Thinkpads Forum

Hi everyone. Apologies if this has been answered before. I have recently been given a T61 and I absolutely love it (such good build quality and can't believe the performance for an older machine), however, I've been pretty horrified to read about the fact that many will die because of the Nvidia card.

I did read somewhere that there were some machines which were manufactured after this and that they are okay. I'd love to know whether my TP is one of those, because if it is I'd love to upgrade it a little. the bios is dated 2008-11-14 with the system serial number VF1A97BWOWT.

Would anyone know if this is one of the later ones and if this is even true?

Also, the battery is knackered. Anyone know of a good replacement? Thanks in advance!

EDIT: The type underneath the laptop says 6457-CTO if that helps.

EDIT 2: The serial number is L3-XXXXX 07/12 Does that mean it was manufactured in December 2007?

Admin edit: Removed serial number for owner's protection

Hi

I'm not able to answer all your questions, sadly, but I do know one of them.

Your motherboard is from December 2007, so the Nvidia GPU will probably fail at some point.

I have a very similar thread running, check it out here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=110410

I added cleaned the cooling pads and the cobber with cleaning benzine, and then reapplied new thermal paste to ensure it'll run nice and cool. I also gave the fan bearing some grease, so it runs much quiter and easier now.

Yes your T61 have a date code of Dec 2007. This doesn't mean that it will fail even though there's a good chance that it could. I have a couple of T61 with date codes older than Aug 2008 that are still running strong. A T61 can be had for cheap these days (last 2 I got were less than $80 with a high res screen), so use and enjoy it. If and when it dies, it's a cheap replacement and is still better than a lot of new crap that is on the market.

As for the battery, I recommend a genuine battery. Forum member TuuS is the expert on all things T61 and usually always have a few batteries kicking around. I'd PM him.

Thanks for the replies

Is there any chance the motherboard has been replaced as the bios date is november 2008? Can the laptop body take any other non t61 motherboard?

BIOS release date have nothing to do with build date. Matter of fact I recommend you upgrading the BIOS to Middleton's BIOS. I don't pay attention to BIOS date, only the version number.

As for interchangeability of parts, I know that 14" T61 non-widescreen MB will fit a T60 15" body in what is known as a Frankenpad conversion. I've done this with great success after sourcing a good MB board from TuuS. I've also installed a LCD from a T61 into a T500 with success. Beyond that there's not a lot of interchangeability.

Ah, well this kind of sucks then. I suppose every laptop will die eventually though, perhaps I'll be lucky and it will see me through the next year. In any case, it's at least sold me on Thinkpads in general.

Would anyone care to recommend any TPs that I should think of buying? Probably models from the past few years as the new machines look incredibly expensive

A belated welcome to thinkpads.com!

I suppose it depends upon what you need to do with the machine and where. Will you simply be surfing and doing light document creation in one place or are you planning to edit videos while on a roadtrip? Personally, I use machines at both ends of this spectrum. At the home office and work I'm using outdated A31p systems (both living out their remaining lives placed in docks), mainly for the amount of screen size it offers (15" UXGA). They're used to browse, create Word and PowerPoint documents, run a C++ compiler, burn CDs and DVDs. An X60 sits on the kitchen table and gets carried into the living room for those times when we have to settle an argument centered around a TV show or movie we're watching. It's also being used a edit an occasional video and burn it onto a DVD. Another X60 travels with me on vacation (wouldn't want to try that with an A31p ). Those X60s may be replaced in the near future by an X300. I've recently picked up several and am evaluating them.

ref: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=110425
ref: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 40#p711240

Thank you

I am a writer, so really that's all I need. Something which can go online for research, is durable and doesn't feel too slow. I am tired of writing in the house since my last laptop broke, but as with most in my profession I don't have a lot of money to snap up a new computer :p A friend gave me this TP and I'm hooked. The keyboard feels fantastic which is something I really depend on. Also having a machine which is durable is handy as I want to be able to write in different places. I will use this T61 until it dies (hopefully not for a while) and I'll make sure that when I'm writing that I am online using dropbox and Google Drive to keep up to date drafts, or back up via what looks like an sd card slot in the front.

Hopefully if I don't push it too hard I'll be lucky