Thinkpads Forum

Hello to all [proud] owners of T61
As the software products [Operating Systems, Office suites, even web browsers and chat-programs] become more and more resource-hungry, I was wondering about the future of T61's..

These days [2012] T61 performs very well for todays standarts (and outperforms some new machines), but for how long you think it'll manage to satisfy our needs? I'm asking this because of many reasons, like:
1. Is it worth it to do an upgrade (adding more RAM) to the system, or it's better to buy a new Lenovo ThinkPad (I'm stuck to the T series, so it would be 410 or higher)
2. Many users have expressed their sadness of Lenovo driving ThinkPad's out of their 'IBM' nature (replacing the classic keyboard with a chiclet one) and want to stick to the old thinkpads (like myself).

So what do you think, for how long t60/61 will continue to meet the standarts?

I hope this turns out to a really great discussion

My personal opinion is that the T61s especially will still be quite suitable for several years yet. Although I personally feel hindered by my T60, that's entirely due to my usage and the RAM limitation. With a T61, I'd be able to meet most of my needs for the foreseeable future. Max out the RAM, throw in an SSD, put a large capacity spinner in the ultrabay, and maybe upgrade the CPU, and it would be very competitive.

+1 -- Exactly as stated above.

The T60 is limited to 3GB of memory and 32-bit operation. The T61 does NOT have those limitations. Therefore, the answer to your question depends on whether we are discussing T60 or T61 machines.

Since you have a T61, you should be fine going forward as far as the ability to run new software goes, even if you wish to use a 64-bit operating system and increase RAM beyond 3GB.

The only "problems" you should expect relate to consumables:
-- You will need to replace (sooner rather than later, given the age of those machines) the thermal paste on the CPU, and perhaps the thermal pads on the graphics chips.
-- You will need to replace the battery.

I expect my T61 to last me at least another 3-5 years. My main usage is email, internet browsing, MS Office type usage. I have more powerful desktop PCs for other usage.

For those referencing the T60s, there's always the possibility of creating a Frankenpad with them (assuming you have a 15" T60/T60p model) but of course the problem would be trying to locate a working T61 4:3 14.1" Intel/NIVIDA GPU motherboard to install into it.

My T61 is still being used quite heavily as my primary system (I use an X61, with a T8100 CPU, for travel) and I still run multiple VMs on it, as it has the maximum amount of RAM installed (plus a T9300 CPU) along with a 128GB SSD (thank christ for Middleton's BIOS!) and a 750GB WD Scorpio Black HDD in a 2nd HDD Caddy for data storage...hopefully she'll keep on running for a good few more years before I consider trading up.

The 64bit core2 processor should be viable for at least 10 years, and even longer if you are conservative with what you expect it to do, so I'd say at least 5 more years before it begins to become obsolete. Current laptops don't really have much better hardware, sometimes they have less, with current trends focusing on android os, atom processors and other similar hardware that is less powerful then a core2. Actually I haven't seen any major advances in CPU technology since the core2 Penryn chip. The "i" series that replaced it was more about marketing then advancements. They do offer integrated graphics options which is nice if you want a netbook or something to run on battery power, but for the most part, a core2 and i series of the same speed with the same graphics systems will run equally well.

In the past it's been the ram limits that determine a system becoming obsolete. The T60 series is now reaching it's end simply because of the 3gb limit. They will run a 64bit core2 merom chip, which is a powerful cpu, but the 3gb limit will seem them obsolete far sooner then the T61.

I personally think they are great systems, one of the last great thinkpads and without a doubt the most powerful of all 4:3 aspect ratio systems.

probably will push it for another 5 years, but dont expect more than that.

of course this is highly dependent on what you're using the laptop for.