Thinkpads Forum

Hi! I have a kind of silly question... I'm following some X61s and X61T models being offered in the local e-shops. They're about the same price and config in term of CPU, RAM and HD.

Which one will run cooler? Does the bigger case of the T model helps a bit against heat? I don't really need a tablet, but sometimes I find they're better to watch videos in the train or in the plane. And since the prices are very similar I may pull the trigger on one. Unless they run really hot. (I know the differences between the "s" and "T" models, CPU power is not that important to me)

Any hint or advice will be welcome!

Thanks a lot in advance!

T.

if they all use the L7xxx CPU then there is very little difference in heat output.

Thanks for the hint! What about the (in)famous heat on the palmrest? Does the bezel from the "T" model have any improvements over the "S" one?

I will assume the screen (even if XGA) of the tablet will be also better. Correct?

Palmrest heat is caused by an 4965AGN adapter.

I know that, but the latter bezel models for X61x's have improve heat shielding where the wlan card is, plus extra vent holes on the right. Since the bezel of the T model is also different than the not tablet versions, my question is if they bring any improvement in cooling or not.

Tasurinchi wrote:Thanks for the hint! What about the (in)famous heat on the palmrest?

you can change the intensity of your wlan card (at least for the intel ones) in windows device settings and then it is much cooler.

Yup! I know that too, I managed to cool down the wlan card in my X60 using Powertop (I'm using Linux Mint 11) and changing the palmrest with a X61 model, the one with the FP reader on the right and the extra cool vents (that btw blocks the IR port, but I don't care)

But my main question still remains. Is the palmrest of a X61 tablet improved over the palmrest of a non tablet X61? Has it a better airflow or heat shielding?

There's vent holes on mine... Doesn't help much. Neither does the probably increased palmrest thickness. Turning down the transmit power to minimum makes it almost tolerable, but still very warm.

Some system planars are supposed to have a second fan to cool this area. Mine doesn't.

The newer intel wlan cards should be cooler. I read about it in the forums here.

You might have to use an unofficial bios to be able to use these unsupported cards in your x61.

get a modified bios with no whitelist, and then get a Intel 5100, this will run cooler than the Intel 4965 AGN card. Alternatively use a usb wireless card instead.

I removed the internal wireless card using the Lenovo instructions (which are a little defective when it comes to which screws to remove for the handrest). The heat was bad under windows but much worse under Linux. The driver in linux has broken power management (it's was literally turned off by the coder). I posted a fix for that over in opensuse forums. However, even with the card there & turned off, it was generating heat. Things are much, much better with the external adapter.

I'm using some el cheapo USB wirelss device called Black Knight 802.11b/g/n that actually survives suspend under linux better than the internal device. I bought it from amazon, but, the company listing it doesn't actually put the brand name down. If anyone is interested, I can dig up the link.

The palmrest is still a little warm even with all that. I'd like to add a cooling fan in the pc card slot (which I don't use). If anyone knows where to buy such a beast, I would like to try.

X61-Stand wrote:The palmrest is still a little warm even with all that

Is it a tablet or a non tablet model? I'm still interested to know if the tablet palmrest have an advantage over the non tablet X61x's...

It's an X61 tablet. I've read that the X61s has some auxiliary vents around the palm rest to keep it cooler. My grand plan is to put a blower fan in the PC Card slot. I found some fans small enough from Sunon: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/dksea ... =UB5U3-500
http://www.digikey.com/us/en/ph/Sunon/M ... iFans.html

They're 5V. The problem is rigging them up into a card and tapping the 5V supply. They also need to run in the right direction; I need to make sure that the extra air flow will count for something; they need at least an on/off switch. Many people complain about fan noise, but, it's so minor.

Anyway, my hand used to ache because of the wireless card. Now, it's just a little warm. So, I would ditch the card. If you're not satisfied, you can always put it back in, or, I can send you mine.

So, your original question was X61s vs. X61t. I happen to like the X61t with the wacom tablet built in and the high resolution screen. I hear good things about the s model for battery life and cooler palm rest. I just wanted a tablet, and, so it was no real choice for me.

X61-Stand wrote:I've read that the X61s has some auxiliary vents around the palm rest to keep it cooler

That's correct, I modded my X60 with such a palmrest, it looks like this:

X61-Stand wrote:I just wanted a tablet, and, so it was no real choice for me

I havent' decided yet if I should pay the extra price for the tablet or not. I'm curious about the X61s, but I expect the screen of the tablet model to be better. At least it was like this with my X41 vs X41T.

The screen of the tablet is of course better. It also suffers less from palmrest heat, being a thicker machine. Downsides: price, size, weight.

dr_st wrote:It also suffers less from palmrest heat, being a thicker machine

That was the kind of feedback I was expecting! Thanks

I run my very similar X60s with an Intel Advanced 6200N (half-size MiniPCIe plus bracket).
The palmrest above the card gets only lukewarm, much better than the 4965 oven before.

RealBlackStuff wrote:I run my very similar X60s with an Intel Advanced 6200N (half-size MiniPCIe plus bracket).
The palmrest above the card gets only lukewarm, much better than the 4965 oven before.

Merci RBS! I'll put this in my "to buy" list...

At the end the price did matter. So I went for the X61s, the Tablet I was eyeing was more expensive and had no pen included. I'll try to get my new model tomorrow... Half-size MiniPCIe card is under my watch list as next purchase...

As SXGA+ tablet owner...the high-res screen is the only reason I bought the tablet, and it was worth it. I've never seen another laptop screen with pixel density like this. I get compliments on how nice the screen is..indoors. IPS is nice too, but not essential.

j-dawg wrote:As SXGA+ tablet owner...the high-res screen is the only reason I bought the tablet, and it was worth it. I've never seen another laptop screen with pixel density like this. I get compliments on how nice the screen is..indoors. IPS is nice too, but not essential.

You only say that because you don't know how awful that pixel density would look on a TN panel

ssd_thinkpad wrote:you can change the intensity of your wlan card (at least for the intel ones) in windows device settings and then it is much cooler.

How much disk space do these drivers take? I'm using the 7 stock ones, last time I used Lenovo software update it proposed a package of intel wifi drivers which seemed to be a couple of MBs big I freaked out and opted out straight away.

It would be nice to make my palmrest a bit cooler indeed.

kamaleon wrote:How much disk space do these drivers take? I'm using the 7 stock ones, last time I used Lenovo software update it proposed a package of intel wifi drivers which seemed to be a couple of MBs big I freaked out and opted out straight away.

It would be nice to make my palmrest a bit cooler indeed.

I only use drivers win 7 installs automatically.

kamaleon wrote:How much disk space do these drivers take? I'm using the 7 stock ones, last time I used Lenovo software update it proposed a package of intel wifi drivers which seemed to be a couple of MBs big I freaked out and opted out straight away.

It would be nice to make my palmrest a bit cooler indeed.

ssd_thinkpad wrote: I only use drivers win 7 installs automatically.

Do the Windows 7 drivers allow for the INTENSITY thing to be changed? As pointed out by someone in a previous post?