GB is kind of small. Do I need to look out for certain specs on the HDD, so that it will fit and work. It has to be a 2.5" IDE drive, I suppose and I also need a special frame, so that it will fit into the port.

What is the biggest size IDE 2.5" HDDs come in?

Thanks

TheAnyKey wrote:I suppose I have a stronger battery. It says 10.8V, 7.8AH and has a blue "Li-ion" sticker on the right side. Maybe you guys know what kind of battery that is and what kind of battery life I can expect from it. It's a used device though, so the battery life might be significantly shorter.

7.8AH= 9-cell (larger size extended battery, sticks out the back about an inch)

4.8AH= 6-cell (standard size battery, fits flush)- see page 70 of your HMM: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... 545_04.pdf

Your T61 14.1" standard uses the same batteries as any of the T60's, and not the type of battery used in the T61 14.1" widescreen models. Keep that in mind when shopping for a new battery. And it's best to get a Genuine I.B.M./Lenovo battery.

Yes, since it's a used T61 and (we assume) used battery, battery life will be less than a new battery. Be happy if you get 1 to 2 hours (based on usage). As for new batteries, a new 9-cell can last 4-6 hours, a new 6-cell 2-3.5 hours. Read more here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... &view=next

What country are you located? (You can add your location through User Control panel at the top of this page). I assume you are not in the U.S. If you were, I could offer you Genuine, original new and used batteries at a great price here.:

x200,x60 Tablet,x61,T42,T60,R60,T61,R61,T400 BATTERY
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=99121

But right now international shipping costs (through UPS or another carrier) are high, until our US postal service decides what to do about shipping Li-Ion batteries overseas: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=104014

As for the largest SATA HDD, 1TB is the largest current available, as mentioned above.

By the way, here is a handy tool which you can use to find lots of info. on this Forum: http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q ... as_qdr=all Just enter search words such as "T60 battery life" in the first line and hit enter

Daniel.

Thinkpad Lover wrote: 7.8AH= 9-cell (larger size extended battery, sticks out the back about an inch)

4.8AH= 6-cell (standard size battery, fits flush)- see page 70 of your HMM: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... 545_04.pdf

Your T61 14.1" standard uses the same batteries as any of the T60's, and not the type of battery used in the T61 14.1" widescreen models. Keep that in mind when shopping for a new battery. And it's best to get a Genuine I.B.M./Lenovo battery.

Yes, since it's a used T61 and (we assume) used battery, battery life will be less than a new battery. Be happy if you get 1 to 2 hours (based on usage). As for new batteries, a new 9-cell can last 4-6 hours, a new 6-cell 2-3.5 hours. Read more here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... &view=next

What country are you located? (You can add your location through User Control panel at the top of this page). I assume you are not in the U.S. If you were, I could offer you Genuine, original new and used batteries at a great price here.:

x200,x60 Tablet,x61,T42,T60,R60,T61,R61,T400 BATTERY
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=99121

But right now international shipping costs (through UPS or another carrier) are high, until our US postal service decides what to do about shipping Li-Ion batteries overseas: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=104014

As for the largest SATA HDD, 1TB is the largest current available, as mentioned above.

By the way, here is a handy tool which you can use to find lots of info. on this Forum: http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q ... as_qdr=all Just enter search words such as "T60 battery life" in the first line and hit enter

Daniel.

Thanks,

I am in Germany, hence the German website. I fully charged the battery and the life is about 2 hrs, somewhat ok but I would have wished for rather 3-4 hrs. Can I install SATA drives? I thought the T61 uses IDE.

Maybe I just get a second battery as a spare to take with me and replace the other once empty.

TheAnyKey wrote:Can I install SATA drives? I thought the T61 uses IDE.

No. The T61 definitely uses SATA drives, not IDE (also called PATA or ATA).

Daniel.

TheAnyKey wrote:Can I install SATA drives? I thought the T61 uses IDE.

As Daniel said, T61 uses SATA interface for the main HDD.

As for the second drive you can put in the UltraBay, there are adapters for both IDE and SATA. The confusion might come from the fact that the interface used between the UltraBay adapter and the motherboard is indeed IDE, but that shouldn't matter, as long as you get the right adapter (for T61 and for PATA or SATA depending on what drive you want to put in there).

Also worth noting is the fact that a stock T61 only supports SATA-I (150 MB/s) speeds. As far as I know, there is a modified BIOS that allows SATA-II speeds (300 MB/s) for the main HDD.

Thanks folks, you are a tremendous help.

I am glad, I'm able to use SATA drives. I won't meddle with the BIOS though, as I have read, that a BIOS update can go terribly awry and damage the mainboard respectively the BIOS beyond recovery. Since I'm a complete tech-dilettante, I won't risk that. for the same reason I refuse to update the BIOS on my HD 5970 on my desktop pc, even though it would allow me to overclock it significantly. But that's a different story. So the 150 Mb/sec SATA would have to do.

I am really astounded how cheap the SSD drives have become. I paid about 300$ for an 80Gb Intel SSD just a few years ago when I built my desktop rig.

TheAnyKey wrote:Also the ThinkPad seems to get rather hot on the bottom. Is that something to worry about?
[..]
07/11
PRODUCT ID: 8889W4Z

Thinkpad Lover wrote:Yes, as mentioned what you have is:

ThinkPad T61 (8889-W4Z):
Based on 8889-CTO: T7300(2GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVD, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 9c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

So you got a T61 with one of those dreaded nVIDIA graphics chips, presumably produced before August 2008. You might be lucky, but I would have avoided buying such a machine, and here is why:

forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=93357

I was bitten by this issue already twice.

If you are/know German, are you already aware about the very competent ThinkPad user forum www.thinkpad-forum.de (where i am also active with the same member name as used here)? They have some very informative threads regarding the T/R61* nVIDIA issue:

thinkpad-forum.de/threads/85801
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/109457
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/112458
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/139406

rumbero wrote:Yes, as mentioned what you have is:

ThinkPad T61 (8889-W4Z):
Based on 8889-CTO: T7300(2GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVD, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 9c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

So you got a T61 with one of those dreaded nVIDIA graphics chips, presumably produced before August 2008. You might be lucky, but I would have avoided buying such a machine, and here is why:

forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=93357

I was bitten by this issue already twice.

If you are/know German, are you already aware about the very competent ThinkPad user forum www.thinkpad-forum.de (where i am also active with the same member name as used here)? They have some very informative threads regarding the T/R61* nVIDIA issue:

thinkpad-forum.de/threads/85801
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/109457
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/112458
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/139406[/quote]

Thanks. So what would you suggest. Should I send the T61 back? It is an onboard gfx chip, so as you said, I'd need a new mainboard eventually, which is presumably hard and expensive to acquire and probably impossible to install for a layman.