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Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

X60/X61 and X60t/X61t Series
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englishbob
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#31 Post by englishbob » Thu Oct 08, 2015 4:50 pm

I put in a Crucial BX100 in my X61 and it seemed to be working well. Unfortunately, having shut the laptop down last night it's refusing to boot today. I've started another thread about this. Hoping for a solution soon.

E350
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#32 Post by E350 » Sun Dec 20, 2015 12:12 pm

Primarily because because of the Trackpoint and the 4:3 screen ratio, the x61 Intel Core2 Duo T8300 2.40 GHz, 8Gb ram, 750Gb Seagate Hybrid HDD, W7 64-bit is still quite relevant daily workhorse for me.

Not relevant, X61s 1.6GHz not enough processor speed.
Questionable relevance, x61T 1.8GHz not enough processor speed and many BSOD.

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#33 Post by Shredder11 » Mon Dec 21, 2015 12:25 pm

The CPU and SSD combo is a good upgrade for the X61 and for most things it works fine in 2015, apart from gaming or photoshop etc. Even video works well once a cheap Broadcom BCM70015 PCI-e card is installed, and leaves your CPU with less to do. No, the biggest issue for using the X61 in my case is the overheating issues, which my slower low power X61s does not suffer from. I also have a Crucial BX100 drive with no issues at all, and so far I have used it with Win XP Pro and Win 7 Pro.
Z61p x3 (C2D T7600, 3GB, 500GB SSD, BCM70015, Advanced Dock x1, Mini Dock x2)
W520 (C2Q i7-2720QM, 8GB, 60GB SSD)
X61 (C2D T7500, 3GB, 250GB SSD, BCM70015)
X61s (2GB, 120GB SSD)
T43p (P M 760, 2GB, IBM Port Replicator II, 128GB SSD)
G41 (P4 3.46GHz, 2GB, 128GB SSD)

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#34 Post by Dekks » Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:11 am

E350 wrote:Not relevant, X61s 1.6GHz not enough processor speed
Admittedly just for office stuff, works fine on win7 or arch/openbox.
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#35 Post by Dekks » Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:13 am

Shredder11 wrote:Even video works well once a cheap Broadcom BCM70015 PCI-e card is installed, and leaves your CPU with less to do.
Got on on my 2GHz vista machine and cant say i ever noticed a difference.
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#36 Post by Shredder11 » Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:57 pm

Dekks wrote:
Shredder11 wrote:Even video works well once a cheap Broadcom BCM70015 PCI-e card is installed, and leaves your CPU with less to do.
Got on on my 2GHz vista machine and cant say i ever noticed a difference.

Are you using the correct version of Adobe Flash Player 10.1.82.76 ActiveX ? Anything newer than that will not work with the Broadcom card. Also I find only Windows Media Classic from the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack Full works, but once you are using the correct playback software it can play 1080p video really smoothly, whereas without the card this would barely play at all.
Z61p x3 (C2D T7600, 3GB, 500GB SSD, BCM70015, Advanced Dock x1, Mini Dock x2)
W520 (C2Q i7-2720QM, 8GB, 60GB SSD)
X61 (C2D T7500, 3GB, 250GB SSD, BCM70015)
X61s (2GB, 120GB SSD)
T43p (P M 760, 2GB, IBM Port Replicator II, 128GB SSD)
G41 (P4 3.46GHz, 2GB, 128GB SSD)

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#37 Post by Pete B » Thu Dec 24, 2015 10:19 am

I've noticed a significant reduction in CPU utilization playing 1080p under
IE11 (Win 7 64 bit) in the last year or so, it is far better than Chrome for example.
On this X61s L7700 3GB RAM I'm seeing 26% to 45% CPU utilization with
a blip now and then to 55%, playing 1080p which is very workable. If anyone
has a specific 1080p vid on youtube to compare I'll try it. Also, make sure that
there are no background tasks running when doing the test. I see 1 to 3% when
on the desktop but doing nothing.

Now that my X61s is done with L7700, 3GB, SSD, Middleton CTRL, removed
Modem, 6200 WIFI. My impression is that it is great to type on, nice and small
but there just are not enough horizontal pixels with the standard display.
I get a scroll bar on many web pages and I'm not going to scroll back and
forth to view a page. Don't think I'm up for the display upgrade that is so
complex to do, if there was a kit - then maybe. I'd probably go for the non-s
version next time with a 2.4 GHz processor. I'll keep it since it is a classic and
if I ever have a need for something this small start using it again.
Frankenpad 15" TuuS MB X9000, LED IPS, T440s IPS display
Toughbook CF51 with SSD, Dell: D830, M4400, M6400

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#38 Post by Dekks » Thu Dec 24, 2015 11:29 am

Shredder11 wrote:Are you using the correct version of Adobe Flash Player 10.1.82.76 ActiveX ? Anything newer than that will not work with the Broadcom card. Also I find only Windows Media Classic from the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack Full works, but once you are using the correct playback software it can play 1080p video really smoothly, whereas without the card this would barely play at all.
Dont use flash, i download what i want then use media player classic home cinema with svptube for youtube content.
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#39 Post by systemBuilder » Sun Dec 27, 2015 5:56 pm

I think that for most T4x/T6x, A4x, A6x(?), r4x, r6x, and x4x, x6x laptops, the limiting factor is going to be the video. You are limited to software decoders and 480p video. 720p video will usually work, but not always. For example we tried to stream "FoxSoccer2Go" on our T61 with a T2500 CPU and 2GB RAM, but even after killing every single background task in Windows-XP, and running on Firefox (which seemed to have the fastest software decoders), the device still stumbled every 3-10 seconds, at 80-95% cpu utilization. The video streamed just fine on a T420 at 20% cpu, because that laptop has an accelerator for MPEG video.

MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video is bit-packed very tightly and requires extensive shifting of every single word in the video stream to decode, and this makes software decoding very inefficient.
=======================
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#40 Post by Shredder11 » Sun Dec 27, 2015 6:20 pm

Before I upgraded one of my Z61p (T60p pretty much) to a T7600, I had a T2500 CPU in there and it played YouTube 720p streamed video in Internet Explorer with no problem at all, although 1080p was not so good. Anyway as I mentioned above, you can use a hardware decoder card in say a Thinkpad X61 to play 1080p very smoothly and with very low CPU utilisation, although only with Internet Explorer; Firefox or Chrome etc are not compatible with this card. For some unknown reason I cannot get this card to work with my Z61p though.
Z61p x3 (C2D T7600, 3GB, 500GB SSD, BCM70015, Advanced Dock x1, Mini Dock x2)
W520 (C2Q i7-2720QM, 8GB, 60GB SSD)
X61 (C2D T7500, 3GB, 250GB SSD, BCM70015)
X61s (2GB, 120GB SSD)
T43p (P M 760, 2GB, IBM Port Replicator II, 128GB SSD)
G41 (P4 3.46GHz, 2GB, 128GB SSD)

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#41 Post by pkiff » Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:29 pm

Shredder11 wrote:Anyway as I mentioned above, you can use a hardware decoder card in say a Thinkpad X61 to play 1080p very smoothly and with very low CPU utilisation, although only with Internet Explorer; Firefox or Chrome etc are not compatible with this card.
I'm still using an X61T 1.8GHz as a daily driver. And like Shredder11, I'm using the Broadcom card to add hardware video acceleration for many videos. But I had not thought to try IE when viewing streaming video to see if there is an improvement there. I get very good 720p play on Netflix using Chrome under Win 7 Pro on this machine. Firefox stumbles for me. And 720p Youtube tends to stumble as well, though I'm in the habit of downloading anything I want to watch on Youtube first, rather than streaming it directly, and then everything always runs smoothly.

I'll try IE the next time I'm trying to stream some 720p video and see if that makes a difference.

For 1080p video, I don't think my Internet connection can keep up with the speed of data download required, even if my machine could play it smoothly. I can play 1080p videos over my local LAN compressed using x264, MPEG, or DivX no problem with my X61T.
X1E Gen 4 · X1T 3rd Gen · W520 · Legacy: P52, T60p, X61T, 600X, 770Z
Nostalgic for: 600X PIII 850MHz in a SelectaDock III with 64MB Voodoo 5 5500 and Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1.

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#42 Post by xsixt » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:14 pm

Bibin wrote: I do want to warn you that people will say the palmrest heat problem is solved with a replacement smaller wi-fi card, but I don't think that's true. In every X61 I've used I experience the same gradual warm right palmrest even without a card inserted at all. It's not a huge deal, but keep it in mind.
+1 On my X60T the wifi card swap didn't do much for the heat problem. The palmrests still get very warm compared to my T420s.
T60p 15" UXGA T7600 | T61p 15.4" WUXGA T9500 |
Former: X61 T8300 [Slow GPU] | W510 FHD QM [Top screen but 16:9 sucks] | T420s [Portable but worst LCD ever] | X201 | X200 | X60T [Slow & hot]

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#43 Post by pkiff » Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:03 am

xsixt wrote:I do want to warn you that people will say the palmrest heat problem is solved with a replacement smaller wi-fi card, but I don't think that's true. In every X61 I've used I experience the same gradual warm right palmrest even without a card inserted at all. It's not a huge deal, but keep it in mind.
Bibin wrote:+1 On my X60T the wifi card swap didn't do much for the heat problem. The palmrests still get very warm compared to my T420s.
The palmrest heat on my X61T does not bother me at all - it heats up for sure, but it is not uncomfortable to type with my palm resting there. I'm using a half-size replacement card. But I do find that the bottom of my X61T generally gets too hot to use on my actual lap for more than 30 minutes or so even when doing very little to stress the CPU. So I use a laptop cushion when I want to sit on the couch with it on my lap for an extended time.
X1E Gen 4 · X1T 3rd Gen · W520 · Legacy: P52, T60p, X61T, 600X, 770Z
Nostalgic for: 600X PIII 850MHz in a SelectaDock III with 64MB Voodoo 5 5500 and Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1.

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#44 Post by jaspen-meyer » Sun Jan 03, 2016 3:43 pm

I'm watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v2L2UGZJAM in 1080p using smtube and writing this message in midori on an x61s (1.6 ghz) and cpu usage is at 25-30%. The video is smooth.

The fan is turned off and temperatures are

Code: Select all

thinkpad@thinkpad:~$ sensors
acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +78.0°C  (crit = +127.0°C)
temp2:        +79.0°C  (crit = +100.0°C)

thinkpad-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
fan1:           0 RPM
fan2:           0 RPM
temp1:        +78.0°C  
temp2:        +48.0°C  
temp3:        +48.0°C  
temp4:        +73.0°C  
temp5:        +31.0°C  
temp6:            N/A  
temp7:        +32.0°C  
temp8:            N/A  
temp9:        +50.0°C  
temp10:       +58.0°C  
temp11:           N/A  
temp12:           N/A  
temp13:           N/A  
temp14:           N/A  
temp15:           N/A  
temp16:           N/A  

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0:       +77.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:       +80.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

thinkpad@thinkpad:~$ 
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#45 Post by brchan » Sun Jan 03, 2016 6:02 pm

I have always found that chrome/chromium gives much better html5 video performance, at least under linux. Unfortunately, even a T7700 with intel gpu can seem a little slow when browsing heavier js websites, but can handle 1080p OK. A T9500/T9300 makes it far less of an issue, especially if you have the NVS or FX570m gpu.
Current Thinkpads: W530 (functional classic keyboard mod), X301, T61, T60, T43, A31p, T23, 600X, 770
Other: mk5 Toughbook cf-19, mk1 Toughbook cf-53

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#46 Post by pkiff » Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:35 pm

jaspen-meyer wrote:I'm watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v2L2UGZJAM in 1080p using smtube and writing this message in midori on an x61s (1.6 ghz) and cpu usage is at 25-30%. The video is smooth.
I don't know smtube, but it looks to me like you don't actually stream the video when you use smtube - you use smtube to download it, and then you play it using smplayer. Is that right? If so, then that's the same as what I'm doing: I download youtube videos as MP4's first, using an addon, and then I play them using MediaPlayerClassic.

Still, playing a 1080p without the Broadcom card and keeping the CPU usage at only 30% is impressive. I'm pretty sure my CPU was close to maxing out on my X61T playing full HD before I got the Broadcom card.
X1E Gen 4 · X1T 3rd Gen · W520 · Legacy: P52, T60p, X61T, 600X, 770Z
Nostalgic for: 600X PIII 850MHz in a SelectaDock III with 64MB Voodoo 5 5500 and Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1.

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#47 Post by brchan » Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:42 pm

For anyone looking for good youtube clients, there is Minitube (windows + linux, GUI only) or youtube-viewer (linux with console + GUI). They are super easy to use and put far less of a strain on the cpu than using a browser.
Current Thinkpads: W530 (functional classic keyboard mod), X301, T61, T60, T43, A31p, T23, 600X, 770
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#48 Post by jaspen-meyer » Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:15 am

pkiff wrote:I don't know smtube, but it looks to me like you don't actually stream the video when you use smtube - you use smtube to download it, and then you play it using smplayer. Is that right? If so, then that's the same as what I'm doing: I download youtube videos as MP4's first, using an addon, and then I play them using MediaPlayerClassic.

Still, playing a 1080p without the Broadcom card and keeping the CPU usage at only 30% is impressive. I'm pretty sure my CPU was close to maxing out on my X61T playing full HD before I got the Broadcom card.
It is similar to what you are doing but with less steps, less disk writes, and faster.

Yes, smtube (smtube.org) plays the video in smplayer [vlc || mplayer, ... ]. You search for a video using their interface (which is this webpage http://www.tonvid.com/ ), click on a video and it instantly opens and starts playing in your local player. So I assume it's playing the buffered file...i.e. this is nearly the same process you were doing manually with the difference being the partially downloaded/buffered file is being played -- you do not need to wait for the entire file to download and you don't make extra writes to disk and you do not need to delete the file after it has played.

A few other performance tweaks for the x61s:
1. set /home/user/.cache and /tmp and /var/log to live in RAM rather than on HDD. did this in /etc/fstab
this speeds up system and, I assume, uses less watts -- assumption being writing to ram uses less energy than writing to ssd

2. remove bluetooth daughter board

3. run startup script to lower power usage (work in progress):

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash

#lower wifi transmission from 15 dBm to 3 dBm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBm
iwconfig wlan0 txpower 3
iwconfig wlan0  power timeout 300u all
echo '0' > '/proc/sys/kernel/nmi_watchdog'
echo '1500' > '/proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs'
echo 'min_power' > '/sys/class/scsi_host/host2/link_power_management_policy'
echo 'min_power' > '/sys/class/scsi_host/host3/link_power_management_policy'
echo 'min_power' > '/sys/class/scsi_host/host4/link_power_management_policy'
echo '1' > '/sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:05:00.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:05:00.2/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1a.7/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1a.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1a.1/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:19.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:02.1/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:02.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:00.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1c.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1f.3/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1c.1/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1b.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1d.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1d.1/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1d.7/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1e.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1f.0/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1f.1/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:05:00.1/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:1f.2/power/control'
echo 'auto' > '/sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:03:00.0/power/control'

btw, operating systems should figure out a way to lower screen brightness of non-active windows. that was my brilliant idea of that day, which means someone's probably already implemented the idea...
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#49 Post by jaspen-meyer » Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:45 am

Shredder11 wrote:The CPU and SSD combo is a good upgrade for the X61 and for most things it works fine in 2015, apart from gaming or photoshop etc. Even video works well once a cheap Broadcom BCM70015 PCI-e card is installed, and leaves your CPU with less to do. No, the biggest issue for using the X61 in my case is the overheating issues, which my slower low power X61s does not suffer from. I also have a Crucial BX100 drive with no issues at all, and so far I have used it with Win XP Pro and Win 7 Pro.
Just installed a Broadcom BCM70015 and then immediately uninstalled it. Doesn't install (easily) on Xubuntu and it made right side of the palm rest 15 C warmer.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#50 Post by pkiff » Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:04 am

jaspen-meyer wrote:Just installed a Broadcom BCM70015 and then immediately uninstalled it. Doesn't install (easily) on Xubuntu and it made right side of the palm rest 15 C warmer.
Heh heh, well, I guess that upgrade is not right for everyone!

The linux drivers may be a bit flakey in some combinations - I know that some projects, like the Kodi project, dropped support for the card due to driver/stability problems. This is the same card that was used in the first gen Apple TV, but the current gen Apple TV doesn't use it anymnore. I think the Windows drivers are also a bit flakey, but for me it's worth it. I don't think that card should be doing anything or heating up at all when you aren't playing a video.
X1E Gen 4 · X1T 3rd Gen · W520 · Legacy: P52, T60p, X61T, 600X, 770Z
Nostalgic for: 600X PIII 850MHz in a SelectaDock III with 64MB Voodoo 5 5500 and Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1.

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#51 Post by pkiff » Thu Feb 04, 2016 9:42 am

Shredder11 wrote:Anyway as I mentioned above, you can use a hardware decoder card in say a Thinkpad X61 to play 1080p very smoothly and with very low CPU utilisation, although only with Internet Explorer; Firefox or Chrome etc are not compatible with this card.
pkiff wrote:I'll try IE the next time I'm trying to stream some 720p video and see if that makes a difference.
I can confirm that using MSIE with this card does indeed allow smooth 1080p streaming playback in Youtube on my X61T with the 1.8GHz CPU.

Thanks for the suggestion Shredder11.
X1E Gen 4 · X1T 3rd Gen · W520 · Legacy: P52, T60p, X61T, 600X, 770Z
Nostalgic for: 600X PIII 850MHz in a SelectaDock III with 64MB Voodoo 5 5500 and Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1.

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#52 Post by xsixt » Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:10 pm

E350 wrote:Primarily because because of the Trackpoint and the 4:3 screen ratio, the x61 Intel Core2 Duo T8300 2.40 GHz, 8Gb ram, 750Gb Seagate Hybrid HDD, W7 64-bit is still quite relevant daily workhorse for me.

Not relevant, X61s 1.6GHz not enough processor speed.
Questionable relevance, x61T 1.8GHz not enough processor speed and many BSOD.
I tend to agree with this (I have only used a X60T), the 1.66 cpu just isn't snappy enough.

I may try an X61 with higher speed processor at a later stage. I would be even happier if the X61 suffers less from the dreaded hot palmrests issue. On the T I tried everything but couldn't fix it.
T60p 15" UXGA T7600 | T61p 15.4" WUXGA T9500 |
Former: X61 T8300 [Slow GPU] | W510 FHD QM [Top screen but 16:9 sucks] | T420s [Portable but worst LCD ever] | X201 | X200 | X60T [Slow & hot]

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#53 Post by fatpolomanjr » Fri Feb 05, 2016 3:35 am

jaspen-meyer wrote:Just installed a Broadcom BCM70015 and then immediately uninstalled it. Doesn't install (easily) on Xubuntu and it made right side of the palm rest 15 C warmer.
I had the same issue in Xubuntu with an Intel 5300 card in my T601. Even worse is that I had random lockups because of it, whether the laptop was idling or not. At least once per day, and if left idling over night was guaranteed to happen.

I built the machine with the 5300 card already in, so I couldn't tell that there was a temperature increase until, while diagnosing the parts to determine the cause of the lockups (memory modules, memory slots, cpu, ssd...the works), I got the wild idea to swap out the 5300 for an Intel Advanced 6200. Temps immediately decreased, and there were no more lockups in Xubuntu.

The config was the same as my previous machine; the only differences were that I built it with a TuuS NOS motherboard instead of a standard non-safe dated NVIDIA motherboard, and the wifi card. So it was either the motherboard or the wifi card in the end! (thank god it was the card...)
Last edited by fatpolomanjr on Fri Feb 05, 2016 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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X62 | 12.1" SXGA+ Xiphmont LED | i7-5500U | Xubuntu / Windows 10

pkiff
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#54 Post by pkiff » Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:18 pm

fatpolomanjr wrote:The config was the same as my previous machine; the only differences were that I built it with a TuuS NOS motherboard instead of a standard non-safe dated NVIDIA motherboard, and the wifi card. So it was either the motherboard or the wifi card in the end! (thank god it was the card...)
I think you're mixing up the T61 with the X61 here?
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#55 Post by fatpolomanjr » Fri Feb 05, 2016 4:35 pm

pkiff wrote:I think you're mixing up the T61 with the X61 here?
I was commenting more on bad wifi card drivers in Xubuntu than the X61 itself.
T14s | AUO 14" FHD Low Power 400 nit | Ryzen 7 4750u | Windows 10
T70 | 15" UXGA LED with RealBlackStuff LED-Cable-Mod | i7-7700HQ | Windows 10
X62 | 12.1" SXGA+ Xiphmont LED | i7-5500U | Xubuntu / Windows 10

ht
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#56 Post by ht » Fri Aug 19, 2016 3:18 am

For those using lightweight linux distros, I just got an X61s with the L7300 @ 1.40 GHz and am amazed at the performance.
Smooth 1080p playback on youtube (opera browser, arch linux, i3), with a few other apps and tabs open!
Played GTA VC in a windows XP virtualbox VM, smoothly!

Temperature-wise, having had laptops which left my wrist red after prolonged use I was worried, but it just gets a little warm, not even uncomfortably so.

And all this is before upgrading bios, installing ssd and 8gb ram, and half-sized wifi card.

My previous daily driver was a 2 year old atom powered netbook, this feels like an upgrade in every aspect, and for my main use cases (embedded development and web browsing) I hope to use it daily for many years.

Tom

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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#57 Post by Pete B » Fri Aug 19, 2016 5:41 pm

One of the nice things about all the X61 versions is that they all employ Core 2
Duo processors that are just slightly lower clock speed than the typical T61
series and are even capable of 64 bit computing - not that its needed. 8GB
of RAM even if it is expensive. No where near as limited as most of the netbooks
out there.
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Re: Thinkpad X61 still relevant?

#58 Post by gainphile » Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:48 am

How relevant X61 is? ... very!! I haven't found anything to replace it yet.

At work they gave me MacBook Air running win10 and I kindly returned it and use my own X61 :D

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