Thinkpads Forum

T60p/C2D T7600/15.0 SXGA+ TFT Flexview/ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250 256MB/2G/120 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm/DVDRW/9 cell Li-Ion Battery/3 yrs./BT/FP

T60 Widescreen/C2D T7600/15.4 W SXGA+ TFT/ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 128MB/2G/160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm/DVDRW/9 cell Li-Ion Battery/3 yrs./BT/FP

My consideration of the Widescreen is primarily so that I can get the 160 GB HD instead of the 120MB HD. Would I be giving up much screen resolution & brightness in getting the T60W w/128MB vid card & 15.4 W SXGA+ TFT instead of the T60p w/256MB vid card & 15.0 SXGA+ TFT Flexview? Could I, or would I even need to, goose up the screen resolution & brightness on the widescreen by installing a higher MB vid card in an availanle PCMCIA slot?

Thanks, in advance, for your help here!

I am currently using a: T40p/Pentium M 1.6GHz/14.0 display/ATI Mobility Fire GL9000 64MB/1G/60 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm/CDRW-DVD/9 cell Li-Ion Battery/3 yrs./BT

I have the t60p with the flexview and love it

rhonig wrote: My consideration of the Widescreen is primarily so that I can get the 160 GB HD instead of the 120MB HD.

IMO the size of the harddrive should be the last reason to choose one laptop configuration over another. The harddrive can easily be upgraded later with an oem drive at a considerable savings in $$$. I would be much more concerned that the shape, size, and weight of the t60 and display attributes of the lcd meet your requirements.
Also note that the 160gb drive is 5400rpm and rumors are that 7200rpm versions > 100gb should be available soon.

rhonig wrote:Thanks, in advance, for your help here!

What are you planning to use it for?

brianl wrote:I have the t60p with the flexview and love it

I hear the resolution & brightness are unsurpassed on this screen/video card combo. My tendancy is to go with the flexview. I hear that there's a wide flexview in the future offing. Do you use the Ultra bay drive as a backup? If not how do you utilize this configuration? Do you perceive the 7200 rpm a noticeably greater read/write speed advantage over the 5400 rpm drives? Can the original configured drive become the ultra bay drive at an upgrade to a newer, larger main drive?

steveg47 wrote:

rhonig wrote: My consideration of the Widescreen is primarily so that I can get the 160 GB HD instead of the 120MB HD.

IMO the size of the harddrive should be the last reason to choose one laptop configuration over another. The harddrive can easily be upgraded later with an oem drive at a considerable savings in $$$. I would be much more concerned that the shape, size, and weight of the t60 and display attributes of the lcd meet your requirements. Also note that the 160gb drive is 5400rpm and rumors are that 7200rpm versions > 100gb should be available soon.

That feels right. Does the 3 year optional depot warranty extend to an OEM repacement hard drive as it would to the drive in the initial configuration? How does one switch over from one HD to another with minimal difficulty?

nonny wrote:

rhonig wrote:Thanks, in advance, for your help here!

What are you planning to use it for?

MS Vista Conversion
Microsoft Office
Photo Shop
Photo Storage
Sketchup Architectural Design Program
Quicken
iPod Management
Burning & Ripping CD's/DVD's
Mailing List Management
Surfing the net
DVR capture
Background computer maintenance

rhonig wrote:Would I be giving up much screen resolution & brightness in getting the T60W w/128MB vid card & 15.4 W SXGA+ TFT instead of the T60p w/256MB vid card & 15.0 SXGA+ TFT Flexview?

I am not sure about brightness but whether or not a display is Flexview won't affect the resolution. An SXGA+ display always has 1400x1050, and a WSXGA+ display always has 1680x1050.

steveg47 wrote:IMO the size of the harddrive should be the last reason to choose one laptop configuration over another.

I totally agree. In fact, the most economical way to do it is get a model with the smallest HDD possible (40GB, I think), and get a bigger drive from Newegg.com. You will get a 3- to 5-year warranty from the hard drive manufacturer. You can sell the 40GB HDD that comes with the Thinkpad, or use it as an external drive.

pianowizard wrote:

rhonig wrote:Would I be giving up much screen resolution & brightness in getting the T60W w/128MB vid card & 15.4 W SXGA+ TFT instead of the T60p w/256MB vid card & 15.0 SXGA+ TFT Flexview?

I am not sure about brightness but whether or not a display is Flexview won't affect the resolution. An SXGA+ display always has 1400x1050, and a WSXGA+ display always has 1680x1050.

I have trouble using the 1400x1050 on the 14" screen of my T40p & I don't think I'd be comfortable ever using 1680x1050, even on a 15.4"Widescreen.

Your only consideration is aspect radio/size and Flexview; all other components are available on both systems if you call Lenovo (versus web order..)

Buy what you can afford.. Don't forget it is a notebook, and certain features are hard to upgrade... ie: LCD, WWAN Card

I generally go for the biggest bang for the buck, as well as make sure i get at least 3 years on the accidental... My Thinkpad has fallen out of my car numerous times... :/ but it still has survived...

seeplus wrote:Your only consideration is aspect radio/size and Flexview; all other components are available on both systems if you call Lenovo (versus web order..)

I have called Lenovo &, to my experience, the real live CS/sales people seem to be in lock step with the web order pages as far as component availability.

I have the t60p, and I love the flexview much than my T40 normal screen.

riverwater wrote:I have the t60p, and I love the flexview much than my T40 normal screen.

I've been reading on this forum that the present widescreen screens, untill they become flexview, would not be preferrable to the 4:3 aspect ratio 15" flexviews being currently offered & on your machine.

Could you please refrain from all this excessive use of oversized RED text. Occasional use might be justified. Every post is not.

Thank you.