First Thinkpad for a programmer

[ciocio]

First, a BIG THANK YOU to all of you for introducing me to the legacy of the T60s. Last month my Asus died on me and I've been since looking for a solid and efficient replacement.

With all the info I was able to take a few notes on specs I would like to have on my T60:

• UXGA IPS Flexview
• Integrated Graphics
• Core 2 Duo

Other upgrades I'll consider after the purchase are:

• 64GB SSD
• 4GB RAM total (to take advantage of the dual channel)

Now, I code a lot and would love some advice before I proceed with a purchase. I'm looking at a 1951/1952 family T60 with a T7200 CPU and integrated graphics but a 15" XGA screen--apparently there were no SXGA+ T60 with integrated graphics directly from Lenovo. So my questions are:

• Is the Intel 950 sufficient to run programs like Photoshop or VMware?
• Can a UXGA IPS Flexview be used on a T60 with integrated graphics? (This question has been asked years ago, and I hope there's an answer by now) I *think* if I replace the inverter as well I should be fine.
• I'm hoping to use this machine for a few years, said that, there shouldn't be a problem if I want to swap a 14" T61 motherboard into this 15" T60 (not the usual T60p) case, right?
• Are there any reconsideration (apart from what it has been stated in other threads) if you were to buy another T60?

Thank you!!!

[ssd_thinkpad]

I run a T60 with integrated 950 gma on both a SXGA+ and UXGA flexview panel. Works out of the box.

There are stories about users installing a T61 board in a T60 thinkpad, it works, you can not use pcmcia and modem and it not every screw fits, but other than that it's fine.

[ciocio]

I run a T60 with integrated 950 gma on both a SXGA+ and UXGA flexview panel. Works out of the box.

WhOhOh!! Awesome, thanks for the confirmation!

[ssd_thinkpad]

Regarding the gma chip. I have a 1,8 GHZ T2400 intel core duo cpu on Windows 7. A year ago I could not see high definition videos. With the current VLC program I can see high definition videos. Don't expect too much from the 950 gma.

[ciocio]

So I guess it's safe to assume that VMware will lag a bit... Uhm...

[ssd_thinkpad]

With the advanced (non-mini) dock you can add a mini pci gpu to the system. The notebook is great as a "typewriter". If you need something fast, you might like the x220 and buy some dockings and monitors for the places where you are most.

[nfotis]

I own a 4:3 screen T60 (1.66 GHz Centrino Duo processor and Intel 945 GMA), 1.5 GB RAM (got is used).

The particular screen is not impressive, but it's much taller than typical widescreens, and that's important if you want to write lots of code and glance at it quickly (resolution is 1024*768).

For video playback, even my lowly 1.66 GHz processor can play 1080p videos (I use the Combined Community Codec Pack with Media Player Classic for these heavy H.264 videos)

A hard test would be the video named Holmenkollbanen.Program.1920x1080.h264.Nrk.mp4 (you can find it via Bittorrent, I think). With this video, VLC loses frames big time, but the CCCP plays it, eating about 75% of total CPU.

On image processing, I use routinely GIMP with 5k*5k photos on an external 22" monitor - a 2+ GHz CPU and more RAM would be good to have, but it's not really slow.

Oh, and I have installed a 500 GB Western Digital 7200rpm hard disk, and it's much better than the old Toshiba 5400rpm.

Hope this helps,
N.F.
PS. I am using Windows XP, so your mileage may vary if you use a different OS

[ciocio]

N.F., thank you! That's what I wanted to know. I rarely watch HD videos on my laptop, so I think even a 720p should run decently on a Core 2 Duo.

I'll keep the XP partition just to run Photoshop, but I'll really spend most of the time on Debian with minimal install. My main concern is VMware though; I wonder if the lack of discrete graphics impacts it by much.

[nfotis]

My impression is that VMware wants (in that priority) CPU, RAM and a fast hard disk.
The graphics section is probably the smallest problem here
(if you do not plan on running games or 3D applications in the virtual machines).

So, I would shoot for a 14.1" 4:3 monitor T60 with integrated Intel 945G chipset and a 2+ GHz processor. integrated Intel is very reliable and less power-hungry than ATI/Nvidia solutions.
Vertical screen space is be much better in the 4:3 screen, and I think that you want to see lots of text/code/documentation in one glance.
You may have problems in airplane flights, though, with the taller monitor (how tall are you?).
And 3-4 GB of RAM would be good to have (especially with VMware).

Also, an SSD would be nice as well, but these are still small in capacity
(except if you plan on using a NAS or a file server via gigabit Ethernet for file storage - much faster than USB external disks)

When I work on image processing at home, I use a secondary 22" Samsung monitor, with 1680x1050 resolution and matte screen - it gives lots of real estate when processing photos and I do not suffer from reflected light.
Note that Photoshop may have a worse response than GIMP - a faster CPU, more RAM and hard disk definitely helps, compared with my 1.66 GHz CPU (the 2+ GHz ones have also more cache RAM, which helps in compute-intensive applications).

N.F.

[RealBlackStuff]

If you go the 4:3 ratio 14.1" LCD, then you are much better off with the (rather rare) T61 with 256MB shared Intel (Crestline) integrated graphics and SXGA+ (1440x1050) LCD. This machine can have up to 8GB usable RAM and up to 2.6GHz C2D CPU (T9500).
It'll eat 64-bit OS for breakfast.
A T60 is limited to 3GB usable RAM.

[nfotis]

In my experience, the 14.1 1024*768 monitor has an adequate resolution for this size.
And this resolution works very well for the Windows interface (fonts, menus etc.)

Now, if you find that rare 14.1" T61, that would be even nicer I think
(didn't know about its existence myself)

N.F.

[ssd_thinkpad]

You should check this topic out: Fastest T Series Model with 4x3 screen?

[RealBlackStuff]

Now, if you find that rare 14.1" T61...

I've got one of those!
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... ry=889703U

[Totoro-kun]

Other upgrades I'll consider after the purchase are:

• 64GB SSD
• 4GB RAM total (to take advantage of the dual channel)

If you get T60, then note, that it can take 4GB or maybe even more, but the chipset is able to address only around 3GB so (3-3.3GB is usable no matter if you use x86 or x86_64 operating system). However you still might benefit from matched RAM modules (Dual channel).

As for SSD, i doubt that you could benefit from it much. T60 only has SATA1, so better performance for money could be taken from good 7200rpm mechanical drive like WD3200BEKT or perhaps one of those new Seagates with flash memory chip.

Now, I code a lot and would love some advice before I proceed with a purchase. I'm looking at a 1951/1952 family T60 with a T7200 CPU and integrated graphics but a 15" XGA screen--apparently there were no SXGA+ T60 with integrated graphics directly from Lenovo. So my questions are:

• Is the Intel 950 sufficient to run programs like Photoshop or VMware?
• Can a UXGA IPS Flexview be used on a T60 with integrated graphics? (This question has been asked years ago, and I hope there's an answer by now) I *think* if I replace the inverter as well I should be fine.
• Are there any reconsideration (apart from what it has been stated in other threads) if you were to buy another T60?

As for UXGA, i have no practical comment, but theoretically it should work, however others might know better. All I know - in T60 at least you do have a chance to try. T61 does not have any 15" 4:3 sized types.

As for Photoshop, you won't benefit from Intel 950, but T60 Radeon x1x00 chips won't provide OpenGL acceleration Aether. As for VMware i have no comment, never used it, there for I do not know. But if you want better 3D performance, you do not really have to avoid discrete graphics in T60. As far as I know, they did not fail much, unlike T61 nvidia graphics. Intel 950 still is cooler and use less power.

If you can (and if it's possible to) swap the motherboard from T61, do so:

• * CPU FSB is faster: 800Mhz
  * It can use up to 8GB of RAM
  * Intel X3100 graphics is quite faster and better on power saving than Intel 950.
  * With unofficial bios mod, SATA II can be unlocked, so big benefit for SSD drives

Alternatively, you could just find a decent T61, but then forget about flexview screens, so if that is important t you, then go with your plan.
Hope this is helpfull.

[twillis449]

I write a lot of code and I personally prefer SXGA+ (1400x1050 pixels) over XGA (1024x768 pixels) The SXGA+ has almost 300 pixels more in the vertical direction than the XGA display so you get to see quite a bit more text in the vertical direction.

[nfotis]

I write a lot of code and I personally prefer SXGA+ (1400x1050 pixels) over XGA (1024x768 pixels) The SXGA+ has almost 300 pixels more in the vertical direction than the XGA display so you get to see quite a bit more text in the vertical direction.

But, if the dimensions are the same, you get smaller text size with the higher resolution.

For this reason, I feel that the 14.1" 4:3 screen is a better fit than a 16:9 14" screen.

N.F.