Thinkpads Forum

Can you guys fill me in on the pros and cons of the particular model I have. Any recommended upgrades that won't void warranty (have a tad left)? The only issue I have noticed is that it locks up when the battery is low and/or it won't boot even if you plug it in via AC. When battery is charged up it works just find. What's up with that?

System specifics- Processor X86 Family 6 Model 14 Stepping 8
Memory 2 gig
Bios 2.19 (79ETD9WW)
Type/Model 2623DDU
T2500 @ 2.00GHz
997 MHz 2.00 GB Ram
HTS721010G9SA00 Hard Drive
ATI FireGL V5200 Graphics
Biometric Coprocessor
etc etc etc

It would be actually easier if your provide the model number.

Now, you can upgrade RAM (doesn´t void your warranty unless you break something). If the 2 GBs are one module, then you have one free slot for another GB of memory (due to the chipset, this machine cannot utilize more than 3 GB of system memory even with 4 GB installed and regardless of OS). You can also upgrade the HD to a bigger/faster one (again, no voiding the warranty). BTW, the RAM clock is not correct, it is 667 MHz, not 997 MHz.

Regarding BIOS, the latest version is 2.26. So, you may want to update the BIOS (actually, I would firstly check out the changelog and if I don´t find anything of interest, I wouldn´t bother with BIOS upgrade as there is always a chance that something goes wrong). A BIOS update may resolve the lock-up issue though (again, check out the changelog).

Also, the FireGL card is quite a hottie

The cpu is not x64-capable.


Cheers,

Marin

Type/Model 2623DDU is what the system config shows, is this not what you meant?3

Also, this is a 100 Gig drive, what speed is it though?

toddreg wrote:Type/Model 2623DDU is what the system config shows, is this not what you meant?3

Also, this is a 100 Gig drive, what speed is it though?

Sorry, I must have overseen the type/model Now, I can tell you that this machine has gorgeous UXGA FlexView screen You can always benchmark it using HDTach or HD Tune. It´s definitely not slow, but the newer HDs like Seagate 7200.3 or 7200.4 or Hitachi 7K200, 7K320 or the corresponding WD models have higher read/write speeds. In our forum you can find some benchmark result of almost everyone of these models.

Cheers,

Marin

toddreg wrote:<snip> Type/Model 2623DDU is what the system config. Also, this is a 100 Gig drive, what speed is it though? <snip>

You have purchased yourself one of the best thinkpads ever, in my opinion. I have one and it's fantastic. Your hard drive is a Hitachi 7200rpm. As far as the battery is concerned I would highly suggest that you buy a new original equipment battery from Lenovo. Aftermarket / 3rd party batteries are a waste of money as they do no last as long and you risk having a problem which can ruin your laptop. Just go to \: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... 0FEC01C087

About the only suggestion I have for you since ram is so cheap presently is to add 1GB to bring it to a total of 3GB, and this is only if you run many applications at once or are looking for the fastest speed when browsing with Firefox which uses up memory depending on how many tabs you have open. Other than that I would say just enjoy it.

Cheers...

toddreg wrote:....warranty (have a tad left)

You may consider extending your warranty for another two years; this will cost around $150. To find out how/where search this forum for 41C9180 or see e.g. the links pointed to in this post.

Johan

You'll notice the exact same machine in my signature...this is my third of that particular type and I love it. As long as the LCD is blemish-free, you're in heaven.

Mine has been upgraded to Seagate 320GB/7200 and 4GB RAM, along with Atheros wireless card. Currently running Win 7 and loving it-dual booting with Linux Mint 6.

These are easily upgradeable to Core 2 Duo CPUs, but I honestly don't feel the need to do that yet. Maybe when the prices of T7600 go down a bit more...

Take your time to get to know your new friend and enjoy...

Speed wise where does this model fall in the ranking of all T60p models out there?

Have the same model for almost two years now, and it's still perfect for everything. I've upgraded memory to 4GB, CPU to 2.33GHz Core2Duo and Wireless to Atheros-N. So you have some room for imporvement if you really need it.

toddreg wrote:Speed wise where does this model fall in the ranking of all T60p models out there?

Apart from the easily upgradeable components (without voiding the warranty), there are models with slightly faster cpus (T7200, T7400, T7600 are slightly faster cpus than T2500) and slightly faster graphics (ATI FireGL 5250 slightly faster than ATI FireGL 5200). There are also different configurations, so a general ranking can be hardly made.

Cheers,

Marin