Thinkpads Forum

Are the Lenova laptops available now equal in quality/performance to the IBM's of yesteryear? Am thinking of getting a new laptop as my son is off to college next year and plans on bringing my G41 with him. Are the Duo core processors in the newer T models 64 bit or only 32 bit? Am considering a T60 with the ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250 256MB graphics, is this a good choice or are the excelerator cards about as good? Anyone have experience they can share.

While performance has unquestionably improved every year, quality is always more difficult to gauge. However, I believe that most people on these forums would agree that quality has not dropped since the Lenovo acquisition, and ThinkPads are still some of the best-built notebooks around.

The Core 2 Duo processors are 64-bit; the older Core Duo is 32-bit.

As for graphics, it all depends on what your son wants to do. For heavy gaming, the Nvidia graphics in the new T61 models are likely the fastest, but if he is not into games, even the integrated graphics provide excellent performance for most non-game applications -- and they also run cooler and have substantially longer battery life.

Lenovo has had some substantial shipping delays on new systems. Unfortunately it is hard to know when placing an order, when that order will be filled. Lenovo seems to be working at getting the systems delivered in a more timely manner, but if you need the laptop by a certain date, I suggest you order from a reseller that has the model you are interested in - in stock. A couple of good choices that carry a large inventory and a variety of models are www.costcentral.com and www.euclidcomputers.com . Oh, and you might consider the Laptop guy featured at the top of the page as well.

Even though this is unrelated to the original question, I'd suggest getting a college-bound student a new laptop from the start that he can use to sail through most of college.

A number of colleges offer incredible deals on thinkpads to a registered student. Typically a very limited choice (2 or 3) but the prices are better than employee prices. Usually there is a high end system offered like the one you're after, for a low end price. Check it out with your college bookstore or campus

winslow is not shopping for a laptop for his son, he's already giving him his current one so I don't think he's shopping for a 2nd laptop for his son. He wants a replacement for himself. At least that's what I gathered from reading the original post.

yes the new laptop will be for me. I have another son that will be headed to college in three years and will most likely be bringing the one I purchase now with him. I need to get the best I can now so it will be sufficient for him in three years. Although all they really need for college is a basic computer for spreadsheet and word proccessing I like to get something that will run games. He will be going to college in the napa valley area away from city life. Since a laptop is limited in ungradability I want to get the best I cxan in regards to graphics card and proccessor. Memory, and hard drive can easily be upgraded. Do all the newer systems utilize shared grahics memory, it is hard to discern?

I'd definitely go with the T61 with the nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M GPU, that should last you the longest from what's currently available. Doesn't sound like you or your younger son will need a CAD GPU, so skip the T61p unless you have money and time to blow. I'd go with the lowest memory config, say 512MB (then upgrade for 1/5 the price elsewhere, at least a T7300 CPU, and HDD also isn't a biggy since you can upgrade it too downt he road.

Personally, I don't like waiting or widescreens, so the T60p 15" was my best option.

Still, your son going to college this fall can buy a top end lthinkpad at college this summer and you use it now, then hand it down to your other son later.

The education offer is the best value of all. Hundreds less than our best EPP sale. We only allow one purchase per registered student however on this program.

Snap wrote:I'd definitely go with the T61 with the nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M GPU, that should last you the longest from what's currently available. Doesn't sound like you or your younger son will need a CAD GPU, so skip the T61p unless you have money and time to blow. I'd go with the lowest memory config, say 512MB (then upgrade for 1/5 the price elsewhere, at least a T7300 CPU, and HDD also isn't a biggy since you can upgrade it too downt he road.

Personally, I don't like waiting or widescreens, so the T60p 15" was my best option.

The NVIDIA Quadro will outperform the ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250? Or is it just a more affordable setup?