Pros, Cons, Benefits, Recommendations on X60, X61s and T60

[ParatoOptimal]

I'm unfamiliar with these models. What's the good/bad, insites?
What does the 61 have over the 60? They seem to be pretty much the same animal.
I maybe purchasing one next month, that is, if you would recommend one.
I don't know if the T60 I'm considering has the higher rez screen or not.

I have an X31 P-M 1.3GHz and love the size/weight.
I have a Lenovo 3000 entry level dual core and love the dual core.

Thanks

[dr_st]

X61 is the most modern machine you can get that is the closest to your X31. It's a very nice machine in many aspects.

But a word of warning from someone whose significant other moved from an X32 to an X61 and had to accept some flaws:

* With the 4cell battery an X6x a nice, small and light machine, but battery life is bad compared to X3x with its 6cell.
* With the 8cell battery, X6x gives good battery life (better even than X3x on average), and weighs the same, but the weight distribution makes it feel heavier, and it is also bulkier (deeper and thicker at the back).

[ThinkRob]

If you don't need all the processing power, consider an X61s instead. It'll get better battery life and will be a bit lighter.

I had one as my primary machine for a year and I absolutely loved it. It was absolutely one of my favorite ThinkPads.

[jdk]

X61 is a 64 bit system. It will allow you to have up to 8GB of RAM, provided you install a 64 bit OS.

X60/T60 is only 32bits, and can only address 3GB of RAM.

Both have dual core processors.

The X60 is selling significantly cheaper than X61 on eBay right now.

[ParatoOptimal]

I see that the X60 is Core Duo.
The X61 is Core 2 Duo.
The T60 can be either Core Duo or Core 2 Duo.

If I can get an excellent price, I'd like to get the X61s.
Price may make me go with the X60 or T60. I'd prefer the size of the X60 but may opt for whichever has the better CPU.
I have no way to know which CPU is in the T60 unless there's time to ask the seller a question. I already asked one seller two questions, one each on two different laptops and have yet to receive a response.

[ParatoOptimal]

The X60 is selling significantly cheaper than X61 on eBay right now.

Do you have a url?

[jdk]

For the x61? Just do a search. Cheapest buy it now x60 is roughly $100 less than the cheapest x61. Unfortunately for myself, that places the x61 just over the budget I'm allowing for a new laptop.

[morkli]

I see that the X60 is Core Duo.
The X61 is Core 2 Duo.
The T60 can be either Core Duo or Core 2 Duo.

Some X60 came with Core 2 Duo, but they are still limited to 3Gb max. usable memory even if running a 64-bit OS.

Cheers,

[HACCP76]

The X60 uses outdated technology, while the X61 uses the latest. It has a faster CPU and a much better video card. It also comes with a 11n wireless card. The T60 definetly good but some of these are older machines. A lot of people are definetly going for the X61 but as someone mentioned above there are some corkers of bargains for the X60

[dr_st]

The X60 uses outdated technology, while the X61 uses the latest.

I wouldn't exactly say that, considering that we have already seen leaks of what is the third X series refresh since the X61.

Now the fact that X61's technology is more recent than X60 - that's definitely true. An X60 can probably be equipped with a 11n card (don't know if any left the factory this way though), but the 3GB RAM limit and the weaker video card cannot be circumvented.

[ThinkRob]

IBM's certified used store has been selling a bunch of X61s and X61ss lately. This is an even better deal if you have legitimate SPP or EPP access (i.e. if you own IBM stock or if you have a friend who's an IBM employee.)

[ttan98]

Hi,

Just bought a X61 tablet and I want to install Windows 7 Home Premium, it has 2G of Ram and with this memory I should use 32bit OS instead of 64bit, even though I can use 64bit.

Should I use 32bit or 64bit OS? Please explain the advantage of using 64bit? Should I upgrade to 4G of Ram and then use 64bit?

Thanks.

[jdk]

Use 64 bit. When you upgrade to 4GB, you won't have to change anything.

[ParatoOptimal]

Got a link?

IBM's certified used store has been selling a bunch of X61s and X61ss lately. This is an even better deal if you have legitimate SPP or EPP access (i.e. if you own IBM stock or if you have a friend who's an IBM employee.)

[marYn]

Some time ago I was like you. Searching for the technical spec, comparing each other. After some time with X60, X60s and X61 I can give you a good advice. Browse the forum and search for the issues with overheated areas (those WiFi "heaters", Core 2 Duos producing lot of heat, 2nd mini fan which seem to be a good idea to cool overheated WiFi, but makes a noise similar to a starting plane), etc.

In my case I sacrificed the overheating and loud X61 with superb spec to cool and silent X60s. The raw processing power is little bit lower but no big difference. But everyone has his own priorities.

[ThinkRob]

Got a link?

https://www-304.ibm.com/shop/americas/c ... login.html

[j-dawg]

Graphics: The X61's GMA X3100 is nothing to write home about. I don't think it's much of an improvement on the 950 found in the X60, if any. As I recall, some pundits considered it a step backwards.

Personally, I'd go for the X60 - cheap, fast, and not all that different from the other X-machines. I've got 3GB ticking away in my tablet and can't imagine that having another would improve performance vastly. Put the money you save towards an SSD if you're concerned about performance, but I suspect the faster CPU in the X60 (vs the X61s) would make up for the potential RAM difference.

[ThinkRob]

The only real feature that the X3100 offers over the 950 is hardware T&L plus (IIRC) some additional hardware support for shaders (although still not terribly good support...) The X61s's main advantage is its ability to use > 4 GB of RAM (plus, of course, the performance boost brought by Santa Rosa.)

[mikemex]

Well, some considerations about the machines you are asking about:

T60: Is probably the best built Thinkpad to date and actually pretty fast if you put a T7000 series processor and an SSD. Seek for one with X1400. Ultrabay uses the cheap PATA drives and can use other specialized accesories. Dock has Parallel and Serial ports and the machine itself has infraed. It's probably the fastest model you can get that has good backwards compatibility. T61 drops infrared and from T400 the series drops parallel and serial ports.

X60 and X61: I've not owned an X60 but they are almost identical except for the motherboard. X61 is generally considerably faster and runs way hotter. Both machines are superb when it comes to format; they have a very large screen for the size. There are Core 2 Duo versions of the X60 which closes the gap, but if you're going to go for rare versions, it might be a better idea to get an X61 with a Penryn core. It runs cooler and gives way more performance. Ports stuff is the same as with the T60: X60 has infrared, X61 does not. From X200 on they lack legacy ports. Ultrabase uses PATA drives. Battery life is adecuate with a 4 cell battery (not great; about 3 hours) but the machine is very compact.

I would probably choose an X60s over an X61.

[ThinkRob]

Well, some considerations about the machines you are asking about:

T60: Is probably the best built Thinkpad to date and actually pretty fast if you put a T7000 series processor and an SSD. Seek for one with X1400.

If you don't need a strong GPU for gaming or the like, I'd actually recommend one with integrated graphics as they have better software compatibility, longer battery life, and tend to run cooler. Other than that though, I second your recommendation: the T60 is an excellent machine. As an added bonus, they were exceedingly popular corporate machines, and thus parts are plentiful (and likely will be for some time to come.)

[ParatoOptimal]

mikemex,
You said you'd prefer an X60s but wouldn't an X61S have a better processor and run cooler?

Can someone point me to a link for, is it, EPPS for Lenovo selling refurbs?
Someone posted in another thread that an X60 could be had in like new condition for cheap.

Thanks

[dr_st]

Better processor - yes. Run cooler - not necessarily.

[Harryc]

Can someone point me to a link for, is it, EPPS for Lenovo selling refurbs?

It's against forum rules to post links to EPP sites or to discuss EPP prices. If you are referring to the Lenovo outlet, that is not employee pricing, and here is the link - http://outlet.lenovo.com/
IBM has a used laptop site as well.
http://www-304.ibm.com/shop/americas/we ... &langId=-1

[GpsPasSion]

I'm unfamiliar with these models. What's the good/bad, insites?
What does the 61 have over the 60? They seem to be pretty much the same animal.
I maybe purchasing one next month, that is, if you would recommend one.
I don't know if the T60 I'm considering has the higher rez screen or not.

I have an X31 P-M 1.3GHz and love the size/weight.
I have a Lenovo 3000 entry level dual core and love the dual core.

Thanks

Pretty close here, happy with my X31 1.4GHz and my Quadcore mini-tower!

Must say I'm finding it hard to wade through the x60, x61, x60s, x61s, x61 Tablet upgrade paths! After reading the whole thread it sounds like the x60s would be the better price/performance. I'm concerned it might a bit too small though, possibly a smaller keyboard than my X31 that I can use for hours on end with no strain?

Some have mentioned that the Core 2 Duo in the x61 (and apparently some x60s) heats up a lot, so I suppose that means the fan kicks in? On my x31 the fan ONLY kicks in when the CPU revs up on flash websites or watching YouTube videos, not something I do very much.

[ParatoOptimal]

is the keyboard of the X60s smaller than that on the X31?

I read on notebookreview that the "s" in the X60s stands for SMALLER. It's a little thinner than the X31.

I've read elsewhere that the "s" on the X61s and I believe on the X60s indicates that it runs cooler and uses slower CPUs than the non-s versions.

[GpsPasSion]

Good questions, not sure about the keyboard but Google found me this : "low voltage processor=longer life and ultralight lcd-less weight".

Saw this for the x61 too : "The palm rest gets very warm from the wireless cards mounted below it."

Looks like the x60s or x61s would be the way to go then...or the x61 tablet that also uses the low voltage Core 2 Duo 1.6Ghz L7500.

[ParatoOptimal]

Is there a problem with HDDs in the X60s? Do I need a hacked BIOS to get it to accept any HDD?

[ZaZ]

No, the X60s will accept any standard 2.5" hard drive. The tablet is a bit heavier, but has a much higher quality screen.

[GpsPasSion]

Ah that's good to know, I was wondering if the digitizer "obscured" the screen, sounds like it doesn't.

I've been reading about SXGA screens on the tablets but those I've seen on eBay seem to be the standard XGA, which I prefer based on my experience with my X31 and a T40P that gave me headaches. Were there several versions ?

[ZaZ]

The touch surface does give the screen a bit more of a grainy look, but it's still far better than any X6x notebook.