Thinkpads Forum

It came! After years of eyeing a new thinkpad, my shiny X61 tablet has appeared in the mail. I'm lovin' this thing...

But I've gotta say I am NOT impressed with Vista's speed and popping up questions every time I try to make a new folder. I'm sure I can disable it, but I don't have any clue how bad it will run once I have everything installed, even with the RAM I have coming installed. Unfortunately, I'm not an MSDN subscriber so I can't get XP Tablet edition. I think I may post something about it in the marketplace...

Anyway, just posting that promised celebration thread.

Ok, I lied. Vista's speed isn't that bad once it's fully booted. It just takes awhile to load all the programs. Once I get the RAM, I think I'll be content.

Congratulations on your new Thinky! X61t is a very nice machine from what I have seen, so handle it as a baby

OldManClayton wrote:It came! After years of eyeing a new thinkpad, my shiny X61 tablet has appeared in the mail.

I guess you have received it in an A5 envelope --> watch me

OldManClayton wrote:Ok, I lied. Vista's speed isn't that bad once it's fully booted. It just takes awhile to load all the programs. Once I get the RAM, I think I'll be content.

Search the forum, you may find some very useful tips to optimize Vista (just like we did with XP) and to make it more comfortable to use

Cheers,

Marin

Marin85 wrote:some very useful tips to optimize Vista

Basically make everything as much like XP as possible. Also add a 2GB to the 1GB that came with the machine. Turn off UAC (the bug, er, feature that keeps bugging you every time you try to do something), turn off the eye candy (especially Aero), revert to Windows "classic" GUI and you'll soon feel right at home

I second hausman´s suggestion about adding some more RAM. RAM is actually never enough for Vista. Since you have x61t, you can max RAM out up to 8 GB as of now, but I believe 4 GBs should be pretty enough for most things (probably even a bit more than needed but that´s not bad, more RAM can always come useful). The point is that Vista manages RAM differently from XP, Vista loads a lot of things to RAM, even when copying files it uses quite a lot of system memory (the bigger the file, the more memory goes in) compared to XP. And just for it uses so much system memory, Vista can be really fast.

Cheers

Marin

hausman wrote:Basically make everything as much like XP as possible.

That's very, very poor advice for a tablet system. The tablet support in Vista runs rings around XP!

Cheers,

Bill B.

bill bolton wrote:The tablet support in Vista runs rings around XP!

If OldManClayton feels ready for beta-testing, I would suggest trying out Win 7

OldManClayton wrote:But I've gotta say I am NOT impressed with Vista's (...) popping up questions every time I try to make a new folder.

The best solution is to play by the rules. Leave UAC alone (UAC is the part of Vista that pops up the confirmation dialogs) as it plays an important role in keeping your system safe, and use your user folder (C:\Users\<user_name>) to keep all your files (documents, music, video, whatever). You won't ever be asked for confirmation while performing operations in your private folder or any of its subfolders.

I love this thing...

First thing I did was revert to classic theme. I don't care if the UAC is more secure, I turned it off. It was the most obnoxious thing I think I have ever come across in windows, asking everytime I hit the mouse button. I've got 2GB in the mail!

I have the windows 7 beta, but I don't want to fiddle around too much with the partitions on this machine (this will not be the target of many hacks or mods or edgy stuff like my other computers have been. This is my first new computer) and I don't want to have to reinstall Vista and all my settings again later. I'm going to have a whack at installing it in a virtual PC once that RAM stick comes in the mail, see if it will work. They've installed it on 600Mhz computers, so...

Thanks for the input guys! I'm really enjoying it and it was well worth the wait and money.

Meant to ask, does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade to a new Vista version from a virtual DVD drive? I wondered if it all took place without needing a restart and boot into setup mode, because I have a Vista Ultimate DVD and the tablet's running Home Premium. No external DVD drive yet.

Congratulations. When I saw the thread name and your name, I knew what had happened. I remember seeing a few threads where you posted wanting the x61t.

If you like the X61 with Vista just wait until you run it with Windows 7 (even the Beta)

I recently bought one tooo! Where did you get yours?

OldManClayton wrote:Meant to ask, does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade to a new Vista version from a virtual DVD drive? I wondered if it all took place without needing a restart and boot into setup mode, because I have a Vista Ultimate DVD and the tablet's running Home Premium. No external DVD drive yet.

You can do this with Linux, but Vista always asks for reboot (I verified this several times...). It could be possible with some "deep" hack into the virtual installation media (i.e. creating your own one like with vLite), but I´m not aware of anything like this. I believe the main problem is that during the upgrade at some stage all services have to be shut down, so even if you manage to start an installation from within the virtual drive without rebooting, at some point the drive won´t be accessible. The only way would be to automatize the process in such a way that all neeeded files are copied on another partition in order for the setup program to be independent from the virtual drive. But that´s just speculation of mine.

Marin

Ah, thanks Marin85. I guess I'll just have to wait until I can find an external DVD drive. I actually ended up buying a new one from eBay. Lenovo dropped the multitouch feature and the price went back up. Originally I had been planning on buying it on ebay, then I decided lenovo, and it ended up being on ebay again. I didn't end up getting the multitouch, but I got the new unit for about $860 not counting the RAM and screen protector and case I've bought/am buying.

The whole thing is just perfect, and I'm using the tablet feature a ton more than I expected. The little grip from the 8-cell battery is ingenious and doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it might. It's weird to actually have a new computer. O_o Nice to have a working thinkpad again! And I can actually... *GASP* TAKE IT AWAY FROM THE WALL SOCKET!

I could keep rambling about how awesome it is, but you all already know.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that hibernating instead of shutting down saves quite a bit of time and is far more acceptable. I'm slowly getting used to Vista's quirks... Although network communication with my desktop over wireless is strangely slow... but it's fast on other computers. Hm.

Continuing my little mini-review... I got the 2GB stick in the mail today. It's very noticeably faster now, rotation of the screen is almost instantaneous, and I'm installing Windows 7 in a Virtual PC as I write this, with no slowdowns or anything. Against my better judgment, I took the tablet to class today (I was originally going to wait until I bought the protective sleeve) and wouldn't you know it, there's a large-ish scratch atop the unit now. No clue how it got there, but when I took it out of the conventional laptop case that I was also using to hold my now-obsolete notebook and mathematics text, there it was. It's a blast to write on, and once I finally got finnicky Vista to connect to the campus network, internet browsing in Chrome was awesome. Pen flicks are very handy indeed. One of the things I was looking forward to using the tablet mode for was watching movies, and so far, youtube and Hulu have done well. I thought I'd miss the multi-touch feature, but it doesn't bug me now.

The tablet also came in handy today for media creation purposes. I was commissioned to write a quick little song for a podcast, and it was very handy to be able to listen to the music I recorded through the tablet on headphones while I recorded the vocals with my ancient desktop. Painting in Artrage 2 is also fun. (though I'm really really bad at it)

I was surprised that I actually had to get used to the keyboard, (I was expecting the feel of the 600E or maybe the even better 560 keyboard) but now that I am, I could never go back to anything else. The sensitive and self-correcting trackpoint is genius, and any reservations that someone may have against getting an x61 tablet should be flown out the window. This is a positively perfect little machine, and well worth the wait. Standard ratio screens are my favorite, and I don't know how I'd like the x200 in portrait mode-- this thing is already long enough.

More thoughts as they come. But seriously, if any potential x61 adopters out there are reading this, (READ:) pick it up. I highly recommend it.

Congratulations on your new tablet! Sounds like you made an informed decision when you purchased it, and are using all the features it is built for. Also nice review so far.

OldManClayton wrote:(I was originally going to wait until I bought the protective sleeve)

If you mean the Lenovo-made tablet sleeve, then I'd recommend not purchasing it. Like you one of the first accessories I bought after getting my new X61T a while back was the tablet sleeve, which in my humble opinion is not very well engineered. The tablet is very difficult to fit into the sleeve and later take out. It gets extremely hot inside the faux-leather compartment. It adds to the weight significantly. And believe me, I've never seen a material scratch as easily as the clear plastic liner that fits over the tablet's LCD when it is placed in the sleeve. Just a few days worth of writing reduced that thing to a scratchy mess. Perhaps it was only a bad unit I received, but I sold it for a deep discount to a forum member shortly after purchasing it.

I previously mentioned my bias against screen protectors, but if you care about your screen then a screen protector is infinitely better than the Lenovo tablet sleeve, in my very humble opinion. They never scratch very much. I just don't like the glare and uneven light reflection off those. Just my $0.02.

Thanks for telling me! I already ordered a screen protector, and was planning on taking the one included in the sleeve out... but if you say it's hard to get in, I guess I won't get it. I want to keep it from being scratched, not scratch it up more. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what case I should get? I was kind of wanting the lenovo one because it protected the laptop while still letting me use it in its case, and it was specially fit, but now...

i also got my x61T last week. i think it's almost the same as yours but i got multi-touch on mine. like you, i upgraded my ram and got a screen protector (all arrived and installed).

the speed is pretty good. i'm coming from a slow x40 so this is blazing compared to that old machine.

pros:
tablet feature is great. i used it a lot more than i thought i would.
onenote is a cool program
vista isn't as bad as i thought it would be

cons:
a little bulky and heavy (as i said, i'm coming from a x40)
battery life on the 4 cell is terrible (i want to minimize weight/size). battery only lasts around 1.5 hours for me.
the wireless switch in the front malfunctions a lot. i find that it says that it turned off when it's really on so i have to turn it off and on again to reset it and i seems to work well after that.

but yeah like you i'm pretty excited and enjoy having a new computer for once (it's been about 4 years since i got the x40).

RVD.

Congratulations on the new laptop!

I was contemplating one of these for a while, but decided it's not really my niche. But a friend of mine loves it (more for the IPS screen than for the tablet features).

The connections manager does like to turn off wifi and bluetooth randomly. It's probably not the switch that's malfunctioning. Glad you're enjoying yours as well, they are nice machines! What do you think of the multitouch? I thought I'd miss it, but it hasn't really affected me much.

I installed the screen protector and goofed. Everything went perfect except for ONE little blob of bubbles on the edge that I couldn't get out, so I pulled it up part way. After an entire ordeal, I got it back on, but now it has smudges and dust bubbles on the underside. Way to go, me.

Still keeping an eye out for a good sleeve.

OldManClayton wrote:The connections manager does like to turn off wifi and bluetooth randomly.

It´s probably not the connection manager but the power management If you are still looking for solution, this has been covered several times in recent threads like here.

Cheers,

Marin

multi-touch is nice but i don't really use it. i find that it's just easier to use the stylus than my finger. but i also don't really think i'd use the 1400x1050 resolution so i'm ok with 1024x768. most of the time i have my computer on the ultrabase and connected to an external monitor (actually 2 of them) and an external keyboard and wireless mouse.

for the screen protector, i got a photodon. it seems to be ok so far but it's only been a few days.

i haven't found a good sleeve yet. i have my old sleeve that i used with the x40 and it fits but it's tight since the x61t is a little bigger and heavier.

i was thinking of getting one of those sleeves for the tablet that you can put on your shoulder but the reviews haven't been very good so i may hold off for now.

i took it to class last week and when i was using the computer nobody really noticed but as soon as i swiveled the screen to put it in tablet mode, i had a few friends ooh and aah and ask about it.

RVD.

Congratulations on th new computer!

For a sleeve, you can't beat Waterfield. (http://www.sfbags.com/products/sleeveca ... ecases.htm)
I have one for my T60. Very handy.
I recommend the flap and shoulder strap d-rings. It makes a very lightweight bag, and you can still stick it in another bag as a sleeve.

BB

Oh wow, that looks like just what I was looking for! Thanks a bunch for the recommendation!

I am loving the tablet feature. I am a student in an executive MBA program so I have been using it to take notes. I didn't really know how useful the note taking feature would be because I just thought writing on paper is just as easy and maybe easier but I love the tablet for the following reasons:

1) If I want to fit in more writing in an area where I already wrote, I can just insert more space!

2) I have a copy of my notes on my computer that I can quickly and easily print out. I lose my notebook sometimes and it is always nerve racking when I can't find it.

3) I can use some of the pre-set diagrams like graphs, etc. that make my notes look better.

The only downsides so far:

1) The viewing angle isn't so great when I'm trying to read notes. I can't just lift it up easily like a sheet of paper.

2) Switching from tablet back to normal mode is a bit of a chore when I want to go back and forth to IM/email and note taking. I know that I can write my email and IM but I find that I'm much faster typing.

The wireless is still acting strange on me. In tablet mode I am constantly lifting up the laptop to write and do things and then I put it down on the table. The impact from setting it back on the table always turns off wireless. It later turns on again sometimes.

RVD.

Just got my SF Waterfield sleeve in the mail. Fantastic fit, top quality! I definitely recommend them for anyone who can spend a chunk of money on a sleeve.

Still looking for a nice little external DVD drive or ultrabase on the cheap, but there's not much I'd change about this machine.

I was contemplating dual-booting Ubuntu but my hard drive is already almost full. 80 Gig hard drives with Vista Ultimate and a recovery partition fill up fast, especially with large iTunes libraries. So I'll probably need to upgrade the HDD when I can.

Lenovo did a good job on this one!

I just joined the club too. My new X61T arrived last weekend to replace a 4-yr old X41 Tablet. First task was to install Windows 7, which runs amazingly well on the machine. It ran pretty well on the X41 Tablet also, but with the crippled Intel 915GM graphics I didn't know what I was missing. The graphics and Aero effects in Win7 are superb on the X61 Tablet and the machine is fast, fast, fast.

Lenovo has been having various clearance sales on these and the sale price last week was $649 for a brand new unit from the factory, so if you're on the fence better move quickly...

I was pretty frustrated when I saw the sale. I knew they'd drop the price as soon as I saw it. If I'd just waited, I'd have enough money left over to buy all the things I need for it. XD Oh well, that's how it goes.

Did you already find a home for that X41 tablet?

OldManClayton wrote:...Did you already find a home for that X41 tablet?

Not yet, but as soon as I finish transferring files to the X61T it will be offered for sale on the forum.