Thinkpads Forum

I'm looking to replace my wife's old T30, but she's not enamored of the new widescreen displays like the T400 has. I've seen T61 14.1" WXGA+ (1440 X 900) TFT units for sale and they look like an updated version of her current notebook. I have an X61s and would like to stay with Lenovo.
I was wondering what people thought of these quality-wise as she obviously holds on to computers for a loooong time. The T30 has been pretty trouble-free as has my X61s.
Thanks

Your wife doesn't like widescreen, and you are considering a widescreen WXGA+ T61? Where's the logic?

If you want only a standard screen notebook, the most modern one you can get is an 14" non-wide (SXGA+) T61. But you are very unlikely to find one new out-of-the-box anymore.

Actually that was my messup....I was mis-reading the description and thought it was the standard screen. Thanks for pointing that out..

Yes, it's very difficult to find a 4:3 screen anymore. Post your location in your profile and maybe we can help you more.

Done. I'm going to take her somewhere and let her play with a widescreen. It would certainly give her more options.

I'm not aware of many (any?) new 4:3 screen notebooks right now but you can pick up some very lightly used T60/T61 on eBay or Craigslist. Just be careful not to pay too much!

I'm going to do my best to get her interested in a T400. My only concern is that there have been a few negative reviews about the keyboard, one of the things she really likes about her T30. I'm going to try and find one for her to try out.

lenovo has introduced an "improved" support for the keyboard on T400.

You may refer to the URL below, maybe this could be the solution you are looking for.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4946

I am sure that some resellers still must have some T61 withs 14.1" SXGA+ LCD. I myself bought one about 4 months ago.

Eudoxus wrote:I am sure that some resellers still must have some T61 withs 14.1" SXGA+ LCD. I myself bought one about 4 months ago.

There is a business based in NYC that are selling brand new sealed in the box T61s sxga on eBay for about $700 best offer. I contacted him about buying one but he quickly sold out of the two he had. He got more in last week, but i had already bought my T60 which was also brand new and also on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T61 ... 7C294%3A50

Delmarco wrote:There is a business based in NYC that are selling brand new sealed in the box T61s sxga on eBay for about $700 best offer.

Have you got any experience with this seller? I am looking for T61 with SXGA+ screen and cannot find any brand new, and also looking for some X61/s. Could anyone recommend where to buy them, ideally brand new for reasonable price? I am looking for some trustworthy seller which would send to Czech republic:) thanks

berraneck wrote: Have you got any experience with this seller? I am looking for T61 with SXGA+ screen and cannot find any brand new, and also looking for some X61/s. Could anyone recommend where to buy them, ideally brand new for reasonable price? I am looking for some trustworthy seller which would send to Czech republic:) thanks

This guy was friendly and knowledgable when I spoke with him. The only thing he was trying to overcharge me for the T61 @$770 but I talked him down.
He has 100% ebay feedback. His eBay handle is "edwillupgrade". Search for him and PM there.
He gets more T61 sxga every week.

I still prefer the T60 or T60p sxga over the T61's sxga off centered screen and awkward USB port placement. The T61 only advantage is core2duo and most likely video ram chip.
Other than that it is the same machine.

Delmarco wrote:

The T61 only advantage is core2duo and most likely video ram chip.

Video chip is actually a disadvantage given the fact that they're failing left, right and in the middle...make sure that any T61/p with discrete GPU that you purchase has a ton of warranty remaining...

Delmarco wrote:The T61 only advantage is core2duo and most likely video ram chip.
Other than that it is the same machine.

Well, T60 also has some Core 2 Duo models. But the T61 Core 2 Duos go higher (up to 2.83GHz, whereas T60 is stuck at 2.33GHz).

Given what George had mentioned regarding the GPU (which is is a problem of all the nVidia 8-series GPU chips), I'd say that the key advantage of a T61 over a T60 is the ability to address more than 3GB of physical RAM, for those who require it.

If you're going to consider used, don't forget the R60, which has a standard screen as well. My 14" R60 has been a great notebook. It runs cool and quiet. It has a great keyboard. It's probably not quite as bulletproof as the T, but if you're not moving it much, that's not as much of a concern. Mine looks almost new, though it's more of an around the house machine than a road warrior.

FredGarvin wrote:It's probably not quite as bulletproof as the T

Probably more bulletproof than the T, actually.

dr_st wrote:Probably more bulletproof than the T, actually.

Really? The new T's like the T400 you mean?

The R60 lacks the the mag-alloy lid of the T60, which makes it a little less bulletproof if it being tossed around some. The rest of it is as good as the T if not a little better. My R60 feels more solid than either of my T4x machines after three years of use.

Delmarco wrote:Really? The new T's like the T400 you mean?

No, I mean all T's really. Just the thickness does it. The R50e of my neighbor always felt more solid to me than my T42. Maybe it's just the feeling though.

FredGarvin wrote:The R60 lacks the the mag-alloy lid of the T60, which makes it a little less bulletproof if it being tossed around some.

Only the 14" T60 has magnesium in the top cover. The 15" models only have CFRP... And my personal experience was that the extra thickness of the lid on the 15" does more than the magnesium can ever do on the 14" to protect the LCD from pressure (maybe not from bullets though, haha).

As far as I am concerned, I got impression that T61 14.1" fells more solid than R61 15.4". I rely on my experiences as I changed my system from R61 to T61 recently. T61 seems to have better keyboard and more solid overall build. In contrast R61 seemed to me a bit fragile whan I handled it.
Many use to complain that in contrast to T61 have no magneisum lid. However, I have checked some T60 14.1" and I must tell you that the lid of T61 with rollcage is more solid than the magnesium lid of the previous model.
In fact, I do no know about any real advantage of T60 14.1" over T61 14.1".

Eudoxus wrote:In fact, I do no know about any real advantage of T60 14.1" over T61 14.1".

Looks and 4:3 screen, but mostly, that's it.

I have a T61 and have been very happy with it. One issue I did have was there was a problem with the hinges, other than that it's fine. I bought my son an R60 and that has had no problems. 15" is better on a wide screen. Gives you more vertical space.

[/quote]Looks and 4:3 screen, but mostly, that's it. [/quote]

One the other hand, there are T61 14.1" with 4:3 screen, so the looks is what is left.

Eudoxus wrote:One the other hand, there are T61 14.1" with 4:3 screen, so the looks is what is left.

Indeed you are right, they slipped my mind. Probably because it was too late in the night when I was writing... Also, the fact that 4:3 14" T61s were quite rare and discontinued early in the life cycle of the model, so they are harder to come by than a wide T61 or a standard T60.

But you're right, they do exist, and if you put a 14.1" SXGA+ T60 and T61 side by side, the T61 has quite a few advantages, and even the looks are not so bad compared to a wide T61 (IMO). The only problematic point is the high failure rate nVidia GPUs on the T61/p (no problem with the integrated Intel GPU models).

sktn77a wrote:I'm not aware of many (any?) new 4:3 screen notebooks right now but you can pick up some very lightly used T60/T61 on eBay or Craigslist. Just be careful not to pay too much!

Exactly. Dont pay over 700 with the nVidia card. Thats what I spent off a guy here, still like new

I am considering T61 because it takes Penryn with 800fsb, which might take less power for same performance as Merom. Now I have T2300 in my laptop and still is enough, but maybe I´ll need something faster in future-and I hate widescreen models. I´ve heard it is also possible just to switch motherboard in T60 chassis with T61 motherboard-is it possible? And how much it may cost? I think if I switch T2300 to T8300 there might be around 30% of speed increase, right?

berraneck wrote: I´ve heard it is also possible just to switch motherboard in T60 chassis with T61 motherboard-is it possible? And how much it may cost?

From what I've read here, the only T61 motherboard that fits in T60 chassis is the model for 14" 4:3 T61 laptop. IMO, it is not worth doing the upgrade unless you want to keep a nice T60/p with 15" flexview SXGA+/UXGA screen. If you think T60 is slow, simply get a new T61 or even T400.

berraneck wrote:I think if I switch T2300 to T8300 there might be around 30% of speed increase, right?

T8300 is a C2D running at 2.4GHz. It should be much faster (>30%) than CD T2300 at 1.66Ghz, not only because of the benefit from higher core speed, but also the 2nd generation of C2D architecture.

Thanks. Reason for switching just mainboard is to keep SXGA+ display, i like it more than widescreen models. You are true with T8300, just difference between Merom and Yonah on same frequency is about 5-10%, so with Penryn it should be even more. But what about power consumption? maxTDP/lowTDP is 31W/13W for T2300 and 35W/??W for T8300.. so penryn looks worse, but how in normal operation?

This thread is amazing! I'm the person who purchased the T61 whose e-bay link is given in Delmarco's message of Sun May 10, 2009. Its a great machine - brand new with a very nice 1400x1050 display. Shipping from the seller was fast so I'm quite happy to recommend them. The only thing wrong with the machine was that instead of coming with Windows XP as advertised, it came with windows Vista home basic, and the COA says it should have Windows Vista business(!!). Since I use linux 99% of the time I could care less about with Windows OS it had,and linux was very easy to install. The screen is nice and bright - equivalent to those of Dell Latitude 600s that I've used in the past. I want a high-resolution display since I have to read lots of documents. Frankly I don't understand why so-called business-class machines like those sold by lenovo now seem to mostly come in so-called wide-screen format, which IMHO are mode for consumer laptops that will be used to watch dvds/movies etc.I travel quite a bit and wanted a machine with just a 14.1 in display so I'm not dragging a giant brick around with me on airplanes etc.

Anyway T61s with SXGA 1400x1040 displays can be purchased, but you have to keep an eagle eye on places like ebay. It took me about a month to spot the machine I purchased.

Yes, Indeed ebay is the way to go to find a nice SXGA+ machine, I bought mine there last September. Some issues with the build quality but this was the last 4:3 Thinkpad I could ever aspire so I'm proud I made the choice to replace my T42p just in time those units become a rarity as of today. I would go nuts if this machine happens something to it, I love very much the form factor not that much the keyboard (ALPS), I need to get a NMB, this thing is loud.