Best Charger / Power Adapter for x61s

[Cunha]

Well I can't quite nail down what power adapter I need exactly.

It seems like both 65 watt adapters and 90 watt adapters are listed as working with the X60 series.

I am getting the impression that the 65 watt adapters were for the earlier chipsets in the X60 laptops and all X61's need 90 watt adapters? But when I put my model number both the 90 watt and the 65 watt show up. Is there an advantage or disadvantage to one or the other, weight, size?

My laptop came with a 90 watt, I can't be sure if both work, and lenovo included the 90 watt because this is a later model X61 (last year) and 90 watt adapters are what they had.

I havn't seen much info about this particular "ultra slim" adapter..just the less slim "slim" adapter.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 72900.html

But what is the most portable charger out there, and should I have a 90 watt charger?

Thanks for all the help. Just a bit confused.

[EOMtp]

It seems like both 65 watt adapters and 90 watt adapters are listed as working with the X60 series.

Although both will work perfectly on the X6x/s units (including attached to a docking station), there is never any technical reason to select the 90-Watt adapter for one of those machines. The 65-Watt, which is smaller and lighter, will always deliver more than sufficient current for an X6x/s laptop.

[Cunha]

I really appreciate the help. I sure like this machine. I have been wanting one forever. Toughest choice was between the 4:3 t61 and the x61 or x61s. I am content

[paul*robertson]

Is the 65w the same for the X60 as the X61.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... R-68026#65

[rek]

As a side question, does using the 90W power adapter with an X60 series machine help the battery charge faster?

From memory, a few Dell Latitudes do this when they have a high-wattage power adapter plugged into them..

[Cunha]

I think it regulates down to the same level with either charger, but I'm not sure.

Anyone have any experience with the new ultraslim 90 watt adapter? It looks like it is actually small and may even be reasonably light this time.

[EOMtp]

Is the 65w the same for the X60 as the X61.

Yes; identical.

[crazyfrog]

Is the 65w the same for the X60 as the X61.

Yes. Even X200/s use the same 65w adapter as X6x/s.

[Cunha]

No experience with the ultraslim? Also what about the question regarding charge speed with the 65W versus 90W? I think it would be the same but perhaps I am wrong.

[adrianaitken]

I've just got 2 of the slim power supplies. What can I say - they're slim and supply power

[paul*robertson]

I've just got 2 of the slim power supplies. What can I say - they're slim and supply power

Where did you get them. I'm after a genuine Lenova charger for my X61.

[adrianaitken]

Where did you get them. I'm after a genuine Lenova charger for my X61.

Uk eBayer (business seller) £45 inc p&p each - just looked and he's not selling any at the moment.

Added: now when these come out, for UK users at least, things can be truely flat
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/24991/1 ... g-designed

[paul*robertson]

I just bought off ebay a 20v 3.25a genuine Lenova power supply. It was advertised as an X61 power supply. I'm not sure of the part number, but in the end 20x3.25 is 65w and the connector fits. Isn't that all that matters?

[LegendaryKA8]

If this helps, I have a fair number of both 90W and 65W adapters... the T60p gets the 90W, and I use my X61s with both. I haven't seen any faster recharge times with the 90W adapter, but I haven't really timed them.

[paul*robertson]

Slightly off topic, do Lenova make an in-car charger/ power supply for the X6 series. I know in the UK it would plug into the cigarette lighter socket.

[crazyfrog]

Slightly off topic, do Lenova make an in-car charger/ power supply for the X6 series. I know in the UK it would plug into the cigarette lighter socket.

ThinkPad slim adapter comes with a in-car charger cable. See http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-68305
The slim adapter even has a smaller version: Ultraslim adapter. http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-72900

BTW, if one is more concerned about weight, ThinkPad 65W Ultraportable adapter is better as it is just 260 g (0.57 lb), while ThinkPad 90W slim adapter is almost doubled 425 g (0.94 lb) and even Ultraslim adapter weights 400g(0.88 lb).

[Woodenspoon]

Whats with those under 10 dollar adapters on ebay? There seem to be tons.

I got scared and paid for the 20 dollar one,
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Lenovo-90W-T60- ... 564097a0d2
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0581594310
one is 20 dollars, other is 25, not sure whats the difference there either grumble.

Anyways, yea i got into this forum doing the long horrible search for a cheap student laptop solution. Kinda surprised theres no ultimate faq at the top of this section....

[ibmfreak]

Whats with those under 10 dollar adapters on ebay? There seem to be tons.

I got scared and paid for the 20 dollar one,
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Lenovo-90W-T60- ... 564097a0d2
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0581594310
one is 20 dollars, other is 25, not sure whats the difference there either grumble.

Anyways, yea i got into this forum doing the long horrible search for a cheap student laptop solution. Kinda surprised theres no ultimate faq at the top of this section....

You may have bought Chinese fake adapter. Especially if the adapter lacks Lenovo written on the other side, it is probably fake one.

[Woodenspoon]

yea it says ibm on the back.
that being said it works and doesn't get hot. i've bought adapters in the past that were toasty, but perhaps those laptops asked for more power to begin with, so far so good, it charges fast and the software states it is 90watts. that being said this laptop can't really be asking for that much power anyways i bet. i'll test it out on my kill a watt sometime to see howmuch it drains from the wall when on +charging.

[pkiff]

Slightly off topic, do Lenova make an in-car charger/ power supply for the X6 series. I know in the UK it would plug into the cigarette lighter socket.

The slim adapter even has a smaller version: Ultraslim adapter. http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-72900
BTW, if one is more concerned about weight, ThinkPad 65W Ultraportable adapter is better as it is just 260 g (0.57 lb), while ThinkPad 90W slim adapter is almost doubled 425 g (0.94 lb) and even Ultraslim adapter weights 400g(0.88 lb).

Yes, the Ultraslim adapter still weighs a bit. You are really paying for the thinness, not the weight. And once you add all the cables, it takes up at least as much space as the Ultraportable 65 watt adapter. Just to be clear, though, if you are looking only for an in-car charger, then the Ultraslim adapter is pretty sweet. You don't use the power brick at all: the cigarette lighter plug has a small angular piece at the other end of its cord (you can see it in the photos in the link above), and your Thinkpad jack goes directly into that. You can leave the main power brick at home. And you don't need that extra splitter in the photo that they use to connect to both their Thinkpad and their cellphone either.

That's why they claim that "The new DC travel configuration is 64% lighter and 70% smaller than the ThinkPad 90W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter (41N8460)."

Phil.

[Woodenspoon]

measuring the x60, it does about 19watts idle, 30s under stress.
what does it is the charging, 30-60 watts on top of that for an 8 cell. so yea, 90 watt adapter is best.

[u.mac]

65W are *not* enough under all circumstances.... and 65W means 65W input, output is less then 50W.

If X6 is docked to ultrabase *without* battery, many features in use (Wifi, BT, some USB, Ultrabay-HDD...) and you're looking hd-video... X6 will hang

With (not empty) battery you'll see in powermanager, where the missing power come from

Same problem is known from T6x and W510 with 90W power supply

[Woodenspoon]

65W are *not* enough under all circumstances.... and 65W means 65W input, output is less then 50W.

If X6 is docked to ultrabase *without* battery, many features in use (Wifi, BT, some USB, Ultrabay-HDD...) are installed and you're looking hd-video... X6 will hang

With (not empty) battery you'll see in powermanager, where the missing power come from

Same problem is known from T6x and W510 with 90W power supply

not quite, it will draw even more than that from the wall, the rating is based on power output, input is always the standard 110v or whatever. psu is not 100% efficient. i measure with a kill a watt meter, that is the only real way. but yes powering a ultrabase would be pushing your luck on 65watts.

[u.mac]

Please check it out *without* battery and with really high load.

Take a look... http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-71222

This is a warning to owners of any Lenovo ThinkPads that own 65W AC power
adaptors.

Apparently, the 65W power supplies alone are NOT sufficient to power the
notebook in all scenarios. The battery can be used to supply power
during demand peaks that the external power supply cannot meet, and the
firmware knows this.

As a safety measure, the firmware attempts to identify whether you have
a underpowered power supply or not, and will attempt to limit CPU power
usage (by limiting its maximum allowed clock frequency) if you try to
use such a power supply WITHOUT a battery.

We know for sure the Z61, T60 and T410 are affected. That means there
is a very high probability that just about every recent Lenovo ThinkPad
have the same limitation, except maybe the ones with ultra-low-voltage
processors.

In order for the protection mechanism to work correctly, it is required
that the operating system correctly process the PPC ACPI mechanism, and
that cpufreq support is active and working.

You are advised to:

1. Use high-powered power supplies (90W seems enough) with your
Lenovo ThinkPad during high power-draw workloads (i.e. loads where
there is heavy demand of the CPU or discrete GPU). This allows
the ThinkPad to operate on its higher speeds during the entire
workload.

2. Never use the 65W power adapter *WITHOUT* a battery, just in case
the operating system is not doing its job properly;

3. ALWAYS use the latest firmware (EC and BIOS) available. You have
been warned.

If your usage patterns does include the use of a 65W power adapter
*WITHOUT* a charged battery:

1. Use the latest Linux stable kernels, as there were recent fixes
to the ACPI PPC handling;

2. Make sure the CPUFREQ system is working (i.e. cpu frequency limits
are available), ACPI is operational (NEVER operate any ThinkPad
manufactured in the last 5 years with ACPI deactivated), and if
at all possible, that CPUIDLE (ACPI C states) are also working.
"powertop" will show both CPUFREQ and CPUIDLE operation.

3. Never *EVER* tell the kernel ACPI drivers to ignore the ACPI PPC
method in a ThinkPad (i.e. never use the ignore_ppc=1 kernel
parameter). If you have any PPC-related problem, *report a bug*,
don't just try to work around it.

It is worth noting that, if the operating system does its job correctly
(and you did not braindamage it on purpose by using certain kernel
parameters) your data is NEVER in a dangerous situation, as the laptop
firmware will take steps to make sure it will have enough power to
operate properly.

This has been brought to our attention due to a bug in the Linux kernel
ACPI handling of the "_PPC" method which interacted badly with the T410
firmware. I am not sure what the situation with very old kernels is,
but for 2.6.32 and later kernels, you are strongly advised to use the
latest stable kernels, which have been fixed to handle _PPC correctly.

As a general rule, don't use any recent Lenovo ThinkPad with a 65W power
adapter without a battery. These boxes really want a high-power (90W or
more) power adapter.

[ParatoOptimal]

I thought they'd both charge the same. The 65W is lighter. I thought the higher wattage would allow the power adapter to charger cooler than the 65W one, no?

[u.mac]

If Thinkpad is in use, the 90W powersupply loads the battery much faster.

Both powersupplies are hot, when Thinkpad is in use and battery empty.

But the 65W powersupply needs less power and is cooler when Thinkpad is not connected (at 230V in germany)

[Woodenspoon]

no, coolness depends on efficiency of the charger..not simply the wattage. speed...well it depends on how much it can draw esp when the laptop is also on.

[loyukfai]

Today's notebook adapters are cleverer than before. I have used a watt-meter to monitor the power consumption before, once unplugged, the adapter draws little to zero power.

Cheers.

[Woodenspoon]

Today's notebook adapters are cleverer than before. I have used a watt-meter to monitor the power consumption before, once unplugged, the adapter draws little to zero power.

Cheers.

Well its been a long long time since they've sucked power doing nothing. It was those lead weight wall wart plugs that would use energy doing nothing... you could tell just by the warmth.

[lead_org]

you should use the 90 watt adapter if you plan to run the laptop without the battery, otherwise the CPU would throttle down.

The X series is also compatible with the W510's 135 watt adapter.