Thinkpads Forum

Hi all,

I am going to be giving my x31 back to my employer and will need to pick up a new laptop out of my own pocket. I have been chasing the "best deals" online, in the range of $400 - $600 because a) this is the first laptop I am going paying out of pocket b) if I am going to pay a bunch on quality I would rather wait until after santa rosa.

Basically I was hoping to buy a cheap but solid specs laptop to get me through most of the year. Now that I continue to meditate on it, I don't want to have to lug something around that is 5 pounds and doesn't have a trackpoint. And the 8 hour battery life would really come in handy on campus. And I really am fond of the support model, replacing keyboards myself and such.

I am a current x31 owner and have been for 3 years, before that I used a craptastic Dell realizing what they are like, and before that I used a T21, actually I had 3 by the time I left that job. I recall when I considered a T22 a speedster. x60s owners out there, how has your experience been so far? I have read a couple concerning posts about ultralight lcds, fan noise, and heat. On another note, with the 8 cell battery I was informed that the back of the unit tilts slight, to the same extend as the x31 with the extended battery. Can anyone else confirm this? Besides the trackpoint, the other thing I think I have come to rely on is the tilt of the keyboard towards me which becomes a slight ergonomic advantage you would not ordinarily have.

Oh and I had given up on the idea of Mac. Build construction questionable, no ultral lightweight model, not interested in switching desktop OS at this time.

Any input appreciated. Thanks and happy new year.

This is actually somewhat of a repost of a question I posted at the below link about differences between x31 and x60 regarding the tilt. but still feel free to respond to the overall new post ; ]

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... light=tilt

Happy New Year, apbudha,

My X60s (1704-69U) has been indispensable for grad school. I don't even notice that it's in my bag, and the 9-hr battery life is amazing (w/ 8 cell battery). While everyone else is lugging desktop replacements and power bricks, I just pull my X60s out of my bag to amazed stares. I won't reiterate what you're read in every other thread about the keyboard (which is excellent), etc., I just wanted to throw my two cents in about the quality of the X60s.

There have been one or two times in the last 5 months where I lamented not getting the Panasonic, which is <4lbs and has a built in optical drive, but I trust the X60s' durability implicitly, and I can't say enough about the battery life.

Good luck in grad school,
Traci

apbudha wrote:I am going to be giving my x31 back to my employer and will need to pick up a new laptop out of my own pocket. I have been chasing the "best deals" online, in the range of $400 - $600 because a) this is the first laptop I am going paying out of pocket b) if I am going to pay a bunch on quality I would rather wait until after santa rosa.

Basically I was hoping to buy a cheap but solid specs laptop to get me through most of the year. Now that I continue to meditate on it, I don't want to have to lug something around that is 5 pounds and doesn't have a trackpoint. And the 8 hour battery life would really come in handy on campus. And I really am fond of the support model, replacing keyboards myself and such.

I am in a somewhat similar boat as you are -- I have an X31 from work (though I don't use my extended battery all that often), and have been looking at the X60 models (X60s, similarly specced, isn't that much lighter or have much different battery life), although I do hope to get my employer to pay for it!

But if I'm going to have it for another three years, I would like Santa Rosa as well. For sure to support >3 GB of memory, and there are a number of other nice features I'm interested in as well, such as IDA, HSDPA and better graphics.

In the interim ... if you are looking for an inexpensive X31, a friend has located a vendor that had nice X31 units available for a very reasonable price. I think he (my friend) is away until next weekend still, but if you are interested, PM me and I'll find out (when he returns) whether there are still some available.

X60(s) are excellent units. Just be certain to get an external USB 2.0 Multi-burner instead of (or in addition to) always needing the docking station for the DVD/CD.

apbudha wrote:Hi all,
x60s owners out there, how has your experience been so far? I have read a couple concerning posts about ultralight lcds, fan noise, and heat. On another note, with the 8 cell battery I was informed that the back of the unit tilts slight, to the same extend as the x31 with the extended battery. Can anyone else confirm this? Besides the trackpoint, the other thing I think I have come to rely on is the tilt of the keyboard towards me which becomes a slight ergonomic advantage you would not ordinarily have.

Any input appreciated. Thanks and happy new year.

I bought the X60s for school and it has treated me well. The 8-cell and 4-cell extended, do indeed raise the back of the machine up higher. I mostly use the 4-cell slimline for day to day operation since it brings me under 3 pounds and I carry the machine all day, every day. Even with the slimline the machine is slightly tilted, and the back is thicker than the front, as well.

The fan on the X60s is quiet to me...my 7K100 HD makes more noise than the fan.

The right palmrest is the warmest part of the machine. During the fall and winter the heat isn't terrible, but it is a little annoying in the heat of the summer. The heat varies depending on what you're doing. With WiFi off and doing non-intensive tasks (I think the HD activity can affect the temperature), it remains cooler.

I'd wait until Santa Rose. You can probably pick up a used/refurbished X31 within the $400-600 range. I like the X60s, but I wish it had 64-bit capability, a larger L2 cache, and slightly better on-board graphics. Otherwise, it's great.

apbudha wrote:x60s owners out there, how has your experience been so far? I have read a couple concerning posts about ultralight lcds, fan noise, and heat. On another note, with the 8 cell battery I was informed that the back of the unit tilts slight, to the same extend as the x31 with the extended battery. Can anyone else confirm this?

The ultralight LCD makes the X60s 0.2 lbs lighter than the conventional LCD. Another advantage is it's much brighter. However, because it's thinner, so some people have found that it flexes a little more than the regular LCD. My X60s doesn't make much fan noise, though it could be just because I'm used to my T43's super loud fan (LOL!). Yes, the palm rest can get quite hot. And yes, the 8-cell battery raises the back of the laptop a little bit.

I bought my X60s about a month ago from forum member Tselling and have been very happy with it. I like it more than the X40 that I used to have, mainly due to its much faster speed.

I'm a senior in high school, and I have been using laptops in the class since the beginning of sophmore year. I have very messy handwriting and I am quite unorganized (especially when it comes to notebook paper), so I find having the laptop with me indespensible.
I have used many laptops in the classroom, at points switching every few weeks because I got tired of some aspect of the one I was using. The ones I can remember off hand are
Sony Vaio F650 (P3 600)
IBM R31 (Cel 1GHz)
IBM T22 (P3 800)
Hell Inspiron 4150 (P4-m)
HP DV1000 (P-m)
HP ZT3000 (P-m and WUXGA)
IBM T43
Sony SRX88

There were probably more, but thats all i can remember off hand.

I bought my X60s over the summer and take it *everywhere* with me. It is about as close to flawless as you can get. From the size to the batter life to the durability, just flawless. Even as a desk-pc (because since selling my T43, the X60s has been my only computer, less a few tinker-boxes) it is great despite the 12" screen. When I go off to Purdue next fall, though, I probably will pick up a T series as both a secondary PC that remains on my desk most of the time and as a backup incase anything happens to my X.

It has plenty of power for most tasks. I run Vista RTM no problem, Photoshop CS3 Beta, and all. It can do most modern games - albeit not at full settings.

Overall, I am very pleased and I think that this might actually set a record for my longest kep notebook (except for my Sony F650, which I have had since 1999). Looking ahead, I will definately keep this through my Freshman year and maybe sophmore year too (2-3 years on the same computer is a LOOOOONG time for me)

Hope that was somewhat helpful.

thanks for the comments, its a heck of a choice. it is true you get what you pay for when it comes to laptops, so here it could easy be an"pennywise poundfoolish" type of choice. the refurb is a good idea, just not fond of possibly inheriting a lemon. I am halfway considered a Everex StepNote SA2050T Notebook PC from officemax for 750. although i know nothing about it other than it is 4 lbs and has a dvdrw built-in. although 12.1" widescreen is kinda short, don't mind keeping my 4:3 ratio.

apbudha wrote:although 12.1" widescreen is kinda short, don't mind keeping my 4:3 ratio.

You'll get 800 pixels vertically, which is actually more than what you'd get on the X series' 12" 4:3 screen (768 only).

I bought an X60 for grad school, and it's been excellent. My general experience is the same as what you'll read from most others -- ultra portable, great keyboard, bright screen, etc. While the majority of the work I do is with standard productivity software and the internet/pdfs, I also have been using InDesign, photoshop, dreamweaver, etc. extensively, and the computer is great for all of them. The only recommendation I would make is to get atleast 1gig of RAM. It makes a HUGE difference (I had 512 until about two weeks ago). The thinkvantage software is very good, and the wireless reach is amazing.

Good luck!