X61 notebookreview+another review.

[ryengineer]

Saw this thought could be worth sharing.

EDIT July 2nd: Saw this review today, it also confirms the previous reviewer's analysis of heat/noise issues this machine generates. Noise can be reduced by replacing the HDD but heat factor would be a different story...

I am not a lenovo basher but before any of you plan on buying this machine, just keep the below fact in mind. Also since it is meant mostly for people on the go so I think considering the pros it has to offer, people on the go will perhaps neglect it.

Heat & Noise
Due to its thinness the X61s can get quite warm, particularly if the room where you are is warm. I also noticed the heat when I was using it at the park and it was over 80 °. It is not too hot to use, but you may find yourself with sweaty palms after awhile. The right palm rest, which I think is where the WiFi card is located, and the underside of the notebook, were the warmest areas. It has one main vent to push out the heat located on the left side. When it gets going, it pushes the air at a brisk pace, which also makes it a bit noisy. The Hitachi 7k100 on the X61s was a bit noisy as well, making the X61s a bit noisier than your average notebook. I personally am not overly sensitive to noise, but I know some are more sensitive. I have used both Hitachi and Seagate 7200RPM hard drives. Some like mine are extremely quiet (I almost never hear mine), while others can be more noisy. It may be hit or miss as to what you'll get.

[Antioch]

Finally! =)

I've been waiting for some decent reviews to start coming out.

[gongo]

so the review says that the HDD was spinning a lot and eating resources... but I also read somewere that Vista does this a lot in the first 2 weeks. Is it possible to say that the resource hog is possibly due to vista?

[ryengineer]

Ofcourse, the reviewer did mention this:

Compared to Windows XP, Vista has been horrible in my uses for power management or power efficiency. It was hard to ever have a moment just sitting where the HD didn’t start seeking like crazy, or the CPU going under load wearing the battery down.

[gongo]

right but the reviewer mentions problems that I thought I had read about... supposedly it's just tasking all of the frequent applications or something and after about 2 weeks it settles down. I dont think that the review was conducted over a period of 2 weeks... maybe a week tops or less?

[proaudioguy]

Vista has settled down in my case.

[gator]

Unfortunately, it seems that the palmrest heat issue is not yet resolved. The machine looks awesome though, and I love that little antenna in the top - looks high-tech

[ryengineer]

The machine looks awesome though, and I love that little antenna in the top - looks high-tech

I like it as well, somehow reminds me of Transformers (toys, cartoons).

[own6volvos]

right but the reviewer mentions problems that I thought I had read about... supposedly it's just tasking all of the frequent applications or something and after about 2 weeks it settles down. I dont think that the review was conducted over a period of 2 weeks... maybe a week tops or less?

I had the laptop for about a week or so while I was writing that review. After a while I started disabling as much as I could to start some decent battery tests, but little seemed to work. Disk indexing was turned off to try and help, didnt work. One thing that really got me going was the Vista and Lenovo power management settings going back and forth. I would disable things like disk spindown, standby, etc, and after every reboot it would be back to 30 sec, 3 min, or whatever the old setting was.

In regards to the 2 week period, is there any sort of "hour" time involved, or are we talking 2 weeks of time on.. being 336 hours? I have had my T60 since November, and I dont think I have pushed 250 hours straight on it yet.

[Antioch]

I'm wondering what the temperature of the case would be if the machine is run with the wifi off? I'm sure it would cool both the right-palmrest temp. as well as the entire temp down some (for the times you aren't using wireless).

[own6volvos]

I'm wondering what the temperature of the case would be if the machine is run with the wifi off? I'm sure it would cool both the right-palmrest temp. as well as the entire temp down some (for the times you aren't using wireless).

Took the X61 from my case, flipped the switch on the front, and will report back in about an hour with the IR reading of the left and right palm rests to see if there is a difference.

[Antioch]

Sounds good. I would think there should be a noticeable difference with the wireless card powered off as it *should* no longer be dissipating heat - but who knows if things work as they should.

Anyways, thanks for that quick reply, and good job on the review - it makes me want to order my machine now instead of wait until mid-august to put the order in.

[own6volvos]

Now for the update, after sitting on for a while with all wireless cards disabled, the right side is 96F, left side is 89F. Not a big number difference, but palm pressing against it you can really feel the difference, right side being much warmer.

[Turbo Audi]

Vista has settled down in my case.

I read it takes around 2 weeks to index files and "conform" to your needs.

[Antioch]

Interesting. I would have thought that switching the wireless card (and WWAN) to off would have reduced the temperature significantly more than 1 degree. I have to conclude that the wireless cards are not the source of the heat (they obviously are very cool, ~1 degree).

When you say left side and right side, are you looking at it from the top perspective? Because I would assume that the harddisk is on the right side of the palmrest when looking from above. If so, then obviously the only thing that would reduce heat on the right side is to turn the harddisk off.

If you could show me a picture which more accurately shows where the card are located I would appreciate it - I'm just a bit confused by the results.

Thanks! =)

[own6volvos]

Go into the support section at Lenovo, select the notebooks/handhelds, then select the X61. At this point just press continue, and it will bring you into the section for all X61 models. Then click on manuals, and get the 5-6meg hardware manual. Scroll through till you see the pictures of the circuitboard area of the palmrest section, and you will see how the cards are mounted.

[Antioch]

You commented that the fan noise was minimal. I'm wondering how minimal it is? My T42 was piratically silent when idling (or web surfing) whereas my T60 is a complete letdown - the fan is always on at a high RPM whether the machine is idling or not.

Can you comment more on the X61 fan noise as this is a very important factor to me in my decision to purchase the machine.

Thank you.

[smvp6459]

My T42 was piratically silent

Does it say "Arrrr" and "shiver me timbers" quite a bit?

[Antioch]

Heh, I wish. Sorry for the typo - it was early in the morning.

[stylinexpat]

so the review says that the HDD was spinning a lot and eating resources... but I also read somewere that Vista does this a lot in the first 2 weeks. Is it possible to say that the resource hog is possibly due to vista?

By the way, I bought a new Desktop system that I setup by myself here in Taiwan. I went downto the local computer market and had the system custom built with a new 10000 RPM HDD. It was quite noisy at first like what people here were complaining of and cpu also seemed to be shooting up north. Now that I have had it for 3 weeks it seems to have settled down or better. Could this be the case for all new Vistas?

[stylinexpat]

so the review says that the HDD was spinning a lot and eating resources... but I also read somewere that Vista does this a lot in the first 2 weeks. Is it possible to say that the resource hog is possibly due to vista?

By the way, I bought a new Desktop system that I setup by myself here in Taiwan. I went downto the local computer market and had the system custom built with a new 10000 RPM HDD. It was quite noisy at first like what people here were complaining of and cpu also seemed to be shooting up north. Now that I have had it for 3 weeks it seems to have settled down or better. Could this be the case for all new Vistas?

[Antioch]

own6volvos, when you measured the palmrest temperatures did you have both the WWAN and Wifi enabled or disabled? Also, which machine did you measure the heat on? THe X61 or the X61s. I ask because the X61 has WWAN while the X61s doesnt, meaning that the X61 has the new "Second fan" installed while the X61s doesn't. The second fan is supposedly a second small fan pointing at the palmrest in an effort to cool it.

The reason I ask is because I am trying to determine if this second fan has any effect on temperature (or system noise) at all.

[atlacatl]

Did you notice the thinkpad logo?

It used to be "IBM ThinkPad." No longer: it now reads "ThinkPad Lenovo."

http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/23667.jpg

I liked the tri-coloured IBM logo

[qviri]

It reads Thinkpad X-series, actually, and web orders will have the old IBM logo.

You didn't expect Lenovo to keep putting IBM's logo on its machines forever, did you?

[atlacatl]

It reads Thinkpad X-series, actually, and web orders will have the old IBM logo.

You didn't expect Lenovo to keep putting IBM's logo on its machines forever, did you?

I couldn't read the whole thing in the picture. It does say "ThinkPad xxxxx."

As per the logo, when Lenovo bought IBM's computer business unit the logo (IBM) became a part of the whole deal.

It was published that Lenovo has the right to use the IBM logo/trademark for 5 years, starting from the day of purchase: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/do ... 398733.htm

So yes, I expected the name to last just a bit longer. Not forever, but at least as long as the original agreement stipulates.

[apbudha]

I was thinking about picking up an x61s in August when starting my phd program in computer science. I had been using an x31 for the past 3.5 years but had to give it back when leaving my workplace last month. before than I had used T20/T21s.

I was following the threads about the x60 and the temperature issue, and I have to say am really discouraged to hear it is still an issue in the new release. I would like to see how this develops as it makes its way out into user hands in July.

I've been using an HP as well as a viao temporarily for about a week and I have to say these laptops aren't so bad. The HP has lights that kind of acts as the ThinkLight. Although I think I could get used to a crappy keyboard for a 400 - 600 dollar laptop, I don't know if I want to compromise on the weight and battery life.

[vkyr]

There is now at NBR also a review of a ThinkPad X61s with an UltraLight panel, see:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.a ... eview=X61s

[Puppy]

There is now at NBR also a review of a ThinkPad X61s with an UltraLight panel, see:

As expected, the screen is not impressive at all. Compare it with Sony VAIO VGN-TZ11MN for example. I know I'm repeating myself but I see the display quality as the number one problem of current Lenovo notebook products.

[atlacatl]

There is now at NBR also a review of a ThinkPad X61s with an UltraLight panel, see:

As expected, the screen is not impressive at all. Compare it with Sony VAIO VGN-TZ11MN for example. I know I'm repeating myself but I see the display quality as the number one problem of current Lenovo notebook products.

It's a personal preference I guess. I think I'm OK with the screen, but the right-hand palm issue is the the deal breaker for me. I understand that the heat in such small machines has to go somewhere, I just don't want it to be either of my hands.

[apbudha]

As expected, the screen is not impressive at all. Compare it with Sony VAIO VGN-TZ11MN for example. I know I'm repeating myself but I see the display quality as the number one problem of current Lenovo notebook products.

It's a personal preference I guess. I think I'm OK with the screen, but the right-hand palm issue is the the deal breaker for me. I understand that the heat in such small machines has to go somewhere, I just don't want it to be either of my hands.

atlacatl, isn't it just baffling? do Lenovo folks not surf thinkpad related forums and listen to consumer complaints? it's nice to see that i can pick up an x60s for around a grand now, but it suffers from the same problem. oh and the whole Santa Rosa buildup: meh.

by the way does this only affect the s line of the x60 or both?

the Dell M1330 is looking good about now, or any deal for a multimedia-eque laptop from microcenter or otherwise under 700.
after playing with an HP for a couple weeks now realizing I can live without a trackpoint is quite liberating ; }