First impressions of T61

[brrmax]

Please see my sig for details about my T61. This is my first Thinkpad. I have been using it for 4 days now. I have had no problems.

It is very solid - no flex in keyboard (ALPS), keys have a great feel, love the trackpoint. Definitely is quiet and cool. The only area that may get warm is the right palm rest when the HD is being hit hard.

OK, to be honest, I was starting to think you ThinkPadders are a little crazy, especially regarding your critiques as new models come out. I was using the forum for awhile prior to purchasing the T61. No offense to anyone, but I can't understand why you would think this is not a top quality machine. I guess you guys have known how good the Thinkpad has been and have high expectations.

I must admit that I am disappointed in the screen (LG 220 nits). Horizontal angles are not good for DVDs, pretty much have to be looking straight on, OK for text though. The vertical angles are the worst, it doesn't take much movement of the tilt to cause the display to really wash out. Definite light leakage at the bottom, especially noticeable on a black background. In normal Windows usage the leakage is not noticeable.

Vista is definitely different, but it runs fine with this config (3.4 performance score because on the integrated graphics). Consistently uses about 1GB of memory with over 90 processes active. I have done some cleanup, but need to do more. I turned off user access control (UAC) as it is just weird. Wouldn't let me delete folders that I created. Wouldn't let me copy from my XP Pro desktop's share directory, even though it would show the files fine, the access denied error was for a folder on the Thinkpad that I was the owner of. Strange stuff. Tried all kinds of things based on what others were saying on the net. Finally turned it off.

I am using Kaspersky A/V and that is the biggest drain on the system. Hits the HD hard on startup - I am still adjusting its settings.

Haven't had time to play with the camera or configure Vista to use the the turbo memory. I will report back on the battery performance as I learn more.

Overall I feel this is a very well built machine with a mediocre screen. I am a software developer and will be using an external LCD when at home, so that will minimize this somewhat. Performance is great when using my IDE, compiling, running applications, etc.

[ryengineer]

OK, to be honest, I was starting to think you ThinkPadders are a little crazy, especially regarding your critiques as new models come out. I was using the forum for awhile prior to purchasing the T61. No offense to anyone, but I can't understand why you would think this is not a top quality machine. I guess you guys have known how good the Thinkpad has been and have high expectations.

Answer: I must admit that I am disappointed in the screen (LG 220 nits). Horizontal angles are not good for DVDs, pretty much have to be looking straight on, OK for text though. The vertical angles are the worst, it doesn't take much movement of the tilt to cause the display to really wash out. Definite light leakage at the bottom, especially noticeable on a black background. In normal Windows usage the leakage is not noticeable.

Although T61 is more rigid and better in some aspects compared to T60 but without a good screen (IPS) it's incomplete. Not to mention T60 owners think T61 has got a little chubby as well.

[onree]

When you say there is no flex, does that literally mean NO FLEX? I have a similarly configured machine (but with discrete graphics). I've noticed that the keyboard does in fact flex a bit if you push on it, particularly in the middle and the upper left corner. For example, if you push on a key in the upper left, the function keys wiggle too. Is that normal?

Agreed on the screen -- it's one of the things that bugs me about the Dell D600 I use for work, and is not significantly improved here. Also, for those who use the touchpad buttons -- I find the squeakiness of the buttons to be very annoying. I wonder if anyone else has noticed that, or if it's just me or my machine?