Received T60(p). What are your impressions?
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:54 am
There are so many threads already in which people are talking about the T6x, which they have received, and what they think of it (initial impressions, more in depth impressions). I figured I'd start a thread here in the (foolish?) hope that we could keep all these thoughts together.
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I received my 200762U yesterday (after a frustrating snafu with UPS which delayed it's delivery). I haven't had much time to fiddle with it. I'm busy with other things. And I'm trying to figure out whether to do the clean install. So I don't have it set up with all the software I need to really use it. But here are my thoughts so far, in no particular order:
1) As others have noted, the 6 cell battery that shipped with my unit is fairly loose. I rocks back and forth horizontally. This is a Panasonic battery. I also ordered a second 6 cell battery as a backup. It is a Sony battery. It rocks in the same manner, but much less. Definitely a snugger fit.
2) It's true, as noted elsewhere, there are no vent holes for the fan on the bottom of the 14.1" unit.
3) I have the Chicony keyboard. It's nice. But definitely more clicky clacky than the NMB keyboards I've tried on the T4x. It just doesn't have the same smooth travel and resistance. I will be replacing this.
The silver buttons don't seem as cheap as they looked in photos. They're fine to me. The blue on the enter button is so dark it's almost not noticeable. It definitely seems like Lenovo is trying to faze out the blue color.
4) I have the Hydis LCD. It's fine. I'm a little underwhelmed. Decent brightness. Color seems good. Perfectly functional. But it doesn't seem like the viewing angles are any better than on my five year old VAIO R505TLK. I really was hoping for the TMD, but I don't think I'll be replacing this. There really ought to be a 14.1" FlexView option. The hinges and stiffness seem extremely solid though. Happy about that.
5) The palmrest over the ExpressCard/PC card slot is surprisingly slim and flimsy, as has been noted elsewhere. I'm not really worried about it. But it does seem like if it received a good whack it could crack without much trouble.
6) I'm not very experienced with trackpoints. I like it. But I find it has to be hit pretty hard to get it to select or click anything. It's really not usable in this respect, which is how I'd like to use it. Otherwise it works great.
7) The trackpad is ridiculously tiny. I'm sorry, I know for trackpoint lovers the trackpad is just a nuisance and the smaller the better, to keep it out of the way. But if you want to use it, it's kind of lame. It's smaller than the trackpad on my 12" VAIO. Come on. And it's not well positioned. It's too far from the keyboard. It ought to come up closer to the trackpoint buttons, as on the T4x. I really think Lenovo screwed up on this one.
Also, is there a way with the drag lock function, when selecting by tapping the trackpad, to have the drag lock release after a time interval, from lifting one's finger, (rather than having to tap on the trackpad again)? This is how I've done it on my VAIO. I really like that functionality, but I don't see it as a setting anywhere.
Lastly, on this subject, I still hate the design changes (shape, lack of color) on the UltraNav in general. Seeing it in person has not been an improvement for me from an aesthetic viewpoint.
8 ) The all important fan. I can definitely hear it pretty much all the time. I haven't subjected the notebook to any heavy use, so I've never heard it ramp up. But I can hear it. It's not really a fan noise. It's just a rushing forced air noise. Pleasant enough. It's not bad. Quiet by my standards. Puts my very noisy VAIO to shame. But for those who want a silent computer, it's not that. In a quiet room the fan is distinctly audible.
9) There is a lot of bloatware that's annoying. Symantec? Uck. I hate their software. Fairly slow startup too. Will deinstall or do clean install to fix.
That's it for now. No sense of the performance yet, since I haven't really gotten to use the T60 much.
Hmm, I guess I've been focusing on negative things, though. It does seem like an extremely solid, well put together, notebook. I'm very happy and excited to have it. The design in nice, though I liked the T4x better. I am very much looking forward to the huge performance boost over what I've been using and even over my Dual 1 Ghz PowerMac G4. The multi-burner works great, though I haven't tried dual layer burning yet. The wireless (Atheros) seems to work well and has a very large range.
Okay, now that is it for now.
*
I received my 200762U yesterday (after a frustrating snafu with UPS which delayed it's delivery). I haven't had much time to fiddle with it. I'm busy with other things. And I'm trying to figure out whether to do the clean install. So I don't have it set up with all the software I need to really use it. But here are my thoughts so far, in no particular order:
1) As others have noted, the 6 cell battery that shipped with my unit is fairly loose. I rocks back and forth horizontally. This is a Panasonic battery. I also ordered a second 6 cell battery as a backup. It is a Sony battery. It rocks in the same manner, but much less. Definitely a snugger fit.
2) It's true, as noted elsewhere, there are no vent holes for the fan on the bottom of the 14.1" unit.
3) I have the Chicony keyboard. It's nice. But definitely more clicky clacky than the NMB keyboards I've tried on the T4x. It just doesn't have the same smooth travel and resistance. I will be replacing this.
The silver buttons don't seem as cheap as they looked in photos. They're fine to me. The blue on the enter button is so dark it's almost not noticeable. It definitely seems like Lenovo is trying to faze out the blue color.
4) I have the Hydis LCD. It's fine. I'm a little underwhelmed. Decent brightness. Color seems good. Perfectly functional. But it doesn't seem like the viewing angles are any better than on my five year old VAIO R505TLK. I really was hoping for the TMD, but I don't think I'll be replacing this. There really ought to be a 14.1" FlexView option. The hinges and stiffness seem extremely solid though. Happy about that.
5) The palmrest over the ExpressCard/PC card slot is surprisingly slim and flimsy, as has been noted elsewhere. I'm not really worried about it. But it does seem like if it received a good whack it could crack without much trouble.
6) I'm not very experienced with trackpoints. I like it. But I find it has to be hit pretty hard to get it to select or click anything. It's really not usable in this respect, which is how I'd like to use it. Otherwise it works great.
7) The trackpad is ridiculously tiny. I'm sorry, I know for trackpoint lovers the trackpad is just a nuisance and the smaller the better, to keep it out of the way. But if you want to use it, it's kind of lame. It's smaller than the trackpad on my 12" VAIO. Come on. And it's not well positioned. It's too far from the keyboard. It ought to come up closer to the trackpoint buttons, as on the T4x. I really think Lenovo screwed up on this one.
Also, is there a way with the drag lock function, when selecting by tapping the trackpad, to have the drag lock release after a time interval, from lifting one's finger, (rather than having to tap on the trackpad again)? This is how I've done it on my VAIO. I really like that functionality, but I don't see it as a setting anywhere.
Lastly, on this subject, I still hate the design changes (shape, lack of color) on the UltraNav in general. Seeing it in person has not been an improvement for me from an aesthetic viewpoint.
8 ) The all important fan. I can definitely hear it pretty much all the time. I haven't subjected the notebook to any heavy use, so I've never heard it ramp up. But I can hear it. It's not really a fan noise. It's just a rushing forced air noise. Pleasant enough. It's not bad. Quiet by my standards. Puts my very noisy VAIO to shame. But for those who want a silent computer, it's not that. In a quiet room the fan is distinctly audible.
9) There is a lot of bloatware that's annoying. Symantec? Uck. I hate their software. Fairly slow startup too. Will deinstall or do clean install to fix.
That's it for now. No sense of the performance yet, since I haven't really gotten to use the T60 much.
Hmm, I guess I've been focusing on negative things, though. It does seem like an extremely solid, well put together, notebook. I'm very happy and excited to have it. The design in nice, though I liked the T4x better. I am very much looking forward to the huge performance boost over what I've been using and even over my Dual 1 Ghz PowerMac G4. The multi-burner works great, though I haven't tried dual layer burning yet. The wireless (Atheros) seems to work well and has a very large range.
Okay, now that is it for now.
?
