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Which one to keep T60/T61?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 3:18 pm
by jiopsi
I have two machines:

T61, 1280x800 14.1", T8100 3MB 2.3GHz (D-IDA), GMA X3100
T60, 1400x1050 14.1", T7200 4MB 2.0GHZ, ATI X1400

Now, I like gaming (old RPGs mostly) so the T60 is obvious choice as the GPU is about 3.5x faster than the integrated Intel. But what would I loose if I chose T60? I know these pros/cons:

+ TFT, 7% more physical area, 44% more desktop area, pixels are smaller
+ GPU, about 3.5x faster

- 3Gbps SATA support
- CPU, about 20% slower, produces more heat
- stereo speakers

Is there any hidden stuff, like build quality, that would not be as good in T60 than in T61? What do you think?

Re: Which one to keep T60/T61?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 3:58 pm
by dr_st
The CPU is indeed more efficient in the T61, though real life difference is probably not that big.

The biggest drawbacks of T60 are lack of SATA2 speeds and 3GB RAM limit. If you can live with that, I'd take the T60, it's a nicer machine overall IMO.

Not quite sure what you mean about stereo speakers, as both laptops have them.

Re: Which one to keep T60/T61?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:13 pm
by jiopsi
Not quite sure what you mean about stereo speakers, as both laptops have them.
Oh ok, thought T60 only has one speaker.

Yeah, I'm keeping the T60 because of the GPU and nicer screen.

Re: Which one to keep T60/T61?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 6:00 pm
by TuuS
I have a t61 with the 1280x800 screen and think it looks comparable to a 1920x1080 screen I have on another laptop. If it was a 50inch HDTV there would be a big difference, but on a 15.4" screen (mine) it's just not big enough to need all those pixels.

As for the graphics, for gaming if you need it, then that's your answer but being the t61's with Nvidia are all timebombs waiting to die, your lucky you got the cheap graphics.

Re: Which one to keep T60/T61?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:13 pm
by Kamika007z
IMHO the overall engineering, design, and fit of the T60 was far better than the T61.

I own both the 14.1" LCD (1400 X 1050) versions of the T60p (2007-8JU) and the T61p (8891-CTO) and while I think the T61p is faster, offers more newer gen upgrade options (SATA II speeds, X9000 CPU, 8GB RAM), I seriously have a hard time noticing performance if used for day to day tasks. Just make sure you pop in an SSD in it.

My T61p has the nVidia Quadro card which luckly isn't one of the "timebomb" versions, but issues like the DPC Latencies alone on the 61 series are annoying alone.

All in all, its up to you, but you have the Intel vcard on the T61, so you may not even have a DPC issue. Your options seem more like a wash to me.