Thinkpads Forum

I am looking at buying a new Thinkpad T61. I currently have a T23 that I really like which is what turned me on to Thinkpads to begin with.

I'm thinking about configuring the system with the smallest amount of RAM because I can get RAM upgrades for a lot less than what it would cost to buy the laptop with the RAM upgrade already installed. If I get it with 1GB on 1 DIMM, it costs less to buy an additional 1GB from Newegg than it would cost to have Lenovo put it in.

The other thing is the HDD. If I buy it with the 80GB HDD, is there any issues with me immediately replacing it with a 160GB or larger drive? It costs about $80 to upgrade from a 80GB to a 160GB 5400RPM and a 160GB 5400 RPM drive costs about $80 from Newegg. Then I can sell the 80GB or use it as a USB or in the Ultrabay.

I've seen some auctions on eBay where people have BIOS errors on their T4x because the HDDs were replaced with non-OEM drives. I'm on my 3rd HDD on my T23 and I've never had that issue before. The laptop orignally came with a 30GB when I bought it from eBay in 2004. I replaced it with a 60GB because the 30GB was too small. That 60GB just died about 2 weeks ago and I replaced it with a 120GB.

I know that Thinkpads are targetted more towards business users, is that why there are only nVidia Quadro and Intel graphics available for the T61? I know that some T4x have ATI Radeons.

Seems like a good plan all around. I did the same thing and purchased a single DIMM 1GB RAM configuration then dropped in another 1GB DIMM that I purchased elsewhere.

Never seen a big issue with people putting different HDs in T61s, I would not be too worried about that.

You can get a T61 with the Intel card if you want, just depends on the configuration you start with. For straight business use, the Intel is going to be the better option since it uses less power.

No HD bios issues to worry about with the T6x series. The only thing you have to worry about is cloning the original hard drive over to the new hard drive of your choice. There are lots of threads here about what you will need and exactly how to do that, but it is pretty easy. However, you might want to order the Lenovo ultrabay slim serial hard drive adapter along with your new computer (I think you save on shipping if buy together) so you can put your new (and old) hard drive in the ultrabay for cloning and general use as a second hard drive. Very convenient accessory, imo.

1. To future protect yourself get an a/b/g/n WiFi card. I have the Intel 4965 and that works really well for me and I've read is a big improvement over the Intel a/b/g card.
2. Unless you have a compelling reason (e.g. graphics intensive games, CAD) go with the integrated and not discrete graphics processing unit. Not only will you save money, but you'll have a much longer battery life. The integrated graphics even works well enough with photoshop type of applications.
3. For a hard disk, I'd get this 320 GB hard drive for about $170 which comes with an enclosure which you'll need for cloning anyway. Then you can use the enclosure with the 80 GB drive that comes with the laptop and use it as a backup drive (besides the enclosure is pretty and since it is black matches a Thinkpad).
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-3 ... B0010TZR44
You can use Acronis True Image 11 (which as a 14 day demo version for download) to do the cloning.

Instead of the 'T' series I suggest that people get the 'X61' which is smaller and lighter and has much better battery life unless you need a very large screen for some reason. I then use an external USB 2.0 DVD drive which costs less than $100.

That external drive looks nice and portable, but is it 7200 rpm? I didn't see that mentioned in the Amazon specs, so probably not. Anyway, if not 7200 rpm, I wouldn't be satisfied with it in my primary hard drive bay. Also, I've had such great reliability and performance with the 7kx00 travelstar series from Hitachi over the years, that I personally would hesitate to go with anything else in the 7200 rpm 2.5" category for the primary drive bay. But that package looks very nice for light use as an external drive or for backup purposes.

Also to be noted: One would not need an external USB enclosure for cloning purposes if one gets the ultrabay slim serial hard drive adapter. (Doesn't apply to the X series which has no built in ultrabay.)

T61 has a large screen? 14.1" is ok, but I don't consider it large since there are behemoth 17" laptops. The trackpoint and full size keyboard are two selling points for me. I tried an Averatec 12" model once and I couldn't stand the tiny keyboard at all.

All ThinkPads have full sized keyboards, even the 12" X models. That is to say all the letter keys are full sized, but on the X models some keys like tab, shift and enter are a tiny bit smaller. Key spacing is otherwise 100% normal.

Lenovo now has the IdeaPad 17" model, but it's new and unproven and it's not a ThinkPad.

In increasing screen area, you can get 14.1" widescreen (89.3 sq.in.), 14.1" non-wide (95.4) or 15.4" wide (106.6) on a T61. Or you could probably find a T60 with a 15.1" non-wide (109.4) 1600x1200 flexview if you prefer.

If you aren't going to use the 80gig drive, I suggest you just keep it in safe storage with everything in tact. If you ever have to get it serviced, you can just put the old drive back in. I've been messing with the RR stuff and the hidden partition and it can be a chore to work with.

I used to have a 15" A31p and then later a 14" T42 but for the last couple of years I've had X41Tablet, X60s, X60, X61s and the X series are by far the best to use unless you absolutely need a larger screen (e.g. games, CAD, maybe some programming although I do programming on the X61s just fine).

If you can see an 'X' from someone else, take a look...you'll never look back.

I just find anything less than the non-wide 14.1 too small for comfortable long session multi app use and anything bigger too big to lug around. For me the non wide 14.1 is the perfect compromise between screen size and portability. (Wish I could have gotten the 256 MB nVidia adapter on the non wide 14.1 though. Would have helped for gaming.)