Buying Z60t soon - any issues I should know about?

[K. Eng]

I'm going to buy a Z60t probably within the next few weeks.

Are there any outstanding issues or problems with the Z60t (like fan noise, unreliability, etc) that I should be aware of?

I've followed the forum fairly closely and haven't seen any major complaints. I'm getting a Z60t rather than a newer T60 because I feel that the Z60t's issues, if any, are known, while the T60 is new and unproven.

Thanks!

[m333333333]

I had a problem with bad memory. I'm not sure if it was a common problem or just bad luck. Got the blue screen of death a few times. Lenovo took it back and replaced the memory. No problems yet. *crosses fingers*

Other than that, I thoroughly enough my laptop. I stopped using my desktop as soon as I got this!

[orl2222]

My Z60t is slow to boot, but to be honest, once up, is snappier than my T43. No fan noise like my T43, the screen i not as wide angle as my T43 flexview, however the blacks are blacker, and the viewing angle is not that much less. All in all a great machine.

[K. Eng]

Sounds good. What model Z60t do you have? Does it have the standard lid or the titanium lid?

[dr_st]

I've followed the forum fairly closely and haven't seen any major complaints. I'm getting a Z60t rather than a newer T60 because I feel that the Z60t's issues, if any, are known, while the T60 is new and unproven.

1) Crappy displays
2) Here and there units with subpar assembly quality pop up. Although we haven't had such complaints for a while now. Maybe they finally cleared that up.

Overall, it's a Thinkpad and as such should be alright. Still, unless one needs Firewire or S-Video or is desperately in love with bulky titanium covers or lowres wide screens, going for Z60t over T60 is madness, IMO.

the screen i not as wide angle as my T43 flexview, however the blacks are blacker

Among other things it's because everything is blacker (darker).

and the viewing angle is not that much less

That's something that can be said only from lack of real evaluation. Try watching DVDs from the corner of the room.

[K. Eng]

Hmm...

I hadn't heard that the displays were bad. The one on the Z60t I tried at Office Depot was fine. Not as bright as the glossy screens, but those give me a headache.

Hopefully I wouldn't get one with poor assembly. Given that I'll be getting a Customized To Order I don't think it's likely that I would get an early batch machine that might not be put together properly.

I do like the T60, but availability of the T60 is very tight right now, and the prices for T60s with everything I want + 3 year warranty are in the $1900 range, which is above what I want to spend. I just don't feel comfortable spending that much money on a machine that isn't even widely deployed yet. I bought this T40 almost immediately after they came out and had to deal with all the initial issues that cropped up with first batch production machines.

[dr_st]

I just don't feel comfortable spending that much money on a machine that isn't even widely deployed yet. I bought this T40 almost immediately after they came out and had to deal with all the initial issues that cropped up with first batch production machines.

Well, I can understand you, especially given your personal experience with the T40. In a way I feel the same. I have a T42 now and would rather wait for T61 or equivalent before upgrading. Overall, the Z60t should be fine.

[jpkeisala]

If you want to install clean Windows XP be sure to backup drivers from orginal windows. You will have a problems with soundcard because it's based on new chipset that is not supported Windows XP yet (coming in next service pack) also I had some problems with wireless to install.
Otherwise from hardware point of view it works nicely, silent and good looking laptop. Perhaps if I really look for minuses perhaps it could have possibility higher resolution. 1280x768 it's a bit small for my taste. Also they could just keep windows key out of keyboard.

[K. Eng]

After thinking about it some more, I've decided to hold off on a new ThinkPad for awhile.

I like the T series form factor better, and thus I am going to wait for a Santa Rosa platform T6x... it's going to be a long wait (1 year) but it's got all the hardware features I want.

Thanks for all your advice though (and thanks to the folks in my other thread as well)! I'm sure that other Z60t purchasers will find it useful!

[aabram]

I like the T series form factor better

Are you sure? I thought so too until I actually got to live with Z60t for a week (for a review). I actually started to like the wide base and shorter depth because it felt so much nicer in my lap than T42 I have. The weight distribution was much more convenient for me than that on the T42 and I didn't have that "will it drop over my knees" feeling nearly as often as I have with T42. I'd advise you to go and actually try a Z out before deciding on a form factor

[pizzaboy_2000]

i like the form factor of z60t as well. the shape of this baby is especially easy for me while i am traveling by airplane. the lower height could fit the foldable table on board a lot better than the others

[o1sowise]

1. Just today, when I let Microsoft Update apply a fix to MS Office, I realized that the Office that came pre-installed on my Z60t was not the same as the CDs tehy gave me. Because of this, the fix failed to apply and rendered Outlook and Excel (and prob the rest of Office) unusable. I had to uninstall and reinstall with my CDs.
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