Thinkpads Forum

pianowizard wrote: I suspect that Lenovo is trying to gradually make the Thinkpads look more and more like their own 3000 series, and eventually merge the two.

Thats simply not true, the Lenovo 3000 range will simply die a slow death which is what it deserves - there are no plans to merge them with ThinkPads at all, there are plans for new consumer models which should bump the existing Lenovo 3000 systems from pointless to a complete waste of cheap plastic.

The thinklight was a nice gimmick to read my credit card numbers during late night shopping (the keyboard is lit by the screen in even the darkest conditions) but i wish they'd just remove it now.

The ridges around the screen are meant to show where the wireless antennas are located but they sure are ugly and don't actually look accurate to me.

The new logo is much better than the IBM one that just looks so dated now, i changed my logos on my T60p wide to the new one and it looks much cleaner.

The integrated Mic is disappointing - the digital array Mic under the LCD was actually one of the things they got right on the Z series.

Don't get me started on the battery - i have hated them since they started that sticky out thing - it seems to be installed less in the system with every new model, if there is a larger battery option then I will choose it so just make the system a bit bigger to accomodate it and dump the 6 cell ones - they chould easily get away with it on the widescreen models.

I am somewhat worried about the new LCD rollcage - the T60 got a lot of flak for being cheaper build quality, despite the fact that the system is better built and more sturdy than the T4*, because much of the strength was internal, they used weaker plastic on some of the external parts (ie above the keyboard) this led people to assume it was less sturdy - incorrect perception is a dangerous thing for a brand and the new lcd rollcage is only going to add to that; it will be sturdier but it will appear to be less sturdy.

pianowizard wrote:I suspect that Lenovo is trying to gradually make the Thinkpads look more and more like their own 3000 series, and eventually merge the two.

I can't agree more with you. I am thinking if they will start giving thinkpads the "cheaper" (achoo!!!!) look of 3000 series if they're trying to reach their ultimate goal of taking over Dell's position.

Troels wrote:Anyone knows what the use of the two "skuffed" parts to the left and top of the lcd are?

They just show the positions of the wi-fi antennas. They were there in previous ThinkPads, but on the edges of the lid, not on the front. Dunno if they improve your signal strength though.

ryengineer wrote:

pianowizard wrote:I suspect that Lenovo is trying to gradually make the Thinkpads look more and more like their own 3000 series, and eventually merge the two.

I can't agree more with you. I am thinking if they will start giving thinkpads the "cheaper" (achoo!!!!) look of 3000 series if they're trying to reach their ultimate goal of taking over Dell's position.

You can both agree but its still not true.

So far Lenovo, in its quest to become the new Dell has only resulted in them becoming the new Acer, dropping from 3rd largest notebook OEM to 4th largest notebook OEM - oddly they still seem happy with their 'progress'

You guys just wear me out.

The thread has been unlocked. Please avoid trolling.

P.S. Thanks nonny.

gator wrote:These pics are from notebookreview.com forums (need to be member there to view the pics). Since no one seems to have posted them here, I thought I'll post.The screen seems to be skightly off-center, but the T61 does look sturdy and very thinkpad-ish

http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/T61/1.jpg
http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/T61/3.jpg
http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/T61/4.jpg
http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/T61/5.jpg

T43 Vs T61 comparison pics:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/T61/T61-T43.jpg <-- T61 is thicker, because of the rollcage.
http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/T61/6.jpg
http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/T61/7.jpg

Matt's repsonse to my question on Lenovoblogs about plastics on T61:

Matt Kahout wrote:Sri - You asked about thinner plastics. Yes, the top cover of the new T61 and R61 14W systems are thinner. This is partially how we kept the system weight neutral. We do not need as thick of a top cover if the Display Roll Cage is underneath doing its job of protecting the system.

Note from Moderator: Every one of these images is over the 50k limit.

Mods, am sorry ... I blame it on my excitement

hmm, looks not bad the t61 ... she turned a bit fattier but i guess that bcs of that new screenprotection... the microphone and earphone plugins arent that bad... but what i miss (on my t60 too) are the red dots on the mouce buttons... why did they remove them:(

These shots are great; this doesn't look as thick as the Z61p/m series at all. The main differences are the shield around the sides of the LCD and the trimmed front lip; it isn't as pointy as the T60 is.

The only thing that perplexes me is the front mounted mini Firewire?! It's not as if there's a firewire port in the dock.. you'll still have to get an expresscard/PCCard firewire adapter with the T61 if you plan to simultaneously use the keyboard. Must be tight in there.

edit:
Looking closer, this may not be a problem at all. Depends on the user.

I like the new Thinkpad logo. The overall design does not seem to bad, although I am still not sure about the off center LCD. Front mounted audio jacks don't bother me too badly simply because I hardly ever make use of the audio jacks. I do like the inclusion of firewire, but wish the port was placed elsewhere. At least the keyboard is still multi-colored, a feature which I think distinguishes Thinkpads from other laptops and adds a touch of style and class. The edge bevels look nice, but still prefer the style of my T41P.

Overall I would give them a 'B' on design consideration and a 'C' for overall machine. Why? The T-series should not be reduced to being a consumer oriented laptop. It should always be a cut above. It seems to be slipping lately.

Thanks for re-opening the thread.

I still dont agree with the latest comments about it becoming consumer orientated but I'll try and keep my troll side at bay and not argue about it.

Got my hands on a T61 and I'm not too impressed, its not fair to compare the size to the Z61m (the 15" T60 was comparible and far superior to this) so you have to compare it to the 14" Z61t, the T61 14" wide is both thicker and larger dimensions than the Z61t, admittedly the Z6*t did not have discreet graphics but its a couple of years old so I would have expected them to be able to keep this size. The design itself I prefer, Z6*t was a nice system but, as a ThinkPad purist, I couldn't live with all those curves, however, the off center screen is definitely an issue for both aesthetics and usage, I just feel the 15" T60 wide is a bit more polished design wise.

The port positions I don't really have an opinion on, the only thing I'd ever use on the front is the headphone jack and it doesn't really matter where they put that as long as its' not on the back. The one thing i'm not happy obout is this card reader thing in the bottom pc / express card slot, its just a waste of a slot imho, I already have an easily removable express card card reader which I use on my T60 wide, but I can remove this when required, I don't see why having something permanently fitted is an improvment.

I tried to take some photos to compare the T61 to the Z61t but my camera is out of juice - i'll upload tomorrow.

here is the review:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.a ... inkPad+T61

great temperature values for the T61, seems to be silent too!
Now Lenovo has only to improve the energy efficiency, respective
battery life for the standard battery, which does **not** stick out at the back.

That is some great review, it will definitely convince a user in need to buy one.

I wish they would source better brighter screens.

gator wrote:The screen seems to be slightly off-center.
And I find that disgusting! Many previous Thinkpads also had off-centered LCDs, but none of them looked as bad as this one.

Can't say that I like the looks either, but the thicker side probably contains the newly built-in antenna for the Verizon WAN which had previously hung outside of the display.

I order a T61 as a grad gift for my niece on the first day of its availability. I'll set it up & play with it for a while, so will provide feedback soon.
(She was accepted at Berkeley, BTW)

Totally off-topic: I hate Berkeley's campus with a passion.

If they are introducing new models soon (the one w/ the webcam) I will wait for that one, before ordering one to be one of the first adopters. But I will be getting one, definitely in time for a new school season.

ryengineer wrote:In my viewpoint, they have turned this business oriented T series completely into multimedia machine, unless ofcourse they surprise us with upcoming models.

I don't like what lenovo has done to these thinkpads. I think they could've made people more happy by keeping the design features of T60 and offering them with 15'' IPS LCD's.

Yes, I fully agree.
I really don't ´like the off-centred screen.

Is it me or is this a departure from what has traditionally been a tightly-designed, if a little boring, breed of laptops?

The T61 just looks plain cheap to me, like the former IBM design department has been told to design something that costs less to make. The off-center screen and pointless texturing, the un-contoured touchpad and case, and (worst of all) the battery sticking out the back. What's with that? We either get 2 hours battery life or have to put up with a protrouding lump on the back of the machine? Are there any other laptops out there that exepct user to put up with a normal sized battery that sticks out like that?

How depressing. I'm off to check out the new Fujitsus.

The T61 review seems to be a summary of what Matt Kahout has posted on his blog. I'd really like to hear a temperature/noise comparison with the T60. Comparing with the older, noiser, hotter T43 is not fair IMHO. I guess we will have to wait for someone on this forum who has a T60 to review it.

Archer6, will you be buying a T61 anytime soon?

I don't like this design in the slightest. This T60 better serve me long and well...

yeah, same with me.
Hope their next model will look more like a Thinkpad.

xtr wrote:I think the reason the headphone & mic-in are in the front is, what I think, that Lenovo is redirecting the T series to be consumer oriented (i.e. Multimedia laptop)

What about Z?

bin.dong wrote:

xtr wrote:I think the reason the headphone & mic-in are in the front is, what I think, that Lenovo is redirecting the T series to be consumer oriented (i.e. Multimedia laptop)

What about Z?

Z series will soon be discontinued.