Thinkpads Forum

I am starting a new job, and have a choice between a T60 and a X60.

Either will be used with a docking station, external keyboard/mouse, and 2 to 3 monitors. (Apparently the IT guys will use a third-party product to enable multiple monitors on the X60.)

At least at first, this will be my only PC. No desktop PC.

My normal PC workload is: Excel (2-5 workbooks open, each 1-5MB, with live data links so they are re-computing all the time), Word (1-2 documents open), Internet Explorer (2 windows open), Bloomberg, and 1 or 2 other applications. It is all productivity and financial stuff, I don't do any graphics or multimedia.

The IT guys originally set me up with the T60, but I'm considering switching to the X60 because I travel quite a bit. In a previous job, I was issued a T42p, thought it was a great machine but too bulky to travel with, so I switched to a X40 and was extremely happy. In my most recent job (the one I left a week ago to take the new one) they only provided older Dell laptops, so I used mine as a second desktop machine and bought a personal X41 Tablet to use as a laptop. However, in neither prior job was the Thinkpad my only PC - I always had a desktop PC too.

What do you guys think - will the X60 work for me? Specifically I'm wondering:
- Will it keep up with the applications? Is it RAM-limited, compared to the T60?
- Will it have screen resolution limitations, compared to the T60, when driving the external monitors? (Would hate to be stuck driving 21" LCDs at 860x600.)

Thank you.

P.S. Sorry, I am forgetting my manners. I am new to the forum, though I think I participated in the "old forum" few years ago. I started using Thinkpads with the 560. I have a weakness for super-tiny laptops (still have my old Toshiba Libretto, considering a oQo now). We've gradually become more of a Mac household, but I still use only PCs for work. I'm in the finance industry. I live in Portland OR. I agree with another poster that Thinkpads are like Porsches. We have two cats and two kids. Can't think of any other introduction stuff to mention. Thanks!

I use my X60s with no external montior as an only machine, and it is great. I have an external mouse for at home, and the Thinkpad keyboard is better than any desktop keyboard I've used. The screen size takes a little getting used to, and could be of a higher resolution, but its a worthwhile trade off for the small size and battery life.
My system had the Core Duo LV 1.66GHz and 1.5GB, and I frequently do my web design work with Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Firefox with 5-6 tabs, iTunes running, and a few other random apps, and it doesnt push back at me at all. I can also play GTA San Andreas fine at low-med settings on it, or Doom 3 at low settings.

If you travel a lot, go for the X60(s), especially if you have external monitors for home/work.

jyl wrote:My normal PC workload is: Excel (2-5 workbooks open, each 1-5MB, with live data links so they are re-computing all the time), Word (1-2 documents open), Internet Explorer (2 windows open), Bloomberg, and 1 or 2 other applications. It is all productivity and financial stuff, I don't do any graphics or multimedia.

The IT guys originally set me up with the T60, but I'm considering switching to the X60 because I travel quite a bit.

Are you using the same apps all the time when you're traveling?

P.S. Sorry, I am forgetting my manners. I am new to the forum, though I think I participated in the "old forum" few years ago.

Welcome back!

Trade offs.

If you use those apps a lot on the road, the small screen/res of the x60 may bug you. the apps will have to be tiled on top of each other.

OTOH, i find the T-series way too bulky now for travelling.

The X60 will drive those external monitors at high res no problem. It also has lots of power and speed, way more so than the X40. The hard drive is much faster and bigger.

I've used both. Those are the trade offs. It's a personal decision and comes down to how important portability is to you.

One final observation... my X60 is better quality than my T series were. But i got the top of the line X60 (170997U) which is $2400. It has all the best parts. Be sure you get the Atheros... ppl have had problems with the intel.

jyl wrote:I am starting a new job, and have a choice between a T60 and a X60. (...)

My normal PC workload is: Excel (2-5 workbooks open, each 1-5MB, with live data links so they are re-computing all the time), Word (1-2 documents open), Internet Explorer (2 windows open), Bloomberg, and 1 or 2 other applications. It is all productivity and financial stuff, I don't do any graphics or multimedia.

That's not much worse than what I do with my X31 (fewer Excel sheets, but sometimes much bigger). With the dual CPU cores, the X60 will handle that -- assuming, of course, that you are getting lots of memory (2 GB would be good -- I have 1.3 GB).

jyl wrote:The IT guys originally set me up with the T60, but I'm considering switching to the X60 because I travel quite a bit.

For travel, the X60 is a no-brainer. That's why I have the X31 ... hauling big laptops around airports is a pain, and whenever you have to fly coach, the X60 is at least feasible to work on on the plane.

jyl wrote:- Will it have screen resolution limitations, compared to the T60, when driving the external monitors? (Would hate to be stuck driving 21" LCDs at 860x600.)

The X31 easily handles my 21" LCD at 1600x1200. With an X60, should have no trouble at all with two or three of those.

Thank you, everyone.

On the road, I'll either be in airplane mode (just 1 or 2 Excel sheets) or in traveling office mode (VPN connection and almost the same set of apps as when in the office).

I know the small screen will be a limitation when I've not connected to external monitors, its a trade-off I'm willing to make for the portability.

OK, sounds like I'll go for the X60.

Down the road, if I really need it, I can probably get a desktop PC too. But I actually would like to try using only one machine for a while.

jyl wrote:Down the road, if I really need it, I can probably get a desktop PC too. But I actually would like to try using only one machine for a while.

What I plan on doing is just picking up a 15" R60 for cheap. That way, I have it as both a home system and a spare laptop incase something happens to my X.
And, yes, it is kind of nice having just one machine to deal with. At one point, I was juggling between 5 or 6 machines that I used regularly. I think that two is the number, though. It provides for redundency incase one fails, you have another to use if youre doing something on the other (e.g., compiling gentoo XD ), and it can be useful to have two seperate systems when multitasking, so that you dont have to deal with alt-tabbing or switching between windows.
It does sound like the X60 is the choice for you. I find the LV chip in the X60s is plenty, but if you need the power of the Core 2 Duo (which wasnt available when I got mine), and you dont mind a trade off of about an hour or so on the battery life, go for the X60.
Either way, you will not be disappointed. I've owned a handful of thinkpads and at least a dozen non-thinkpads, and the X60s is overall the best one I've ever owned. The only one that even came close was the Thinkpad 570 I had.

I use the X60s as my only machine because I don't want to take the trouble to maintain multiple machines. I use Dell 2407 24" (1920 x 12000) LCD monitors at work and at home and it works wonderfully. The only issue with the X60 is that there is no DVI out port for the LCDs even on the X6 dock, only VGA so the screen output is not as clear as it could be but it is still good.

I'm a "power user" that also programs with Visual Studio and has Linux (SLED 10) dual boot for programming as well.

You should consider "future proofing": for instance get the Core 2 Duo which runs 64-bit and 2 GB of RAM because Dell recommends 2 GB for Vista. I'm getting a new x60 with C2D and 802.11n as soon as they are available. Also, because Vista takes so much RAM and you're more likely to be swapping, even with 2GB RAM, consider getting a 7200 RPM hard drive. (2 GB RAM sticks cost about $400).

What is this multiple monitor software for the X60? I'd really like to know.

dfumento wrote:I use the X60s as my only machine because I don't want to take the trouble to maintain multiple machines. I use Dell 2407 24" (1920 x 1200) LCD monitors at work and at home and it works wonderfully.

Does the standard X60 video driver support 1920x1200 (and other wide-aspect ratio resolutions)? Or are you using a different driver? (Having gone through this pain on the X31 ...)

With most recent BIOS and video driver, it supports the higher resolutions.

If I was buying a laptop to use at the home and away from home frequently I'd probably plop for the T60 simply because of the screen size, however if I was using it away from home a LOT I'd probs go for the X60,

But I'm pretty good at carrying things, I cart about my 760ED to school every day, once I had to take two notebooks simoultaeously :p

dfumento wrote:With most recent BIOS and video driver, it supports the higher resolutions.

Could I bother you to some more ... would really love to know what high-res modes the X60 has? Beyond the standard XGA screen resolution, the X31 has only 1280x1024 (5:4 resolution on a 4:3 display -- my least favourite!), 1600x1200 and 2048x1536. What else does the X60 support?

tomh009 wrote:

dfumento wrote:With most recent BIOS and video driver, it supports the higher resolutions.

Could I bother you to some more ... would really love to know what high-res modes the X60 has? Beyond the standard XGA screen resolution, the X31 has only 1280x1024 (5:4 resolution on a 4:3 display -- my least favourite!), 1600x1200 and 2048x1536. What else does the X60 support?

I believe the max now is the 1920 x 1200 which is the 24". I am using a 20" at 1650 x 1050 on my x60s and it works completely fine.