Thinkpads Forum

I would like to upgrade from my ultra reliable T60p so I can run windows 10 and speed things up a bit. I like the durability and reliability of my current laptop. What is a good solid option for me to consider?

The one that appeals to me the most and retains the things I like about my Z61p (identical to T60p pretty much), is the W520 and most of the ones for sale are in the USA, which is bad for me being in the UK.

Turn it into a Frankie, by installing a T61 motherboard with up to 8GB RAM, and continue with W7 till at least 2020.
Search the T6x forum about Frankenpads, plenty info...
Installing W10 is asking for problems...

My replacement for my 14" T60s and T60p is the W500. I found the 1680x1050 displays are exactly the same height as the 14" SXGA+ T60 display so I've ended up with a wider version of the same display. I bought two of them and am using one daily. No Nvidia GPU issues, the ATI/Intel switchable GPUs are stable and the ATI GPU is a better version of the T60p ATI GPUs. Memory for them is cheaper and faster than the T61 memory modules. The W500 uses the same keyboard and battery as the W500 as well.

For the 15" UXGA model, the only option is a Frankenpad and that is what I might eventually do with my 15" T60p.

The W520 is very different from the T60p. It is a much more powerful computer but the display and keyboard are different while the W500 feels pretty much the same as the T60p, down to details of hardware when it is disassembled. When I took one apart, I found the procedure to be almost the same as for the T60.

toddreg wrote:What is a good solid option for me to consider?

You'd help your cause if you said something about what want or need, other than better performance. Most notebooks sold now will offer improved performance over a T60p. Your budget will be useful too.

"What is a good solid option for me to consider?"

If you like the standard aspect ratio, an optimized 14.1" 4:3 T61 or T61p can be very viable too. It's lighter and less unwieldy than the 15.4" and more comfortable for travel. The 1400 X 1050 screens have all the resolution you need in that size of panel, and the available optimizations are, of course, the same as those being implemented in Frankenpads - faster CPU's, Middleton bios, SSD's that can take advantage of the SATA 2 capabilities provided by the Middleton bios. I've set up a couple of these machines lately, one on Windows 7 and the other on Windows 10, and I find them really comfortable when I'm working in different locations.

By the way, Windows 10 supports all functions on a T61 except the Power Manager. It even provides its own on-screen display for volume and brightness, so I get both Windows' and Lenovo's versions on my screen at the same time. One nice Win-10 feature: you can get your choice of a command prompt with or without admin privileges from the start menus.

If I am going to upgrade to a new machine I probably want to go to a much newer vintage machine than the T61. When was the W500 last sold? Durability is a primary concern. I do want to run Windows 10 and having at least a boot SSD drive and a normal hard drive would be nice or just a large SSD. Does this help narrow things down.

I think they were built into 2010.

With a W500 or dedicated graphics T500 you can't get Switchable Graphics or screen brightness control under ATI to work with 10. If you get power manager installed you can switch between the graphics, but if the screen turns off in ATI it won't come back. Using the intel graphics only, the computer should run 10 flawlessly. But then there's no point of getting a W500, unless you'll run another OS to use its graphics in.

I wouldn't put W10 on anything older than a T410. The T500/W500 can have WUXGA lcds, but both are quite prone to lcd frame and chassis breaking near the left hinge.

A FHD W520 or W530 with classic keyboard mod would be much more quick and reliable. The TN FHD displays are excellent, except for only decent viewing angles.

Now, if you don't mind the keyboard layout of newer units, an IPS T450s or P50/P70 would suit well.

The 'P' machines are to expensive, I would like to be around $500 if possible, a used machine is fine. A 4:3 screen would be fine also and actually the size of this machine is preferable. As I understand it though the T61 was the last Thinkpad with the smaller screen and this is too old of a vintage machine.

toddreg wrote:The 'P' machines are to expensive, I would like to be around $500 if possible, a used machine is fine.

That amount gets you into *20 series, and not maxed-out at that. All of these are 16:9.

A 4:3 screen would be fine also and actually the size of this machine is preferable.

Not going to happen unless you turn that T60p into a FrankenPad.

As I understand it though the T61 was the last Thinkpad with the smaller screen and this is too old of a vintage machine.

Correct in the respect of *61 series being the last one to come in 4:3. Whether that's too old for whatever you're intent on doing is your judgment call to make.

I've gotten the ATI graphics to work under Windows 10 on a W500. The switchable graphics isn't, mostly. I got it to work a few times but not reliably. Intel graphics always works. Setting one or the other in the BIOS makes the OS load the right driver.

Upgrading was a pain and the Windows 10 upgrade overheated the machine and hung the upgrade in a thermal shutdown. After it cooled, it wouldn't continue and restored Windows 7. I forced Intel Graphics and hard throttled the CPU in the BIOS and succeed in upgrading both my W500s. I did the upgrades just because I could. I use Windows 7 as the main system.

W500s are cheap. For a bare bones one with no HD, the price is often well under $100 and $150 or so gets you a fully working one with Windows 7. For a $500 budget, I would get a W520 which is light years ahead of the W500. The drawbacks are the 16:9 display, thickness, and the need for a special power supply that is bulky and expensive to replace. I use my W500 more than my W520 due to its comfortable display and low power draw but there are some things that it is too slow for. I find the W500 to be pretty rugged and reliable. The only thing that caused any heat issues was the Windows 10 upgrade which disabled the ACPI throttling and had both CPU and GPU running hot. I had an easier time upgrading a T61 to Windows 10.

If you've figured out how to get brightness and reliable screen state (resume from screen timeout) control to work with ATI graphics in 10, I'd love to know.

TPFanatic wrote:If you've figured out how to get brightness and reliable screen state (resume from screen timeout) control to work with ATI graphics in 10, I'd love to know.

I tried updating the driver manager's update driver function but the results are the same with an updated driver done directly from Windows 10. The switching is working on my spare W500 without a hitch but the ATI driver is only partially functional. It is not the best Thinkpad for Windows 10 but it is working better than expected. I didn't install all the Catalyst software, just the driver. The results were a bit different in several areas on my other W500 but it is in use at the moment and I won't be testing Windows 10 on it for a while. I had more problems with the switching on that one. The only hardware difference between them is that one has an FPR and the other doesn't and they both have the same system cloned on them but the Windows 10 upgrade turned out a bit different on them.