Need to replace my T61P

Message

Banshee365 · #1 Post by **Banshee365** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 7:48 am

My T61P bit the dust last night. I need to replace it but have a very low budget as I planned on my T61p lasting for a long time. I'm looking at refurbished Thinkpads on Newegg. The T60 is near $260 while a T61 is just over $300. I loved my T61p and I want something remotely close to it. Can I use my CPU and memory for the T60 or T61, thanks! Just wandering which one I should go for.

-Kelly

#2 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 7:54 am

That CPU can be reused in other T61/R61 machines, but not in the T60/R60 series.
Anything else will work.

Banshee365 · #3 Post by **Banshee365** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:57 am

Is the t61 much better of a machine than the T60? I've never bought a refurbished thinkpad and wondering if they usually come with AC adapters as mine has also failed. Thanks for the input.

pianowizard · #4 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:52 am

Banshee365 wrote:I need to replace it but have a very low budget

What's your budget exactly? We will try to give you the best recommendation based on your budget.

dr_st · #5 Post by **dr_st** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:38 pm

Banshee365 wrote:Is the t61 much better of a machine than the T60?

For certain things it is quite a bit better - mostly the ability to run 8GB of RAM (compared to 3GB for T60) and SATA2 speeds (after applying a modified BIOS). The CPUs also go quite a bit higher (I believe 2.8GHz is the maximum for T61, 2.33GHz the maximum for a T60).

Thus, the performance ceiling for the T61 is substantially higher considering the combination of these factors.

With that said, I still like the T60 much more. The deciding factors for me are looks, the hideous battery design for the T61 14" wide models, and the availability of IPS screens for 15" T60 models (the 2007-QPG in my sig is still my primary laptop, mostly for that).

Banshee365 · #6 Post by **Banshee365** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:20 pm

Hey guy's, thanks for the advice so far. My budget is pretty tight because I've had no time to get myself in the market for a computer financially. I was expecting this T61p to last a while longer (it was 4 years old) and after it just up and died a need a new computer. I have pretty much decided on either a refurbished T60 or T61 from Newegg. The T60 comes with a dockign station (which I don't really need) and the price is pretty cheap around $250. The T60 doesn't say it comes with a docking station and it costs $315. My T61p CPU is faster than the 2.0 ghz that comes with the T61 and i could swap it.

I mostly do basic internet work and some photoshop work. I will miss the discrete graphics of the P model but I think the standard would do fine for me as I don't do PC gaming. If I were planning to be in the market for a new computer I would probably set myself up to buy a new or refurbishes T420 or T420s. Will the T61 be a better choice over the T60 for the little extra money?

Banshee365 · #7 Post by **Banshee365** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:01 pm

I also want to run Windows 7 for sure. Is that a problem with the t60, it ran awesome on my t61p.

#8 Post by **ZaZ** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:45 pm

It shouldn't be a problem. 3GB is the memory limit for the T60 if you care.

dr_st · #9 Post by **dr_st** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:21 pm

Another issue with the T61/p is durability of the nVidia-equipped units. Earlier ones are victims of nVidia's faulty chips, and are ticking time bombs. It is said that boards manufactured after July 2008 are safe, though.

pianowizard · #10 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:06 pm

Banshee365 wrote:I have pretty much decided on either a refurbished T60 or T61 from Newegg. The T60 comes with a dockign station (which I don't really need) and the price is pretty cheap around $250.

You must be referring to this T60: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834246119

It's not worth it. Through eBay you could get a T60 with the same specs for much less.

Do you know if your T61's hard drive, RAM and AC adapter still work? If they do, sell them separately (e.g. the charger for $10, the hard drive for $30, the RAM for $20), and then sell the rest of the machine for parts for $20. This will enable you to recover $80 and help increase your budget for the replacement laptop. BTW, this $249.99 14" Acer is worth looking into: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+Aspi ... Id=2845071

I played with it at Best Buy the other day and totally fell in love with it.

Banshee365 · #11 Post by **Banshee365** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:23 pm

I guess my budget is a little more complicated. I'm really looking for the best value. If I need to spend $1k to get the best value so-be-it. I was wandering if the T60 or T61 from NewEgg were good values but I'm going to find it hard putting $300+ into a computer that is inferior to the T61p I've had for 4 years now... Another option I'm looking at is giving up on the Thinkpads as the quality and design doesn't seem to be what it used to be and just go with a Macbook Pro 13" and dual boot it with Windows 7. I'm not looking for a Thinkpad as a collectors piece, I want the best value.

New Thinkpads seem to be priced right at what a 13" Macbook Pro is so that is starting to be a bit of a turn off to me as far as going after a new Thinkpad. Plus, I can get easy financing for a MBP through Bestbuy with my current card where I would have to pay out of pocket for a TP.

farmall · #12 Post by **farmall** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:32 pm

I'd bag a used T61 with Intel graphics, toss in 8GB RAM, and enjoy. Keep your spare parts just in case. The beauty of Thinkpads is in their ease of maintenance. No notebook is immortal, so I buy what professionals who maintain fleets of them recommend.

I find the screens superb for reading. I can surf for a very long time without my eyes getting tired.

What were the "death" symptoms of your T61? If you are out of love with them I wouldn't mind an organ donor.

You can email me at logisticslist61REMOVEyahooDAWTCOM.

Put T61 in the subject line.

My obfuscated address is OK to post online, so no warnings to the contrary needed. It's been a spam dump addy for eleven years and I hardly get any spam. No malware or viruses either, since I never check it using Windows.

Banshee365 · #13 Post by **Banshee365** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:35 pm

How do the T420's compare to the older T60/61 and such? Is it worth even considering the near Macbook Pro price for a new ThinkPad or is the old thinkpad'ness gone with the new models?

Banshee365 · #14 Post by **Banshee365** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:24 pm

I think I've decided that I don't want to spend over $300 regardless. I really loved my T61p 14.1" 4:3 that I've had since new but it's dead now. I don't do a lot of gaming so the discrete graphics may not be that noticable as far as going backwards in specs for another machine. I need a reliable good quality thinkpad that can do pretty quick work at photoshop and play a somewhat graphics intensive game on once in a while. My t61p ran it perfect.

In that price range I'm pretty much stuck to a refurbished T60 or T61.

There seems to be a bit more love for the T60 over T61 even though the T61 can take a bit more RAM and has new hardware components. I absolutely loved the asthetics, construction, keyboard, looks, etc... of my T61p and would love to have another one like it.

What are the main likes and dislikes between the 60 and 61?

Brad · #15 Post by **Brad** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:33 am

PM'd an offer for repair with warranty.

Brad

Banshee365 · #16 Post by **Banshee365** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:59 am

Brad, thanks for the offer. My mainboard and GPU are actually fine. My t61p was envolved in an accident destroying the bottom cover, roll cage, lcd, and entire lid. The rest is fine except for maybe the hdd. If i could find a doner 14" 4:3 thinkpad that I could swap my parts into I would probably do that but I have no idea what my motherboard would fit in.

Other than that a used T6* is what I want. I'm just not sure about which one: 61, 60 or 60p.

pianowizard · #17 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:33 am

Banshee365 wrote:I think I've decided that I don't want to spend over $300 regardless...In that price range I'm pretty much stuck to a refurbished T60 or T61.

If I wanted to get a used T60, I would limit my budget to $200 because while they were very reliable a while ago, they are getting old and could start having problems any time. And I wouldn't get a T61 unless it has Intel graphics.

Banshee365 · #18 Post by **Banshee365** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:39 am

If I found a 14" t61 standard screen with Intel graphics would my mainboard screw right in? I have NVIDIA graphics in mine and I could run my mainboard until or if it died snd keep the Intel graphics t61 board as a spare.

robert213 · #19 Post by **robert213** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:29 pm

Banshee365 wrote:If i could find a doner 14" 4:3 thinkpad that I could swap my parts into I would probably do that but I have no idea what my motherboard would fit in.

There was a nice looking parts-only 14" 4:3 T61 selling on eBay (3rd week of June) for less than $70.00. I didn't save the seller's name. I did notice that the largest seller of business class Dell's and Thinkpads (same company, different eBay names) from Brooklyn, NY promptly replies to all questions regarding their products.

I used the list of T61 types found in the following post while using eBay search.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=97714

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 3.html#arc

I have this list of types that have 14.1 screens. I have not taken the time to seperate/sort the 4:3's from the wide-screens in the list.
(type 8889, 8890, 8891, 8892, 8893, 8894, 8895, 8896, 8897, 8898, 8899, 8900, 8938, and 8939)

This my list of T61 types that have 14.1 4:3 800 x 600 screens -- 7661, 8895, 8896, 8897

Banshee365 · #20 Post by **Banshee365** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 10:53 am

I found a 14" 4:3 T61 for a good price but it has the 1024x768 screen. I may get this machine just to get going again but I want the ability to replace the screen with a high quality display for my photo editing work that I do. I'd either want to find another SXGA+ screen like I had, or preferably an IPS screen. I'm not sure on the compatibility of the IPS screen with the T61 but I think I've of some that have done it. This machine also has Intel X3100 graphics while my board has the nVidia graphics.

I'm having trouble finding an IPS display on eBay to see what they would be price wise for future planning purposes. Maybe the 4:3 14" is such an odd ball these day's that it will be hard to find one. Does anyone know what an IPS or SXGA+ screen should run when I'm able to upgrade the screen if I end up with this XGA screen intel graphics machine. Thanks again for the help and I'm hoping on getting going again soon, I miss my computer...

#21 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:47 am

The T61/R61 is NOT available with 15" 4:3 standard IPS screens.
You can have:
14.1" screen 4:3 standard, in XGA or SXGA+
14.1" widescreen in WXGA or WXGA+
15.4" widescreen in WXGA, WSXGA+ or WUXGA

Banshee365 · #22 Post by **Banshee365** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 10:23 pm

Thanks again RBS!

I've also wandered if the main boards are interchangeable between the wide and standard screen models. There are soooo many more widescreen 14" T61's around. All of the internals in my T61p are in fine working order. The screen, lid, bottom case, and chassis are the destroyed parts. I booted the machine (without the LCD and lid) with no monitor available, swiped my finger a few minutes later and was able to connect to the T61p through my wifes Macbook Pro and could view the entire HDD so that survived which I'm very thankful for.

I want to get another machine to get me going quickly but I also want to be able to use the parts from my T61p as backups. I'd rather do that than try and sell the parts.

Banshee365 · #23 Post by **Banshee365** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 10:50 pm

How about a 2008-93U? It's a UXGA 15" T60p, is that a pretty good machine? I was thinking about getting a model that has interchangeable parts with my T61p but if this is a great machine I can just sell my parts from the T61p as long as I can still get parts for the 2008-93U. I think the UXGA is the IPS Flexview which I wouldn't mind seeing if it is worth all the hype. I do a lot of photo editing on a pro level so the IPS screen may pay off for me. I haven't heard of the particular graphics in this machine but they can't be all that bad.

T2600(2.16GHz), 1GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 15in 1600x1200 LCD, 256MB ATI FireGL V5200, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 9c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

The main thing it may need from how it sit's is a CPU upgrade (not sure on the max for this main board) and some more RAM.

TuuS · #24 Post by **TuuS** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:11 am

I just bought a 15.4" widescreen t61 for $180 including shipping from an ebay seller. He's actually sending me a much better one then was offered because of a mistake, but the one offered was a 1.8ghz, with 80gb harddrive (typical low end unit), but I plan on upgrading it with parts from my dead t61.

Keep in mind that ebay sellers usually warranty for a few days, so you're buying as-is.

#25 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:10 am

That T60p is fine for your intended work. Parts are available everywhere, and will be for a long time.
The fastest CPU it can take is the T7600. Best value for money: T7200.
The CPU from your T61 will NOT work in the T60, but HD and RAM will.
Please note that the T60 series is hardware-limited to 3GB RAM.

Brad · #26 Post by **Brad** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:44 am

TuuS wrote:I just bought a 15.4" widescreen t61 for $180 including shipping from an ebay seller. He's actually sending me a much better one then was offered because of a mistake, but the one offered was a 1.8ghz, with 80gb harddrive (typical low end unit), but I plan on upgrading it with parts from my dead t61.

Keep in mind that ebay sellers usually warranty for a few days, so you're buying as-is.

The newer CPU may offer a "THERMAL SENSING ERROR" on startup with an older T61.

Brad

Banshee365 · #27 Post by **Banshee365** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:23 am

Am I correct that UXGA is the ips screen? The T60p may end up better for me for photo editing simply for the display.

pianowizard · #28 Post by **pianowizard** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:34 am

Banshee365 wrote:Am I correct that UXGA is the ips screen?

Yes.

Banshee365 · #29 Post by **Banshee365** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:52 pm

i ended up winning the T60p that I listed above on eBay for 300. It may not be a killer deal but the price doesn't seem too high for a 15" with ips screen. I'm interested to see the build quality differences. I have a lot to learn about the T60 over the T61p that I had for 4 years. Any tips? It's loaded with XP but I want to install 7.

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