T60 Just Arrived - first impressions

[corymcnutt]

I am happy to say that my T60 arrived at 9:30 am yesterday morning via UPS. I have been doing the setup, updating Lenovo’s programs, updating Microsoft’s XP and Office programs, and installing a couple others. This is my first notebook, although I have owned and used computers since 1982 (Apple IIe), I just never needed the portability, until now. After much research I decided on a T60 w/Core 2 Duo T7200 (2 GHz), 2 GB Ram, ATI X1400, 14” SXGA screen, and 100 GB HD. In checking the parts I found that I have a TMD screen and ALPS keyboard.

When the box arrived I was happy to see how small it was; I really wanted a 12-13.3” screen, but wanted the TrackPad, so that ruled out the X60. I looked at the Sony SZ series and the new HP d2000t, but I do not like the metal palm rests; I much prefer the plastic of the T60. They are nice notebooks but they just don’t have that “cut-from-a-solid-block” feel that the ThinkPad series gives me.

The initial impression is awesome…solid feel, beautiful in black, just the right size for working at the kitchen table, a coffee shop, library, or bookstore. The thing I was worried about most, the screen, is great. Mine is manufactured by TMD and I see no pinkish hues, hard-to-read, etc, it is bright, not overly so, but certainly bright enough for indoor use, it’s too [censored] cold to go outside and cloudy anyway to test it out there, but 90% of my work is indoors. As far as angles go, I have moved the screen around and I can see very well at different angles; if some people were looking over my shoulders for a Power Point presentation I am confident they would see just fine. Even with the SXGA screen the letters are very easy to read…I did turn-on ClearType and it made a BIG difference, but then it did on my Sony desktop screen too.

My keyboard is an ALPS and it feels fantastic…just the right amount of push and feel to it and a slight “click”. I bought Logitech’s diNovo BT keyboard for the same reason, it feels like a nice notebook!

My T60 is VERY quiet, the fan comes on only occasionally, runs for a while, then turns off. When it does run it is a smooth hum in the background. I had it on for hours yesterday and it barely got warm; true I was just loading programs and testing them out, surfing the web, and downloading and installing updates, but I cannot imagine this machine getting “hot”. The DVD drive was also smooth and relatively quiet, with the same “swoosh” as the fan when it operated.

The fingerprint reader works great and is much easier than typing a password. The wireless connection with the IntelPro has work flawlessly, with never a dropped connection. I only have about 35-40% signal upstairs and it really flies through the web pages and different sites. I do need to increase the signal strength so I can go to the third floor bedrooms…you never know when you might not be able to sleep.

Speed is something I want to mention…my desktop is a P4, 2.53 GHz w/2 GB Ram, and this T60 leaves it in the dust…it is simply FAST. I haven’t run any tests on it…I don’t know how…but I can really get a sense of speed on the notebook. My friend just bought a Sony FE770G with T5600 and 2 GB Ram, and his seemed so sloooooooooooooow; bootup, bringing up pages, even opening programs…made me remember why I never wanted a notebook…I know my T60 would blow his away.

Battery life, another concern of mine, is again, no concern. I have the 9 cell battery, and yes, its does stick out a little in the back. But I had the wireless and BT on all the time with screen brightness set to the highest, surfing the web, downloading programs and updates and I worked for hours before it got down to 25% and even that was listed as 1-1/2 hours by my battery gauge.

If I had to complain about anything it is the poor User’s Manual that comes with it; I guess they expect you to go to their website and read the info there; but sometimes I just want a book, not a computer screen. One other item I must mention…the TrackPoint system. I said earlier that I didn’t buy the X60 because I wanted the TrackPad, well I use the TrackPoint more than the Pad! Ya, shocked the hell out of me too, but I love that little red ball!

One more thing to all people who order a ThinkPad…it DOES pay to be nice and plead with the rep at Lenovo. I ordered mine on 10/25 and it gave me an 11/20 ship date, although he told me 8-10 business days. After much begging about needing it for school (which I really did) he got the ship date moved to 11/10. After another email, he was able to get it out and delivered to me by 11/6; he even upgraded to EXPRESS shipping for me so it was 2 business days from HK. So make some nice noise and you can get them faster! Now I have to get back to my new baby and play!

[agarza]

It's really a joy to hear a story like yours.
Could you download the TPFancontrol program and post your laptop temperatures, so that people with the fan and GPU overheating problem could compare the temps with yours.

Reading your story makes me want to buy a T60. Unfortunately I cannot afford one ATM.

Could you post some pictures to brag about your new baby

[Turbo Audi]

Glad you like it! I got my T60 delivered here to school in August. I have used countless Dells/Gateways etc. IBM is far ahead of anything I have ever used. I will never buy a laptop that is not IBM/Lenovo.

[pjain]

Glad to hear you love it! I just picked up another ThinkPad after trying very hard to live with an Apple MacBook.

Fedora Core 6 running very nicely on this beast!

Anyone wanna buy a MacBook ;-}

[Seeb]

Hey dude, post your temperatures please! :)

[corymcnutt]

Hey dude, post your temperatures please!

I did a google on that program and it doesn't say it works with the T60 series...it doesn't say it doesn't either, but it does have a list of warnings about things it can do to your computer...like fry it! So if someone here can steer me to an updated version or let me know this one OK, I would appreciate it. Thanks, Cory

[pjain]

Hey dude, post your temperatures please!

Ummm ... the ThinkPad is running at 51C (Reported under Fedora Core 6 Linux)

Not sure what else you might be asking for

[Seeb]

I'm especially interested in GPU temperatures.

And please also write whether you have GMA/X1300/x1400, thx :)

[pjain]

I'm especially interested in GPU temperatures.

And please also write whether you have GMA/X1300/x1400, thx

I've got an X1400 but I'm not quite sure how to get GPU temps using FC6. Sorry.

[marlinspike]

Cory, as a heads up, I found this helped my wirless a lot and I know you have the intel wireless like I do. Run the updates that you can run by going to ThinkVantage (press the blue Thinkvantage button, go to maintenance and then update my system). MY computer lists an 11/2006 build date, but when I ran that there were still some updates, including one for the wireless that seems to have made mine a bit stronger.