Thinkpads Forum

Right now I'm using a t43 but I have a t60 with no battery no charger cable and no HDD and I'm planning on getting those parts for it. Has anyone here had problems with aftermarket chargers or batteries on the t60? I'm currently looking at

http://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Charger-T ... 60+charger

as it seems to have the most good reviews.

Also, should I put in a T7600 core 2 duo into it, will there be any noticeable power saving and performance boost? I won't get a 64 bit as I read that there's nothing noticeable except being able to go from 2 to 3gb which isn't huge since I plan to use a locked down windows xp and linux or possibly push up to 7

Also what does the CT0 mean? I got a vague idea that it means it's custom designed. Whats your opinions?

I've never used aftermarket A/C adapters on any of my TPs - aftermarket batteries a very hit-or-miss though. I've personally had two - a 9 cell that didn't sit in the bay properly and would lose connection with the contacts and the laptop would die if it was bumped. A few years later the laptop would die unexpectedly at "reported' charge levels of 95-98%. Trashed that one pretty quick after that. The other aftermarket battery I've got now is one made by Total Micro. So far no issues - full charge capacity is on par with new, genuine units - and no issues running it down to 2-3 percent or so if needed.

"CTO" as the type suffix indicates it was a "configure to order" system. Basically the original owner added or changed options in the configuration process.

Any time you upgrade your CPU to one with a higher clock rate, you will generate more heat and consume more power. That said, I believe the 2008 type had one of the ATi flavors of discrete GPUs (mine is a 2008... forget the last three... with an X1300). I get 2.5-3.5 hours of 'real world' use with a 1.83 GHz T5600 with the aforementioned nearly-new Total Micro 6 cell battery.

You'll notice some improvement in CPU intensive tasks.... but IMHO for the money, you'll get a much bigger "bang for the buck" if you upgraded to a SSD.

There's been several (many?) reports of problems encountered with aftermarket power supplies and batteries, but realize that more people will come to a forum to complain, than will people who have no issues at all when everything runs smoothly. That said, I'd opt for both a genuine power supply and battery. Especially at $19 (plus shipping?) for that charger. You should be able to find a factory unit for that price or even less. And note that unit is the 65W version. If your T60 has discrete graphics, you'll need the 90W charger.

CTO (letter "Oh", not a zero), signifies Configure-To-Order. So yes, "custom designed" would fit that description. It's for a system that was specified with certain options that was not available as a "standard" build.

(beaten by the Terminator )

Those non-genuine power supplies typically have no shielding against the RF interference generated by the power supply itself. So they will fill your home (and possibly your neighbour's home) with RF interference. If you use an AM radio, the interference is very noticeable.

See here for more information: Don't buy a cheap replacement power supply!

CTO means Custom To Order. That machine was ordered with custom specifications by its original owner, just like a Dell computer back in the day.

I personally would not trust an aftermarket power supply but have had success with some aftermarket battery. In your shoes, I would PM TuuS and see what he have in stock. TuuS is terrific to deal with.

I've had a T7600 in one of my T60 and switched it out for a T7200 as I don't need the extra CPU power at the expense of more power consumption and heat. My T60 with T7200 are plenty powerful enough for websurfing, email and Office type work. Anything requiring more CPU power is done on my desktop.

Ah okay. I will look for a genuine power supply and battery then! I was planning on an SSD already but I was curious if I got a faster cpu and clocked it down to an equal speed of an older version would it run cooler and save power? Thanks for the input

If you ended up with a T7600 and forced it into its "power saving" 800 MHz mode while on battery via Power Manager, I don't see it using any more power or putting out any more heat than any of the other, slower max frequency C2Ds you could put into it.

Someone on this forum recommended an Ebay seller of Thinkpad batteries, so in Nov 2013 I bought two 7800mAh 9-cell for my Z61p (same as T60p). eBay item number: 130708180630. I've not had any problems with performance, charging or how it fits etc.

I agree with the others here about power supplies; I have used cheap Chinese clones and they tend to get very hot and cause interference. Luckily most of my Ebay Thinkpads have come with genuine 90w PSUs. So maybe it is better to buy a cheap Thinkpad that comes with a original PSU?

Regards the CPU I can see why people say the T7200 is better on balance, but I chose to go with maximum performance and the T7600. I've not noticed much difference if any when running on the battery alone, compared with my previous CPUs (T2500 and T7200).

Finally if you have 3GB RAM you can run 32-bit Windows; it is only when you go to 4GB that you need 64-bit Windows. The maximum the T60 can take is 3GB anyway, so there is only one realistic option (32-bit) which will also run much faster and use less RAM.

I've had good luck with 8 cell T60 after market batteries. I've installed two so far, one for myself and one for a 2008 T60 I sold. No problems with mine or complaints from my buyer. The cost was around $15 with shipping. I got them on eBay. I would get a real Lenovo 20 volt power adapter. They are not very expensive used on eBay.

The T60 supports 3gb ram, not 2. You can install 4gb but only 3 will be recognized.

I just got another T60 for someone as a suggested replacement for a Pentium 4 Dell that has a factory T7200 processor. It is just a little bit faster than a T2400 in 32 bit Windows 7. I don't see any real advantage of a 64bit OS in a T60 due to the 3gb chipset memory limitation.

The T60 is a stable workhorse and I am finding that 4:3 displays are still popular with those who used them for years even if they don't know what 4:3 means. I have another request for a T60 from a retired school teacher.

If still interested I have genuine batteries starting at $25 and a adapters for $16 plus $6 domestic shipping. Also have caddies $3.50, and many other parts.