Thinkpads Forum

Okay, I am going to start by saying that I have quite a bit of knowledge about computers, just not the thinkpads in particular.

now, I know it might not be the best idea that I have had recently, but I am in the market for a laptop that can replace my damaged Latitude D630. I figure that Thinkpads are a bit better. I've used some previous models before, a couple A20m s and a T40 and a R52 and they were all great laptops for their age. Well now I rekon that the T60 is about as old as I can get, and I will be buying from ebay when I do buy, so that is a consideration. Probably putting the budget at ~300 max. can go higher if necessary, bit for this old, it should not be necessary.

Anyway, to the questions, and there are a few.

1. Do the T61 laptops support SATA II and ACHI mode in the BIOS? I am fully intending to put a SSD into it to save some battery life and increase the speed of the boot and opening of programs.

2. The best graphics setup that I have seen looking at them on ebay is a fx570m. That is just fine, but is there anything more powerful? I am not the best, but maybe the quadro version of the 8800m GTX? I think that is like the FX2800m maybe?

3. Processors. What should I look for? Mainly wanting something that can match my Precision M90's T7200, and probably with better power consumption if possible.

4. Screens. Do these come with 1920 X 1200 or is it just the 1600 resolutions that seem to be prevalent?

5. Cooling. Do these laptops have great cooling solutions? I know that keeping them cool means keeping them on longer, and the hotter they run the more energy they use (bringing down battery life).

6. Structure. Is there any part of the laptop design that feels flimsy? Like if you pick it up by a corner does it deform, or does it maintain rigidity?

7. probably should be in graphics or cooling, but do the T60/T61 lines have the same issue that Dell laptops did with the NVS135 (140) chips that caused the need for the copper shim in them? If so, did the FX570m have the same problem?

that is everything I think for now. Thanks in advance for your assistance, and sorry for having so many questions.

Welcome to the forum!

Let's try to answer this query one by one:

1) Yes for the ACHI, no for the SATA II with a stock BIOS. You need Middleton's (modded) BIOS for that.

2) No, 570 is as good as it gets for T61p and 140 for the standard T61.

3) The first generation shipped with Meroms (T7100, 7300, 7500, 7700), the second with Penryns (T8100, 8300, 9300, 9500). Penryns are strongly preferred by most users. You'll get at least comparable performance with a faster Merom, and a much better one with a Penryn when compared with T7200.

4) Huh...this is where stuff gets complicated...

T61 was available in 14" XGA (1024x768), 14" SXGA+ (1400x1050), 14" WXGA (1280x800), 14" WXGA+ (1440x900), 15.4" WXGA and 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050)

Do bear in mind that the most powerful GPU there is NVS140M, 570 was reserved for the "p" version which shipped as:

14" SXGA+ (1400x1050), 15.4 WSXGA+ (1680x1050) and 15.4" WUXGA (1920x1200)

You notice that no 14" widescreen "p" version was offered...

5) Here and there. Later machines with Penryn CPUs run cooler.

6) Hinges are a known weak point, everything else is pretty sturdy.

7) You bet. Only T61/p units with a build date of 08/08 or later are considered safe from "nVidia bug". There were no conventional 4:3 (non-widescreen) T61/p units produced at that timeframe.

Generally speaking, anything prior to 08/02 (February of 2008) is deemed unsafe. Machines built from February through July are a mixed batch and August through November (or as late of a date as you can find) are presumed to be safe.

A word of friendly warning from someone who has seen a *lot* of ThinkPads: nVidia-based T61/p is the very last platform I'd ever buy from eBay. Your money, your call.

A "safe-date" machine from a well-known ThinkPad guru and a trusted forum member can be found here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=104853

Happy hunting.

ajkula66 wrote:Welcome to the forum!

Thank you for the greeting, and for your time.

2) No, 570 is as good as it gets for T61p and 140 for the standard T61.

noted. and noted on the heat issues explained below. Is that for the FX570 and the NVS, or just the NVS?

A word of friendly warning from someone who has seen a *lot* of ThinkPads: nVidia-based T61/p is the very last platform I'd ever buy from eBay. Your money, your call.

Might I ask why? I'll take a guess and say probably hard to trust a manufacture date if they can even find it?

A "safe-date" machine from a well-known ThinkPad guru and a trusted forum member can be found here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=104853

Happy hunting.

Are new members allowed to buy from members here? The other forum I frequent requires 100 post before they can buy/sell. Does look like a good machine to me.

Okay, might be a little out there, but would there be a confirmed safe machine later than the t6x series that would have comprable performance to the 570m? Not to say that I want to take that route. Just that I am replacing a M90 and a D630 with it and am kind of looking for something between the NVS135m and FX2500m that they have. The ability basically to run blender well, but to also run a few older games (all DX8) to pass time now and again.

wolfeking wrote: noted. and noted on the heat issues explained below. Is that for the FX570 and the NVS, or just the NVS?

Both.

Might I ask why? I'll take a guess and say probably hard to trust a manufacture date if they can even find it?

That's a part of it, but the more important aspect is that it's fairly easy to fix a failed board so it works for a couple of weeks or months, and then fails again...

Are new members allowed to buy from members here? The other forum I frequent requires 100 post before they can buy/sell. Does look like a good machine to me.

Yes. No restrictions on buying and/or selling around here. And it most certainly is a well-kept machine, I've seen it.

Okay, might be a little out there, but would there be a confirmed safe machine later than the t6x series that would have comprable performance to the 570m? Not to say that I want to take that route. Just that I am replacing a M90 and a D630 with it and am kind of looking for something between the NVS135m and FX2500m that they have. The ability basically to run blender well, but to also run a few older games (all DX8) to pass time now and again.

I honestly don't do any gaming, so I'll pass on answering this question...

ajkula66 wrote: Both

dang. Okay, so I may have to either get a newer T61 or possibly look at the t400 series.

That's a part of it, but the more important aspect is that it's fairly easy to fix a failed board so it works for a couple of weeks or months, and then fails again...

The bake method. I am familiar with it. Used it on my D630. Worked for ~ 4 hours.

Yes. No restrictions on buying and/or selling around here. And it most certainly is a well-kept machine, I've seen it.

Good to know. Ill shoot him a PM in a bit about it.

I honestly don't do any gaming, so I'll pass on answering this question...

okay. I know basically what it takes to run them. The t7100 and NVS135m maxxed them at 1440 x 900 resolution. But would not run BF2 at that resolution. Basically Need something in between a 135m (140m should be the same chip more or less) and a fx2500m (sucks battery like no tomorrow). I know the FX570m is somewhere in there. the 135/140 is a 8400m GT and the fx570 is a 8600m GT, so somewhere bouts double the power. Ill look around and post any questions I have later on.

I'm new here too. Just picked up my first ever ThinkPad (T61 14.1") the other week. Since then I've picked up another T61 14.1", T61 15.4", and a X201. So you can say I've jumped in the deep end of the Thinkpad pool.

I've done a lot of reading and research about everything Thinkpad. The advice given above is sound.

Some of the things I love about these machines are; keyboard, super easy to work on, and the support is fantastic! Lots of useful info from Lenovo and the support TP centric forums are second to none.

PS - that deal is pretty sweet. If I haven't already bought 4 TP in the last week, I'd be all over it.