Which ThinkPad T60 to purchase for OS X86?

[3nigma]

Hello all,

This is my first time on, and I'm very excited to join the group!

Does anyone have any recommendations as to what ThinkPad model will be the best to interface with Mac OS X86?

I've decided to go w/ the T60 model line.

Should I choose T60 or T60p?

T60 = Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 or 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 PCIexpress
T60p = SXGA+ (1400x1050) 256MB ATI FireGL V5200

Is the QE and CI only available if I get the GMA950 graphics card? I really would rather get the most powerful graphics card possible (T60p w/ 256mb), if it is supported, but let me know.

Also, I'm going to call Lenovo and see if I can get the ThinkPad A/B/G wireless rather than Intel PRO.

Which is the better setup, to make OS X 10.4.7+ work?

Also, I'm dual-booting PC-BSD (FreeBSD) with it, so if you have insight into that as well, let me know!

Thanks again guys, I'm excited to join the group!

My ultimate goal is to triple boot Mac OS X86, PC-BSD, and Windows XP/Vista. All of your recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
-3nigma

(Also, what's the best Mac OS X version to d/l? I have 10.4.7 AMD.Intel-(JaS)-ISO-Repack, will that work?)

[randomocity]

At the moment I am running straight Mac OSX86 on my laptop due to the weird 2Gb of ram bug in windows. I have a T60p with 2 gb of ram and the 256 Mb video card. I absolutely love running Mac on my T60p with the exception of the mouse artifacting/tearing and the loss of my pointer after using a Full Screen OpenGL program. (Have to reboot afterwards and all works again, problem is lack of a framebuffer driver, and if someone knows how to code one plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz do, because you would be eternally loved by the osx86 community.) Anyways I have the IBM Wireless card which at the moment is the only one to work with OSX regardless. In regards to the video problems, i do get full QE/CI support and i believe all three cards can enable that.

Personally It really is your call for the installation, both the T60 and T60p work under OS X and quite well, though i do recommend getting a screen with IPS for no other reason than it looks amazing. Triple booting is very easy and is not hardware based. If you have any other questions, feel free to pm me.

EDIT: I didnt see the ISO question, but I tend to lean toward the 10.4.6 hotISO and then the upgrade rather than the 10.4.7 JaS Iso, but I hear they both work well.

[3nigma]

Thanks for the great insight!

What's an IPS screen refer to?

Also, when you say there's mouse artifacting/tearing, is that regardless of running the OpenGL app or not, or is that like the mouse disappearing altogether and only happens after an OpenGL app?

Is the mouse tearing frequent common w/ OS X86 on a ThinkPad? Is there also visual impairments when moving windows around? Is it usable as a main full-time OS?

All I'm doing is word processing, web browsing, music listening, movie watching, file-storing, all basic stuff.

Do you have audio/video working, despite other reports of it not working?

Thanks again very much!
-3nigma

[perry_78]

Could you please give me the FRU of the atheros/ibm card? My T came preconfigured with the intel card, and I'm not sure which FRU to order exactly.

[MaloventEvil]

Could you please give me the FRU of the atheros/ibm card? My T came preconfigured with the intel card, and I'm not sure which FRU to order exactly.

To answer everyone's questions, if you want overall support for your t60, get the GMA card. Note that the GMA card is MUCH slower, and uses system memory as video ram. Sleep should work on a GMA; make sure to order it with the Thinkpad Wireless A/B/G for full support.

Perry, just call them, give your computer's model number, and say you want to order the thinkpad 802.11a/b/g wireless card. No FRU needed.

[MaloventEvil]

Thanks for the great insight!


Also, when you say there's mouse artifacting/tearing, is that regardless of running the OpenGL app or not, or is that like the mouse disappearing altogether and only happens after an OpenGL app?

yes, that happens regardless because in mac os x, your entire desktop is 3d accelerated; all windows are textures in video ram.

Is the mouse tearing frequent common w/ OS X86 on a ThinkPad? Is there also visual impairments when moving windows around? Is it usable as a main full-time OS?

If you get a GMA card, you will not have any tearing. If you get a T60p, i have a way to FULLY eliminate tearing by disabling beamsync (pm me for more info) and using mouselocator.

All I'm doing is word processing, web browsing, music listening, movie watching, file-storing, all basic stuff.

It will work perfectly for you.

Do you have audio/video working, despite other reports of it not working?

Thanks again very much!
-3nigma

yes. everything except my microphone in is working for me.

No problem! pm me if you have any more questions,

-mEvil