Thinkpads Forum

GarryF wrote:

agarny wrote:God, *that* is very quick!! Ok, I might change my mind and decide to order sooner than later then!

Yeah, I didn't expect that, still normally stuff arrives next working day.

Lenovo dealer I use is www.eqc.co.uk

You lucky [censored]!!! Mine doesn't ship until the end of the month. Make sure to post your review as soon as you get it!

I got very excited after seeing the 8889-xxx T61p model numbers which feature the 14" 4:3 SXGA+ screen, since that's exactly the aspect ratio, resolution and size I want. Unfortunately, I didn't get very encouraging information from the representative I talked to.

I'm an IBM employee, so I called up the IBM EPP purchase number to see if they could give me a price on 8889-3EH. The lady said, "that's a private model. I can't even pull it up. What about this one can't you do on the CTO?" I said, "Well, it has a 14" non-widescreen display." She said very matter of factly, "the 14" non-widescreens will never be available through retail channels again. Those private models are probably for a company or government contract. I can't even see them and you definitely won't be able to order them."

So incredulously I was like, "let me get this straight, you make these models, but you won't sell them?" She said, "correct, we make them but not for sale to you." Gee, thanks. I guess terrible things would happen if they sold customers the models they wanted.

The European 8889-3DG and 8889-3FG models were not noted in the announcement letter as being special contract models. But I haven't seen the US letter.

(P.S. Are you in the US? Please add your location to your profile ...)

The US announcement letter is now publicly downloadable ... you can find it here:
http://www-306.ibm.com/common/ssi/fcgi- ... NUS107-351

That letter specifies the 14.1" screens for T61 and T61p, but only lists one system, a T61:

ThinkPad T61 888926U 8889-26U $1,829
(14.1-in TFT 1400 x 1050,
Bluetooth wireless technology,
Integrated Fingerprint Reader,
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7300,
Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset,
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M,
80 GB / 5400 rpm, CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Combo, 1 GB, Intel PRO/Wireless
WiFi 4965AGN (11n disabled),
Microsoft™ Windows Vista Business)

You can order the T61 from jcool's link on page 3 and get the higher end nvidia graphics card similar to a 14" T61p.

RaysMD wrote:You can order the T61 from jcool's link on page 3 and get the higher end nvidia graphics card similar to a 14" T61p.

But can that be ordered through the EPP or over the phone?

I've no idea where that link came from but I can't navigate to that page from the front door of the Lenovo site. I can't even find the 8889-26U listed on Lenovo's site even though it's in the tabook. Annoying cuz it's noW whetted my appetite for a T61!

tomh009 wrote:The European 8889-3DG and 8889-3FG models were not noted in the announcement letter as being special contract models. But I haven't seen the US letter.

(P.S. Are you in the US? Please add your location to your profile ...)

Well, I hope she was wrong. I also called the regular, government and educational sales departments and I've been getting contradictory information. The one consistent point was that none of them would be able to order that model (or any of the 14" SXGA+ T61p models) right now.

Any more word on availability of T61 4:3 models?

Jcool's link allows the FX570m configuration with 128mb only. I really want/need the 256mb version on a lower resolution screen (like most of us here).

Do you guys think that we can expect to see a non ultra resolution version with the full 256mb of ram?

bitvector wrote:Well, I hope she was wrong. I also called the regular, government and educational sales departments and I've been getting contradictory information. The one consistent point was that none of them would be able to order that model (or any of the 14" SXGA+ T61p models) right now.

So I called again today to see if I could get a price on an 14" SXGA+ T61 rather than a T61p. The person again told me he couldn't order that model and said that he'd actually inquired about the 14" SXGA+ screens being available. He said he was told that those would only be available for "LE" (Large Enterprise) purchasers going forward (and possibly "Educational" models for sale by campus stores). Bah.

Hmm. Is the 4:3 any different from the T60?

If they're so limited-edition and limited-availability, I have a hard time believing Lenovo would spend the resources to completely redesign an existing model, other than plug in the new chips and slap a new clearplate on the front.

RaysMD wrote:You can order the T61 from jcool's link on page 3 and get the higher end nvidia graphics card similar to a 14" T61p.

So I tried doing that and I went to the end and made a quote with that model. Even though the thing says it is a T61 during the CTO stage, when I actually finish and get the quote it ends up like this:

8889CTO CTO THINKPAD T60 3YSDW

It says it's a T60 on the quote once I configure it...

Of course, it also says it has Turbo Memory and the FX 570M... I wonder what will happen when I order it.

Kenn wrote:Hmm. Is the 4:3 any different from the T60?

If they're so limited-edition and limited-availability, I have a hard time believing Lenovo would spend the resources to completely redesign an existing model, other than plug in the new chips and slap a new clearplate on the front.

From photos I've seen the chassis of the T61 4:3 is similar to the T60. I've also read it does not include a firewire port. One can only hope it does include the improved cooling system/fan.

bitvector wrote:It says it's a T60 on the quote once I configure it...

Of course, it also says it has Turbo Memory and the FX 570M... I wonder what will happen when I order it.

According to a post on notebookreview that's a typo but I guess it's further proof that the model does share the same casing at the T60.

Interestingly if you configure a widecreen T61 with exactly the same components as the 4:3 T61 (all high-end) the widescreen model works out significantly cheaper. The inflated price and the lack of firewire made me hold off on pulling the trigger on teh 8889 model until later this week to see if there's any more news on non-widescreen models.

I called customer service a few days ago and they assured me the t6p non widescreen would debut by the end of this month

ilifepc wrote:Jcool's link allows the FX570m configuration with 128mb only. I really want/need the 256mb version on a lower resolution screen (like most of us here).

Do you guys think that we can expect to see a non ultra resolution version with the full 256mb of ram?

For me the resolution on T61p was an important selling point, especially since the WUXGA seems to have superior contrast compared to SXGA+. While I would have preferred to wait for a 14.1" SXGA+ with discrete graphics, I've already postponed purchasing way too long. Although, if it turns out that I have to wait too much and 14.1" T61p appears... Anyway, high resolution, that's what matters, especially in this class. Additional memory would be fine, but if it menas that much to someone, then a desktop or something much larger is called for.

BTW, Canadian site has now listed 256 MB models. At least that's how they are declared.

If T61p 4:3 will share the same base as t60, then I will take that motherboard and put it into my 15" T60p

Plus 4GB ram and plus faster CPU, for a time being

Well, I finally got the salespeople to acknowledge the existence of 4:3 T41s for sale to regular customers. I was able to get a quote on the 8889-26U and the 8889-24U. Both models are okay, but they don't have the processor, wireless or hard drive I want. So after they quoted me those models I said, "I wanted a different processor so could you do a CTO?" They all said "no, we don't do CTOs with the 14" 4:3 screen" and I just wanted to yell "LIAR!" at them.

But I held my tongue and configured one the way I wanted it using that odd link that has been going around. I decided against the FX 570m video because I'd rather have more battery life and I prefer the 6 cell battery. With my EPP discount and the JULYT22 code, the price ended up being acceptable to me, so I went ahead and ordered it. So I guess we'll see how this works out.

bitvector wrote:But I held my tongue and configured one the way I wanted it using that odd link that has been going around. I decided against the FX 570m video because I'd rather have more battery life and I prefer the 6 cell battery. With my EPP discount and the JULYT22 code, the price ended up being acceptable to me, so I went ahead and ordered it. So I guess we'll see how this works out.

I just did the same to take advantage of the 10% coupon (stacked on EPP). I wanted the Atheros n card but that generated a ship date of late September so I stuck with the Intel 4695.

The only bummer was the EPP price of the dock went up 25% in the last week. I held off on ordering that in the hope it might come back down again.

The whole shebang still works out a few hundred bucks more than a similarly configured 14" widescreen but, like you said, the price was acceptable and still less than the EPP price I paid for my T43 a couple of years ago.

PM me if you have any issues and I'll do the same.

so anyone tried to order this http://tinyurl.com/34wuto t61 41.1 SXGA+ with Quadro FX 570M 128mb?

Somehow, I've gotten a T61p with the nvidia 140m card and a WSXGA+ screen. It identifies itself as a T61p, but the specs sure show otherwise!

where did you get it?

haha, I'll keep the screen but replace the GPU

bitvector wrote: So incredulously I was like, "let me get this straight, you make these models, but you won't sell them?" She said, "correct, we make them but not for sale to you." Gee, thanks. I guess terrible things would happen if they sold customers the models they wanted.

Great business practices eh? That's like not accepting free money. There's obviously at least a small demand from the public for these models so just produce a few more of them, if you're already doing them for contracts you might as well make a few more and have the manufacturing price benefits associated with it.

Does anyone have a 14" 4:3 t61(p) yet?

According to tabook.pdf, the T61p models with the nVidia Quadro 570M has 256mb and Turbocache. Does this mean 256mb onboard memory + 256mb shared for Turbocache? Or does this mean 128mb onboard memory + 128mb shared for Turbocache?

Also, just out of curiosity, are there ways to turn Turbocache off?


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Duo Secundus wrote:According to tabook.pdf, the T61p models with the nVidia Quadro 570M has 256mb and Turbocache. Does this mean 256mb onboard memory + 256mb shared for Turbocache? Or does this mean 128mb onboard memory + 128mb shared for Turbocache?

Also, just out of curiosity, are there ways to turn Turbocache off?


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It's 256MB dedicated + 256MB shared