Thinkpads Forum

Hey guys,

I'm using my X61 Tablet for ages and i'm more and more getting frustrated from it's performance.

It has a L7500 Core 2 Duao 1.6 GHz CPU, 4 GB Ram, Seagate Momentus XT Flash Hybrid HDD and CPU Performance is more and more an issue for me.

I love my 1400x1050 IPS screen and the 12" form factor.

Do you have any upgrade recommendations? I was looking at tabook but couldn't find any nice replacement model for my setup, having the following requirements (weighted):

viewing angles, display resolution, trackpoint, physical dimensions, cpu performance, 2.5" hdd slot

What would you recommend?

dubaitrader wrote:I'm using my X61 Tablet for ages and i'm more and more getting frustrated from it's performance.

How so? While a X201t will offer you CPU performance, you'd have to give up the SXGA+ screen.

dubaitrader wrote:Hey guys,

I'm using my X61 Tablet for ages and i'm more and more getting frustrated from it's performance.

What would you recommend?

I found that Windows 7 was a nice improvement....if you have not tried, I would suggest....your hardware easily fast enough to run it just fine....plus you can skip the Aero option and go with the Classic desktop and speed it up more. Saying this because you seem happy with the form factor and the screen resolution.

What are you using it for? Where is the CPU performance limiting you?

I'm in the same situation as you. I have 6GB RAM and the stock 160GB drive.

I was considering a 300GB SSD, when Intel releases their G3 SSD next month. However, I think a new laptop would be best for me. I do software development under virtual machine on my x61t and it's could be faster. It's not 'slow', but it could be faster.

I'm now waiting for a really good x201t sale or for the release of the Sandy Bridge (process) tablets to come out. Ideally, I'd like the new tablets to be released so I can buy it. I've given up on another 12" SXGA+ screen as it's very unlikely to happen. 1440x900 (WXGA+) would be good enough..

I thought I was going to miss my high resolution R60 when I migrated over to my X200, but I was surprised how little I did. The stick is so easy to scroll on, it in my opinion mitigates the loss of resolution to a large degree.

The X220t is probably going to be 16:9, which means 1366x768 and would preclude a 16:10 1440x900 LCD, though I'd love to be proved wrong. Probably the Fujitsu T901 is your best hope, but Fujitsu isn't a big user of high resolution screens.

An Intel X25M SSD was the best upgrade that I've done to my X61T. Subjectively it seems about twice as fast.

Couldn't you just upgrade the chip?? That would be an improvement and a little cheaper right??

MrPeter1985 wrote:Couldn't you just upgrade the chip?? That would be an improvement and a little cheaper right??

It's soldered onto the motherboard. You could swap the motherboard out with a 1.8 GHZ version, but those are hard to find and only 12.5% faster

Oh, I didn't realize they were that old to have soldered in chips

IvanAndreevich wrote:only 12.5% faster

That's of course if you're pushing the CPU. If not, they'll perform the same.

MrPeter1985 wrote:Oh, I didn't realize they were that old to have soldered in chips

It's not about being old, it's about being ultra portable. A socket which allows replacement takes up more room on the motherboard.

K0LO wrote:An Intel X25M SSD was the best upgrade that I've done to my X61T. Subjectively it seems about twice as fast.

I second this comment. I use X61T with Win7 on X25M G2 SSD + hacked BIOS to allow 3Gbps SATA speeds. Perfect machine! If only the LCD didn't have air bubbles. I have to get it fixed while it is still under warranty.

K.