Thinkpads Forum

Thinking about buying another thinkpad. Now I have a great t60 with second HDD as ultrabay.
Which model of t61 is better to buy. Need it to be reliable and at least fast as my current t60 2007-fug.

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Is there a particular reason you want to buy a T61, which is only slightly more modern than your T60?

Is your budget the limiting factor here? Or is it about reusing accessories? If so, which accessories do you have in mind?

dr_st wrote:Is there a particular reason you want to buy a T61, which is only slightly more modern than your T60?

I wouldn't call the ability to run a 64bit OS taking full advantage of 2x2=4GB or even 2x4=8GB RAM without being hardware limited by the chipset "slightly more modern". This is in fact a major advantage, which together with inofficial SATA II support, Penryn CPU's and a better cooling systems provides quite a few superior options than any T60 could ever do. Just take care to avoid NVIDIA based T61's like the plague, as these GPU's are mostly faulty and will fail sooner or later.

My budget is limited.
For reliability which model to avoid?

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rumbero wrote:I wouldn't call the ability to run a 64bit OS taking full advantage of 2x2=4GB or even 2x4=8GB RAM without being hardware limited by the chipset "slightly more modern". This is in fact a major advantage, which together with inofficial SATA II support, Penryn CPU's and a better cooling systems provides quite a few superior options than any T60 could ever do.

Granted, but considering that five generations of laptops have been released since the T61, I still stand by my "only slightly more modern" assessment. Not to mention that you are looking into 5-6 year old systems that have probably suffered plenty of abuse. A T61 can go considerably higher than a T60, but to get a tangible benefit you have to almost max it out, and that will probably cost as much as a newer, nicer T410/T420 these days.

Wiking wrote:My budget is limited.
For reliability which model to avoid?

As rumbero said: to be safe, avoid models with discrete (nVidia) GPU and stay with the Intel X3100 integrated GPU models.

For reliability, only T61s with nvidia cards that have a build date of 08/08 or newer are garunteed to be reliable, but all intel graphics T61s are reliable, and getting a trouble free nvidia T61 is difficult and expensive.

In my experience I have also seen the following:
1. Hinges on T61s in general become looser and are more likely to snap (mostly the issue with the right hinge of 4:3 T61s) overtime than those in T60s. A complete lid assembley swap from a T60 to T61 will take care of this issue (works for 4:3 T61 and T60), though you do loose some protection since the T61 lid has a roll cage, but it still has good protection.
2. T61 frame seems to prevent keyboard flex more than T60s, at least on 4:3 models.
3. T61 Palmrest feels, flexes, and looks slightly cheaper than the one in a T60, though you can swap a T60 palmrest in.
4. The base frames on T60 15" and T61 15.4" models are more susceptible to cracking near the vga port or left hinge. This is slightly less common on the smaller models since the preassure from the lid put onto the part of the frame is less. However, the piece of frame that cracks here is thin in general, and you should make sure not to hit this spot or drop the laptop.

which T61 model's display will fit into my T60 14.1 ? Now my T60 is 14.1 1400x1050 SXGA+ and the screen need replace.

Any machine with model number starting in 8*** is a 14" (4:3) unit.

It's impossible to list all the submodels that were shipped with a SXGA+ LCD. Some of them will be listed in the HMM once you look at a particular screen model.

Happy shopping.

So any T61 with 14.1 will be good if I would take the display from it to put into my T60 14.1. No possible complaints from the GPU (Ati x1400) in my T60 ?

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Wiking wrote:So any T61 with 14.1 will be good if I would take the display from it to put into my T60 14.1.

Yes.

No possible complaints from the GPU (Ati x1400) in my T60 ?

None whatsoever.

Thank you!

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rumbero wrote:

dr_st wrote:Is there a particular reason you want to buy a T61, which is only slightly more modern than your T60?

I wouldn't call the ability to run a 64bit OS taking full advantage of 2x2=4GB or even 2x4=8GB RAM without being hardware limited by the chipset "slightly more modern". This is in fact a major advantage, which together with inofficial SATA II support, Penryn CPU's and a better cooling systems provides quite a few superior options than any T60 could ever do. Just take care to avoid NVIDIA based T61's like the plague, as these GPU's are mostly faulty and will fail sooner or later.

The T60 memory limitation runs deeper than just being x86 (it's not the OS). It's specifically with how intel designed THAT specific memory controller; to support that theory I've seen some intel chipsets cache less (2.0 GB opposed to the 3.0 GB in the T60). And some will cache the PROPER amount of 3.9 GB in actual x86 mode.
Man intel sucks at memory controllers... but yeah if it had been designed properly it would be 3.9 GB in an x86 OS. 3.0 GB is way below what x86 supports.

Theokretes wrote:Man intel sucks at memory controllers... but yeah if it had been designed properly it would be 3.9 GB in an x86 OS. 3.0 GB is way below what x86 supports.

If by "designed properly" you mean not 32-bit, then yes, you are right. It is funny, when you think about it, how PAE support was present in processors since Pentium Pro, but the memory controllers actually added support only much later. At least client system controllers. I bet it got earlier to servers.

But even with a 36-bit or wider memory controller, you would still be stuck, because Microsoft has decided to hard lock all x86 versions of their home (as opposed to server) OSes, since XP SP2, to 4GB RAM. And with this limit, you cannot reasonably get 3.9GB on a 32-bit OS, because it will not leave you enough address space for PCI devices. 3.5GB is reasonable in some cases, but even then it is possible to run out of PCI memory space.

Still not sure: I can buy used T61 that has 1440x900 14.1 screen size. is it straight forward swap?

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Wiking wrote:Still not sure: I can buy used T61 that has 1440x900 14.1 screen size. is it straight forward swap?

No. That's a widescreen 14" unit.

You *must* ask for the machine's model number.

If it begins with 8***, you're in the clear.

Should it be 6*** or 7***, those are widescreen machines and the panels will NOT fit.

At local second hand market not always sellers mention model number. Which screen resolution will fit for sure?

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Screens with resolutions 1400x1050 or 1024x768 will fit a standard ratio (4:3) T61 or (4:3) T60.

14.1" 1400x1050 is what you're looking for. Nothing else.

OK. Good that I asked again because I thought that every 14.1 will fit.

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