My T61 wish list

[Nilonym]

Here is what I hope to see in the T61 model refresh, which should be taking place in April or May to coincide with Intel's introduction of the Santa Rosa ("Centrino Pro") platform. This is intended to be a realistic wish list, not a pie-in-the-sky wish list, so please feel free to point out any items that are unlikely.

1. 14" SXGA+ IPS screen
2. ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 or X1900
3. Replace S-Video port with DVI port
4. Model with HSDPA (supported by chipset, but up to vendor to integrate)
5. Reduced fan noise (back to T40-T42 levels)
6. Option for 200GB, 7200RPM HD

[riverwater]

Here is what I hope to see in the T61 model refresh, which should be taking place in April or May to coincide with Intel's introduction of the Santa Rosa ("Centrino Pro") platform. This is intended to be a realistic wish list, not a pie-in-the-sky wish list, so please feel free to point out any items that are unlikely.

The S-video already removed from T60

[Nilonym]

The S-video already removed from T60

Ah, thanks for the clarification. So I'll just revise my wish to "DVI port".

[DavidNY]

S-video support would be nice

[tomh009]

I think DVI is a much more realistic wish -- T series are primarily designed as business laptops, and DVI is more useful for business use than S-Video.

I think the odds on HSDPA should be very good as the current CDMA WWAN is only usable in USA/Canada (and then for only half the mobile users, as it excludes AT&T/Cingular, T-Mobile and Rogers). HSDPA/UMTS (provided appropriate multiband support is included) would enable WWAN use worldwide: Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, even including Japan.

[nxman]

1 S-video

2 Memory card reader

3 Webcam

4 AMD Processor

[ThinkTay]

1. 14" SVGA+ IPS screen
2. ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 or X1900
3. Replace S-Video port with DVI port
4. Model with HSDPA (supported by chipset, but up to vendor to integrate)
5. Reduced fan noise (back to T40-T42 levels)
6. Option for 200GB, 7200RPM HD

1. Unlikely IMO, but its just an opinion. No real reason it wouldn't be out now
2. Umm? Those cards a 1) mammoth and 2) power hogs. There is a reason the T60 only has an x1400, and the T60P has a FireGL card. Unfortunately, no again.
3. Sure, that would be cool.
4. Not really sure myself.
5. Aye
6. What? You can go buy one of these HD yourself, but currently isn't the best you can get (in certain Lenovos) up to 5400 RPM 160g?


Question for OP - what would you have put on your "unrealistic" wish list? Most of your ideas seem a bit far fetched, if not well intended.

[tomh009]

6. Option for 200GB, 7200RPM HD

6. What? You can go buy one of these HD yourself, but currently isn't the best you can get (in certain Lenovos) up to 5400 RPM 160g?

Actually these are not available today yet (the only available 160 GB disks are 5400 rpm) but Hitachi has announced that they will be releasing a 7K200 model in the first half of 2007. And you can bet that it will be fast.

[tomh009]

1 S-video

2 Memory card reader

3 Webcam

4 AMD Processor

No S-Video or webcam for business models I expect -- those will be Z series gear. AMD processor is unlikely in business models, too; on desktop machines, Lenovo offers AMD CPUs only in the less expensive A-series, not in the M-series.

SD reader sounds like a reasonable wish list item, though.

[Nilonym]

Question for OP - what would you have put on your "unrealistic" wish list? Most of your ideas seem a bit far fetched, if not well intended.

I'm not sure I agree that "most" of them are far fetched. Perhaps #2, but all of the others are either incremental upgrades, or integration of existing technologies.

My far fetched (and also low priority) list would include:

* Integrated video camera (a'la iSight)
* Support for WiMAX
* Memory card reader
* Twice the battery life, half the weight, half the price

[RonS]

And add Firewire 800 to the list!

[pianowizard]

I hope they will find clever ways to bring down the weight a little bit. 4.99 lbs (including optical drive) or less would be great. But please keep the modem!

EDIT: Actually, it's very easy to make the T60 weigh less than 5 lbs. Just use an "ultralight" LCD analogous to the one available for the X60s!

[Puppy]

1. 14" SVGA+ IPS screen

This is IMHO unreal. The best result would be if any IPS screen even persists.

7. A configuration with 15" SXGA+ IPS but integrated graphics (to prevent useless power consumption in non-game mode and thus fan turned on most of the time)

[pianowizard]

Actually, I wonder why Lenovo didn't rename T60 models with Core 2 Duo as T61. After all, isn't the difference between Core Duo T60 and Core 2 Duo T60 bigger than that between the T20 and T21?

[tomh009]

... but the difference between Core Duo and Core 2 Duo is not so big, either. Maybe 10-20% better performance per GHz, and the ability to run 64-bit apps (but still limited to 3 GB of memory).

Not worthy of a different model number IMHO. Especially since there is bound to be an update this spring.

[Zeus]

Actually, I wonder why Lenovo didn't rename T60 models with Core 2 Duo as T61. After all, isn't the difference between Core Duo T60 and Core 2 Duo T60 bigger than that between the T20 and T21?

In a way, they did. This a section from the product info page for my new T60p.

Product support

Product: ThinkPad T60p 2613-CTO [change]
Operating system: Windows XP [change]

Original description: ThinkPad T61p Configure-To-Order system

[K. Eng]

4 AMD Processor

Very unlikely, given that the Intel Core 2 Duo completely outperforms the AMD Turion.

[sjhwilkes]

I can't buy another Thinkpad until the 15" 1600X1200 display returns.

Apart from that, replacing the SVGA port with a DVI is overdue, and fixing the PCI hole so 4GB really is 4GB would be nice.

Longing for the 7k200 too, but I can get one of those for this T60p anyhow.

[mikesugar]

I can't buy another Thinkpad until the 15" 1600X1200 display returns.

Apart from that, replacing the SVGA port with a DVI is overdue, and fixing the PCI hole so 4GB really is 4GB would be nice.

Longing for the 7k200 too, but I can get one of those for this T60p anyhow.

I've spoken with ThinkPad sales about screens several times. There is consensus that:
- it is highly unlikely that a 16X12 will return.
- Lenovo is hearing complaints about the non-FlexView screens. There is talk of a FlexView 15.4" in the future, but not within the next 6 months due to lead.

[tomh009]

Apart from that, replacing the SVGA port with a DVI is overdue, and fixing the PCI hole so 4GB really is 4GB would be nice.

The PCI hole will be "fixed" with the new chipsets with UEFI, running in 64-bit mode. I suspect legacy 32-bit will be stuck with 3 GB.

[onix]

• 14.1" SXGA+ with backlit LED display
  Core 2 Duo allowing 8GB of RAM accessible by one core.
  Firewire
  Keep Modem port for eFAX
  HDMI instead of DVI (external cable adapter available for HDMI-DVI conversion.

[tomh009]

HDMI? In a business laptop?

[sjhwilkes]

Wouldn't be a bad idea, the last few projectors I've used in conference rooms have got HDMI and it's less bulky.
On the other hand it doesn't carry analog video - so there's no backward compatibility like there is with DVI.

[corrado85]

i want to get my hands on a t60=(

[megalosaurus]

I've spoken with ThinkPad sales about screens several times. There is consensus that:
- it is highly unlikely that a 16X12 will return.
- Lenovo is hearing complaints about the non-FlexView screens. There is talk of a FlexView 15.4" in the future, but not within the next 6 months due to lead.

I can understand that they don't see a need to bring back the 1600x1200 FlexView screen. The future belongs to widescreen, and I'm OK with that. A 1920x1200 FlexView widescreen will do just fine for me.

Don't count on seeing a decent screen any time soon though. This isn't the first time that the ThinkPad line has discontinued its high-end display for months at a time. I can only assume that those of us who do serious work on our computers are in a minority and will never be more than an afterthought in product design decisions.

[iMav]

I've spoken with ThinkPad sales about screens several times. There is consensus that:
- it is highly unlikely that a 16X12 will return.
- Lenovo is hearing complaints about the non-FlexView screens. There is talk of a FlexView 15.4" in the future, but not within the next 6 months due to lead.

No *UXGA screens at all?? (or just none in the 4:3 ratio? i.e. 1920x1200 still an option)

[tomh009]

Wouldn't be a bad idea, the last few projectors I've used in conference rooms have got HDMI and it's less bulky.
On the other hand it doesn't carry analog video - so there's no backward compatibility like there is with DVI.

Right ... majority of the projectors out there today still have only VGA. External desktop LCD displays have VGA and (often) DVI, while CRTs have VGA only.

Put all that together, and an HDMI-only business laptop really does not make sense.

[jeffm]

Here's what I'm hoping for in the next batch of T's:

• 14" wide screen
  Embedded webcam
  Dual-link DVI
  Express card slot
  SD/CF card slot
  Modem REMOVED

[pianowizard]

Modem REMOVED

That would cause Lenovo to lose lots of customers.

[jeffm]

You may be right - I don't know the actual stats. I do know that I haven't used an analog modem in at least 5 years (and I don't personally know of anyone else that has either).