T61 or T61p or R61??? HELP!!!

[Whiskeyfox]

Hey guys,

I'm new to these forums because I'm looking to buy a new thinkpad from Lenovo's Outlet store... There are three basic units that I've focused my search on and need help deciding which to buy... Here they are in order of where I think I might go first:

1: T-61 ($670)

Processor
Intel® Core™2 Duo T8300 (2.40 GHz, 3MB L2, 800 MHz FSB)

Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Business 32

Screen
14.1" WXGA+ (1440 X 900) TFT

Memory
2GB (2 X 1GB) PC2-5300 CL5 NP DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz UDIMM Memory

Hard Drive
100GB, 7200RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Drive

Optical Storage
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer Ultrabay Slim

Wireless
Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG (supporting Centrino Pro)

Warranty
1 Year

Battery
9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6.0 Hour Run Time)

Features
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)

Bluetooth
Bluetooth

Video Card
nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M

2: R61 ($490)

Processor
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7100 (1.80GHz, 2MB L2, 800MHz FSB)

Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Business 32

Screen
15.4" WXGA (1280 X 800) TFT

Memory
1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory

Hard Drive
100GB, 7200RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Drive

Optical Storage
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer

Wireless
Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG (supporting Centrino Pro)

Warranty
1 Year

Battery
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6.5 Hour Run Time)

Features
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)

Bluetooth
No

Video Card
nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, PC Card/ PCIe

3: T61 ($690)
Processor
Intel® Core™2 Duo T8300 (2.40 GHz, 3MB L2, 800 MHz FSB)

Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Business 32

Screen
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 X 1050) TFT

Memory
2GB (2 X 1GB) PC2-5300 CL5 NP DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz UDIMM Memory

Hard Drive
100GB, 7200RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Drive

Optical Storage
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer Ultrabay Slim

Wireless
Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (11n disabled)

Warranty
1 Year

Battery
9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6.0 Hour Run Time)

Features
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)

Bluetooth
Bluetooth

Video Card
NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M (256MB Open GL)

I think #3 is a T61P, although I'm not sure, and support won't give me a solid answer over the phone... I've read some things about the 8 series Nvidia cards on these forums that gives me a little pause, but I need a discrete card to play games like WoW with some fluidity. I'm definitely wanting the 7200rpm HD, but that and memory really doesn't matter too much because I can change that myself... I don't want the fingerprint reader for sure. Do any of these laptops have a mic installed or is that only with units that have the web cam? I looked at 14" vs 15" laptops in the store and there doesn't seem to be much difference; however, I have a great desktop already and just wanted something portable for on the go computing, so I'm leaning more in the direction of 14". Are there any bits of advice you guys could give me to help with my decision? I'd really appreciate it.

Thank You,
Whiskeyfox

[ZaZ]

Video Card
nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M

I'd stay away from that. There's a good chance at some point it will fail and if you're not under warranty, you're hosed. They're discounting them because they're ticking time bombs. Even if you're under warranty, it's a PITA to send it in. I've seen T400s and T500s with the ATI card go in the $700 range in the Outlet, less if you go with the Intel card. It's money better spent if you ask me.

[Whiskeyfox]

What about option 3#? Is that a thinkpad T61p? What's the timebomb status on the NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M video option? According to this site: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Qua ... 938.0.html the FX 570M is a better card than the Ati 3470...

I was originally gonna get the T400, however I saw a youtube video that really dissuaded me based on build quality - the flexing wrist pads and unglued monitor frame... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8sOO-8LP4E that's the link to the video review... now, notebook review says they reinforced the area under the keyboard... what do you think of the video? I just don't know... I could get a T61 with integrated video, or is the X3100 really bad?

WF

[ZaZ]

I believe the 140m is based on the 8400 card while the 570m card is based on the 8600GT. Both are effected by the nVidia GPU issue. If you're not gaming or the like, the Intel card is fine. It offers better battery life and less heat, which is what causes the cards to fail. There's no fix for the boards like the T4x machines, except replace the board with another board with a faulty GPU.

[Whiskeyfox]

you get a chance to watch that T400 review?

[ZaZ]

I think this is the reality of buying a notebook these days. The X21 the reviewer pointed to as the "Good Old Days" of ThinkPads probably cost at least three times what you're going to pay for a T400 in the Outlet. The reviewer seems to want to have it all. The Dell E6400 is competitive with the T400 for everyday stuff. You can get some good deals in the Dell Outlet when Dell is floating the 20% off coupon, which they seem to be doing a lot these days. It does suck to search in the Dell Outlet, but Dell also has a much better return policy than Lenovo should things not work out.

[ArtShapiro]

Well, I'm no fan of widescreens, to put it mildly. That aside, at least the third one has 1050 pixels in the vertical dimension, which is a lot better than the other two and makes the machine usable.

The 15" widescreen T61 is a heavy monster, but the resolution issue is the big deal in my estimation.

Art

[sktn77a]

I wouldn't worry too much about the NV140 series video chipset in the T61. While there are some reports of failures, they don't appear to widespread and the link to the reported issue published by nVidia is tenuous at best. The problem with the NV570M in the T61p is a Lenovo (motherboard) issue, not an nVidia chipset issue. The fix is to swap out the motherboard under warranty. Motherboards manufactured after May 2008 were modified to fix this problem. While some people report still having problems (crashes in 3D applications including games), it's not clear that this is the same problem.

I agree with Fred, the 61 series is 2 year old technology. You can get better, cheaper today.

[Whiskeyfox]

Hey again, thanks for all the replies thus far...

Well, I went back to look at the T400 again, and I can't get it lower than $790 for the bare minimum for what I want... or $695 with no discrete video... Today the outlet prices went down, and Option 1 from above is now $598! that's $200 difference, and to me a lot of money. Sktn77a is now saying that the NV140 isn't so bad... Even at $600 and two year old technology, the older T61 with the specs as stated above is a 1000 fold better than any $500 laptop you could buy brand new at Tigerdirect or Bestbuy... The whole point of going with the Thinkpad is the durability. Now that the price has dropped on option #1, it's going to be even harder to convice me to go with T400... but still wondering if a T400 with no discrete video is better that T61 with NV140...?

[ajkula66]

T400 with integrated video is definitely safer than any T61/p with nVidia...