Thinkpads Forum

I have 3 issues concerning my laptop, and they're fairly unrelated. But rather than making 3 separate threads I figured I'd just combine them.

First, I ordered my T60P with WinXP Pro. The only reason I didn't downgrade to Home and save 79 bucks was because I saw that I could get a free upgrade coupon to WinVista Business, so I went for it. After I get my laptop, I go to redeem the coupon and about halfway through the process I learn that the upgrade is 32bit (obviously this is a let down because my laptop is equipped with a dual core 64bit proc and I would like to utilize it to get my money's worth - needless to say, I didn't continue with redeeming the upgrade because it will be useless to me). Now, I didn't see anything on the IBM/Lenovo website about whether or not the upgrade was a 32bit version or a 64bit version, nor do I know if a 64bit upgrade is even a reality. I just assumed it would be 64bit because that's what I've seen being touted in every Vista advertisement I come across. So, I wrote IBM/Lenovo and said that I felt that I didn't receive what was advertised and that the circumstances of the upgrade weren't made clear enough, and since I kept the WinXP Pro option instead of choosing Home and saving $79 dollars, that I wanted a credit of $79 added to my card. Think they'll honor it?

Along the same lines, I can get a free copy of Windows Vista Business through my college (only have to pay shipping), but it'll be a standalone, not an upgrade. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the hardware support in Vista and if some of my function buttons will work through Vista or will I have to go through the IBM site and download all the utilities? Also, are there any utilities that I absolutely should always keep on (such as the hard drive shock detector) to ensure my laptop continues to run smooth and reliably?

Lastly, what's the best way to keep my T60P clean? As far as the keyboard/trackpoint/touchpad/screen goes I mean. I have long hair and often forget to shave for a couple of weeks, so there's a lot of hair falling down and such. Also my hands sweat easily (doubly so since I live in humid Florida) so that gets on there as well.

Any info is greatly appreciated. This is my first ThinkPad (or IBM for that matter) and I absolutely love it.

Ah, one more thing, are there any ThinkPad-specific optimizations that I can do to better control and make the machine faster? BIOS settings perhaps? Nothing that'll void the warranty though.

Thanks! Glad I found this forum

Edit:
Remembered one more thing. I opted for the IBM wireless card as opposed to the Intel/PRO for an extra $5. Did I make the right choice? Is there any noticeable difference?

Point 1: It will be interesting to see how they deal with it as I'm sure they can dig up enough reason not to give you the $79 back.

Maybe as a gesture of goodwill they will offer the refund, but considering the fact they didn't give you WinXP Pro 64 bit i can't see it happening.

IBM/Lenovo are great with their driver support.

I've built all my thinkpads from scratch and have found it easy to get the neccessary must-have device drivers from their website.

I'd suggest waiting a few months before switching to Vista to ensure proper driver support. Perhaps wait until they start shipping with Vista even.

There is a cool utility that IBM have called System Update. As long as you have an Internet connection System Update will discover your PC's/Thinkpads model type and number and goto the Lenovo FTP site and grab all the latest device drivers and utilites such as Active protection for your hard drive.

As for keeping it clean,

If you use it primarily at home or in the office, at a desk, as opposed to on the lounge or on the train, consider a docking station. If you use a docking station with an external keybd/mouse this will limit your time directly over the thinkpad keeping it cleaner.

As far as I know, although the CPU supports 64bit, currently the mainboard is still 32bit (Intel haven't published the 64bit mainboard for laptops yet), so you are not able to install a 64bit OS on a T60p.

The current ThinkPad chipsets (and the rest of the hardware) fully support 64 bits. The only issue is that you can only address 3 GB of memory (you can install 4 GB if you want, but you won't see it all!).

Cool, thanks for the replies. So everything is 64bit hardware-wise on this thing?

felixcat wrote:As far as I know, although the CPU supports 64bit, currently the mainboard is still 32bit (Intel haven't published the 64bit mainboard for laptops yet), so you are not able to install a 64bit OS on a T60p.

Felixcat, please don't spread misinformation like this. What is your basis for saying that? none, right?

Rwang wrote:

felixcat wrote:As far as I know, although the CPU supports 64bit, currently the mainboard is still 32bit (Intel haven't published the 64bit mainboard for laptops yet), so you are not able to install a 64bit OS on a T60p.

Felixcat, please don't spread misinformation like this. What is your basis for saying that? none, right?

Phew.

What about the question regarding my wireless selection?

Regarding the wireless, card, the general consensus (as far as I've read, anyway) is that the IBM wireless is better than the Intel wireless. You made a good choice. The Intel wireless has suffered from dropouts in the past - not sure about the current rev.

Woohoo!

My reasoning was that IBM should be able to utilize their own devices as efficiently if not more than another manufacturer's, plus I was saving 5 bucks

RonS wrote:Regarding the wireless, card, the general consensus (as far as I've read, anyway) is that the IBM wireless is better than the Intel wireless. You made a good choice. The Intel wireless has suffered from dropouts in the past - not sure about the current rev.

The IBM wireless has the Atheros chip and is said to have ~20% better coverage. OTOH, the Intel uses less power. My sense of it was that the IBM is the better choice and so I got it. At the time there was no price difference (late November). Coverage in my house was one of my major concerns. So far so good with my Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 router. Also had no trouble connecting clear across my brother's sprawling house.

Yeah, I find the coverage to be pretty awesome. I pick up about 6 neighborhood networks just sitting in my room.

Update: I got $86 dollars back from Lenovo. Not necessarily because of the upgrade deal that I was unsatisfied with, but also because of the free upgrades now being offered that I didn't get. I also mentioned that I didn't receive a student discount, even though they don't offer one for my model, I feel they should.

Anyway, I'm happy.

where can i download this system update software? i don't seem to have it on my t60p (new 2 weeks ago)

MrPats wrote:
There is a cool utility that IBM have called System Update. As long as you have an Internet connection System Update will discover your PC's/Thinkpads model type and number and goto the Lenovo FTP site and grab all the latest device drivers and utilites such as Active protection for your hard drive.

.

System Update 3.0 was released....here is a link,...
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... VAN-LEAPSU