Thinkpads Forum

Do you agree with this thought process for an x61s:

1) Processor: 1.6 v. 1.8 - not enough of a difference to matter

2) Ultralight LCD a bit brighter and lighter, so might as well

3) RAM - get 1gb (one DIMM) from Lenovo and buy a 2gb from a third party vendor

4) HD - get cheapest and buy from a third party. Thinking of a WD or Seagate 250gb 5400

5) Wifi - Thinkpad (Atheros) may be better, but seems to run hot. I don't need N, so take the Intel 3945 abg

6) Battery - don't need 8 hours. Enhanced is not that much bigger than the slim, so worth it for a bit more battery life

7) OS - XP pro

richarddd wrote:Do you agree with this thought process for an x61s:

1) Processor: 1.6 v. 1.8 - not enough of a difference to matter

2) Ultralight LCD a bit brighter and lighter, so might as well

3) RAM - get 1gb (one DIMM) from Lenovo and buy a 2gb from a third party vendor

4) HD - get cheapest and buy from a third party. Thinking of a WD or Seagate 250gb 5400

5) Wifi - Thinkpad (Atheros) may be better, but seems to run hot. I don't need N, so take the Intel 3945 abg

6) Battery - don't need 8 hours. Enhanced is not that much bigger than the slim, so worth it for a bit more battery life

7) OS - XP pro

1) If you're getting an "s" model, chances are you don't do much that is processor intensive. I purposely chose the slowest processor option available on mine, 1.4GHz

2) Looked at another way, since the difference is really very negligible - it is also worth considering saving the ~$50ish and just go with the regular screen. I have both an ultralight and non-ultralight model and you have to put them side-by-side and pay attention to see the difference in brightness

3) definitely agree - 1GB modules have been as cheap as $16 lately in Canada

4) Personally I like to have the factory-installed hard disk with the hidden recovery partition on it and not spend several hours (at best) fooling around with imaging / reinstalling windows. The prices lenovo charges for HD upgrades are fairly modest, so it is worth considering. Also make sure you actually need the extra HD space. I get by with 60GB no problem on my X61s. Unused HD space is "wasted space"!

5) Agree - 3945 is best for most regular joes that want minimal heat and don't use -n

6) I have both the 8-cell (extended) and 4-cell slimline. Unfortunately i've never seen the 4-cell extended. The slimline makes the notebook *very* light and compact for the times that I know I will be plugged in and I have the 8-cell to bring along on flights and extra long days at school. If you're just going to have one battery, the 4-cell extended may be a good compromise, but if you ever anticipate needing more than ~4 hours of unplugged time, then you should consider the 8-cell.

I like Vista and won't go back to XP. Vista has a terrible reputation that is wholly undeserved in my experience. Of course, YMMV.

richarddd wrote:Do you agree with this thought process for an x61s:

4) HD - get cheapest and buy from a third party. Thinking of a WD or Seagate 250gb 5400

5) Wifi - Thinkpad (Atheros) may be better, but seems to run hot. I don't need N, so take the Intel 3945 abg

4) Agree, but replace with a 7200RPM drive: noticeably faster, at no cost in power or heat (I know that sounds like magic, but that's how it is!)

5) Strongly disagree: Avoid the Intel 3945; both the Thinkpad ABG (Atheros) and the Intel 4965AGN are great, but not so with the Intel 3945.

Well -

I got the 1.8 - these CPU's are power graded such that the 1.8 uses about the same power as the others. Most of the time you run at 800MHz anyway - but the extra horsepower is sure nice when you want it. Mine was free with the ultralight upgrade- but prices seem to have gone up.

Ultralight - probably no big deal either way.

RAM - definitely get 1GB and upgrade later. Even if you want 4GB and throw away the 1GB - it's the cheapest plan and the RAM is just as good.

HD - Too much hassle to upgrade. Unless you are on a serious shoestring - get it preconfigured. How much will you save - $50? The only exceptions are if you need more than 160GB or an SSD.

Wifi - any of them are fine for most people

Battery - I also use the slimline or the 8-cell depending on the plan for the day. The bigger 4-cell seems like the worst of both worlds.

Vista is a pain in the a**. If you want to get real work done - get XP pro.

2) I'm borrowing an x61s. How can I figure out if it has an UL LCD? Whatever I have is bright and crisp. I can't find 7667 in tabook

Product: ThinkPad X61s 7667-34U

Original description: L7500(1.6GHz), 1GB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 12.1in 1024x768 LCD, Intel X3100, Intel 802.11agn(n-disabled), Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 8c Li-Ion, WinVista Business

4) HD - the last time I switched HDs, I put the new drive in an enclosure and ran trueimage to clone the old drive. It took a few minutes to set up the software and some time to run.

I always seem to want more disk space, so I'd rather get a 250gb.

Also, WD or Seagate seem preferable to Lenovo's Hitachis.

5) Wifi - we're running 2-1 in favor of the 3945. Other than n, what's the advantage of the 4965? I'd eliminate the Atheros due to heat.

6) The slim and enhanced batteries are very close in size, weight and battery life. I figure 1/2" more height is very small and is a reasonable trade for another 1/2 hour of battery life.

2.7 * 0.6 * 6.9", 0.44 lbs, 3.11 hours
2.7 * 0.9 * 6.4", 0.57 lbs, 3.55 hours

To each his own...

In my mind, not having an extra 1/2 inch is much of the attraction of an x61s.

Also - how often do you need between 3 and 3 1/2 hours of battery time. I need 2 hours or less for most things i do - even the 3-hour flight I often take once takeoff and landing are covered. Mostly it's 45 minutes in a coffee shop. If I need more than that - I almost always want 4+ hours of capacity.

1 & 2) Ultralight is also said to consume less power than the regular screen. I have not seen nor looked for numbers -- anyone have them handy?

As mentioned, around December you could order the 1.8MHz processor with Ultralight as the standard for the same price as 1.6MHz with Ultralight. Maybe that's still around. If not, maybe it will be soon as Lenovo updates their "sales" every week. (Same price in the end without the ecoupons, it seems, just different specials on different options.)

5) Intel 4965 is also more efficient and produces less heat than 3945. I recall a member here posting stats a month or so ago, if you're up for a search.

3945 was also notorious for dropped connections. 4965 redeemed Intel to some extent, though fwiw I still need to reassociate with native modules in Linux 2.6.24-git when I hardly ever do when using Atheros-based PCMCIA. Perhaps Intel's newest driver(s) improve the 3945.

6) I agree on awolfe63 on this one. The extended 4 cell uses a spacer just like the 8cell to fill the battery bay, yet sticks out the bottom. This is silliness. I have not used nor seen a slimline in person, but I want one simply because the 4 cell extended is not pimp at all. The hump on the 4 cell eats away at me while on the 8 cell it makes sense.

On reflection, and after considering the very helpful posts here

2) UL probably does not matter, but can't hurt

4) HD - I've heard some very negative things about Hitachis. I plan to switch from Vista to XP using our site license, so I'll have to rebuild anyway. Therefore, I'd get another drive.

I'm thinking of the WD 320gb 5400 or the Seagate 250gb 5400. Any strong feelings on these?

5) 4965 would be safer, due to possible issues with 3945 and heat issues with Atheros.

6) Slimline battery

Thanks

Any other thoughts?

2) Since you are looking at the X61s for reduced weight and reduced power consumption, you should definitely go "all the way" and get the UL screen. It is brighter than the normal screen (the latter can be rather disappointing, by the way).

4) I have been using Hitachi drives for a long time (Deskstar drives for my desktops, 7K60 for almost 4 years in my T42, 7K200 in my X61). I have never experienced a hard drive mulfuction (knock on wood) or any hard drive related system problems. The 7K60 and 7K200 are speedy, but not hotter or power-hungry. I don't know where you hear the negative comments from.

5) My 3945 served me well with Linksys and Netgear routers, and various public access points at cafes and airports.

6) Again, if you are going the "light" route, take the slimline battery.

If you decide not to get the ultralight screen and the slimline battery, then I think you are better off with X61.