Thinkpads Forum

I was thinking about going from a T43p to T60p but need someone to talk me into it.

How fast is the Verizon cellular service. Fast as dial-up or like DSL or what?

Greg,

Let me give you my experience using another laptop
and a PCI air card.

You see, I was already a current Verizon National
Broadband subscriber prior to buying my T60 earlier
this month. I am still using the air card with the T60
because Verizon is still working out the kinks in trying
to transfer my old account over to the air card that is built
into the T60 laptop.

So you want to know about Verizon National Broadband?

Well, the major plus is that it allows me to have Internet
access wherever I am. Since I travel often, I love the fact
that I can be anywhere in the USA and get coverage. I can
sit on a park bench or ride a train and surf the Internet.

The speed? You would be surprised. In optimal coverage
areas the speed is very close to normal broadband. I would
estimate DSL speed or *perhaps* slightly better. Internet
pages do come up rather quickly. It's far, far superior to
dial-up.

On the downside, I have been in cities where coverage is
spotty and I have been switched over to the slower network.
This doesn't happen too often, and fortunately, Verizon is
constantly expanding coverage of its faster network.

Also on the downside is the price. With a 2-year commitment
the cost is $60 per month. Now, if you use the service as your
ONLY means of connecting to the net this isn't too bad price
wise. However, most of us already subscribe to home service
and the cost of the two together easily puts you near or at
the $100 price range each month. I write it off as a business
expense which makes the cost somewhat more tolerable.

Also, realize Verizon prohibits people from using the service
for huge downloading purposes (files, music, etc.) but I hear
that the *occasional* violaters don't get bothered and even
I have used it to snag a large file now and then.

The bottom line is that the service is outstanding when you
think of all the places you can connect to the Internet that the
average person cannot. The speed is quite good and so is
the satisfaction you will get from having access anytime you want.

Greg: With the newer dual core processors, I notice a speed increase when opening multiple windows. The t60 also feels stiffer and stronger. The LCD seems brighter as well. The dual layer DVD burner and extra USB port are nice too.

The downside is the missing red/blue colors on the trackpoint buttons, slightly smaller trackpad, beginings of consumer features (on/off wireless switch), missing s-vhs port, and new ac adapters and docks.

Overall, a very nice 'upgrade' to the T43 series.

I say, try it for 30 days to compare to your T43p (my T43p keyboard creaks and the fans run incessantly - not a real prob. for me though).

Have FUN!

cj3209 wrote:Greg: With the newer dual core processors, I notice a speed increase when opening multiple windows. The t60 also feels stiffer and stronger. The LCD seems brighter as well. The dual layer DVD burner and extra USB port are nice too.

The downside is the missing red/blue colors on the trackpoint buttons, slightly smaller trackpad, beginings of consumer features (on/off wireless switch), missing s-vhs port, and new ac adapters and docks.

Overall, a very nice 'upgrade' to the T43 series.

I say, try it for 30 days to compare to your T43p (my T43p keyboard creaks and the fans run incessantly - not a real prob. for me though).

Have FUN!

I just got back from a friends office where he just got his T60p. Picking it up it seems to feel like the build quality is more robust. The screen on the 2007-94U was nice, as nice as my T43p. I installed the guys 1 gb RAM for him, took about 30 minutes compared to 5 minutes. Boy they made that much hard BUT, I see there is one heck of alot of steel structure inside the T60 case. No wonder if feels better. No creeking at all.

As far as speed, I do perceive a difference. The 60p seems faster, quiet too. Could hardly hear the hard drive and the fan never made a noise above a whisper. I would still like to "feel" the Verizon wireless internet to see.

Greg: It really depends on your coverage. We have it for work in the Southern CA area and it works well for us. We use the Verizon software and it connects within seconds and for all intents and purposes, it feels like our broadband connection at work. Although we've only been using it for email and surfing. I've never heard or read about any limitations in downloading although I haven't read the fine print.

In our area, we were allowed 15 days to try it out but were required to get a two-year contract.

I think we're going to keep it.

CJ

I made the change from a T43p to T60p just for the Dual core. Being able to run two stat jobs at once was worth the cost and bother of getting a new laptop.

My firend has called and says he is not liking his T60p and wants to know if I would be interested. It is the 2007-94U and he wants $3300 for it. He has not even registered it yet so it would have the full 3 year warranty. I know it has not been abused as I helped him get it out of the box! I am asking if I can take it home for the weekend but I am going to buy it if it worked as I think it does.

Well I could not stand it and went and picked up my friends T60p. I have loaded much of my software including CS2 and AutoCAD with no problems. I must say that CS2 runs better than on my T43p.

For those who hate fan noises, my T60p hardly has a fan noise at all. I know when I would stress my T43p the fan would come on but I have yet to hear it rev up on the T60p.

Anyone who is putting that extra gig of RAM in, just take you time and be patient with removing and re-installing the palm rests. It all works but is different installation for sure.

Greg Gebhardt wrote:Well I could not stand it and went and picked up my friends T60p. I have loaded much of my software including CS2 and AutoCAD with no problems. I must say that CS2 runs better than on my T43p.

For those who hate fan noises, my T60p hardly has a fan noise at all. I know when I would stress my T43p the fan would come on but I have yet to hear it rev up on the T60p.

Anyone who is putting that extra gig of RAM in, just take you time and be patient with removing and re-installing the palm rests. It all works but is different installation for sure.

Geez-Louiz...what took me literally 10 seconds to add more RAM on our T43p took all of 30 minutes on a T60 b/c the bottom left and top right corner of the palm rest refused to snap into place. What is Lenovo doing with these palm rests?

Crikey!

I just beat you all....

Lenovo sent me a replacement T60 and I had to
switch out memory models.

It took me 5 minutes to remove the 4 screws, carefully
remove the palmrest, switch out the memory and then
put the palmrest back on. The palmrest snapped back
in nicely (sliding from front to back.

NJRonbo wrote:Crikey!

I just beat you all....

Lenovo sent me a replacement T60 and I had to
switch out memory models.

It took me 5 minutes to remove the 4 screws, carefully
remove the palmrest, switch out the memory and then
put the palmrest back on. The palmrest snapped back
in nicely (sliding from front to back.

If I had to do it a second time, I bet I could cut my time down too! As it was not my machine, at that time, I was extra careful to not break anything. It is not impossible but I liked the little door on the back like my T43p!

I have used the broadband service for months using a PC Card and loved it. I now have the t60p with Verizon built in, and can say that i believe the service seemed faster with the PC Card. Though i am continuing to use the internal Sierra Card, purely for convenience.

stephenaron wrote:I have used the broadband service for months using a PC Card and loved it. I now have the t60p with Verizon built in, and can say that i believe the service seemed faster with the PC Card. Though i am continuing to use the internal Sierra Card, purely for convenience.

Thanks for the info. I have wireless at both the office and house. When on the road I can find a place if I need to but my Blackberry does my email and no matter how you look at it with taxes and fees Verizon will have to lower their prices to make this tempting for the little time I might want to use it.

I am betting that the price will get cheaper and one day their will be wireless networking everywhere for no more than you pay for it at the house. Someone will also figure out how to unlock the Verizon hold on this device to allow you to use another carrier.

All good points, but for the time being Verizon has the best coverage, and unfortunately has people like me and many others i see signing up at this inflated price. Often i can find hot spots, but the Verizon Card is invaluable when in the car, etc....

I have used the broadband service for months using a PC Card and loved it. I now have the t60p with Verizon built in, and can say that i believe the service seemed faster with the PC Card. Though i am continuing to use the internal Sierra Card, purely for convenience.

Stephen,

Please keep us up-to-date on your experience.

I am in the midst of a struggle with Verizon to move
from the PC Air Card (Kyocera) I was using with my old
laptop to the card embedded inside the thinkpad.

However....

If you thought you were getting faster service with
the air card, perhaps I should just continue using it.

The Kyocera air card has a nice flip antenna to help
with reception. However, I would think the antenna on
the side of the T60 LCD screen would be just as (if not more)
powerful.

I am curious about performance differences between Kyrocera 650 and the Sierra Wireless mini-pci. They both use the latest Broadcom chipset (MSM 6500). Has anyone tried using the Verizon Speedtest benchmarking program (can't remember the name) with both?

I have the VZ Access with the Sierra Wireless built in feature. I love it. I do not like committing to the 2 year plan but the peace of mind I believe is worth the cost if you can get your employer to fund.

I haven't been anywhere remote so I have little to add in that experiance but getting it connected was a breeze.