Should I buy an X61s?

[Cola]

Hi all.


I've found a place in Denmark where I can buy a used x61s from another guy. He thinks it's a T23, but from specs and pics, I'm completely sure it's a X61s. I can get it for just 70£ (110$), my plan is then to either resell it or just keep it.

What do you say?
Is it a bargain?

He only lives about 40kms from me, so I can go check it out to see if it's the real deal tomorrow.


Regards
Cola

[RealBlackStuff]

There's quite a difference between a T23 and an X61s (14.1" vs. 12.1", 16V vs. 20V DC connector, no CD drive in the X61s, to mention a few obvious differences).
Ask him if the machine has a CD-drive or a slot for it, if yes, you can save yourself a trip.
Depending on the state it is in (if an X61s) it could be a bargain, if it comes complete with adapter, hard disk and RAM.
Good luck.

[Cola]

Thanks for replying!

These pictures is the ones he sent me. And from what I can see, it hasn't got a touchpad, it's 12'' (judging by the space next to the keyboard), also I can see that it says Lenovo, and hasn't got the IBM badges on the lid and wristrest.








I can also see that it has a Windows Vista and Centrino sticker. Which mathes with the specs he wrote
"1.6GHz, 2GB ram, 160GB Hard drive - IBM T23, smart subnote (27 cm x 21 cm), as new with windows xp installed"

[ajkula66]

Definitely a nice deal, if it's for real...

Good luck.

[falcong]

Consider that X6x/X6xs have problems with cooling - laptop can get really hot if you hold it on your knees. Also your right hand will be burned when you'll browse the Internet with WiFi. It's a nice little laptop, but outdated for these days (also 1024x768 is a pain in a**).

[RealBlackStuff]

@falcong:
it's never good to generalize about things you don't know!
The X60/X61 hot palmrest has been solved years ago! (1/2-size wifi card with bracket)

[Thinkpad Lover]

@ Cola: Well, the longer, 4-cell, "slim", flat battery in the 3rd picture gives away the fact that it's either an x60s or x61s. The x60, x61 cannot take the "slim" battery: http://consumersupport.lenovo.com/iw_IL ... MIGR-62401

And I guess the fact that it has a Vista COA makes you believe it's an x61s not an x60s?

Sounds like a good deal if what you see is what you end up getting.

@ falcong: The x61s is hardly "outdated" with its ability to take 8GB RAM, not to mention many other little hacks and upgrades which can be applied, including the half-height wifi card mentioned above. I own and regularly set up and sell a bunch of these x6x machines and have found that most people who complain about hot palmrest/overheating issues are are too bone idle to *completely* clean out and lubricate the fan and all vents - and maybe even refresh the thermal paste. That's the first thing I do when I receive these units and they run very smoothly and quite comfortably after that. Exchanging the well-used, poor condition battery they often come with for a Genuine, good condition or New battery gives these guys new life and better performance. That's something that's often overlooked in the discussion of temperature on these units.

Daniel.

[Cola]

Definitely a nice deal, if it's for real...

Good luck.

Thanks!

@ Cola: Well, the longer, 4-cell, "slim", flat battery in the 3rd picture gives away the fact that it's either an x60s or x61s. The x60, x61 cannot take the "slim" battery: http://consumersupport.lenovo.com/iw_IL ... MIGR-62401

And I guess the fact that it has a Vista COA makes you believe it's an x61s not an x60s?

Sounds like a good deal if what you see is what you end up getting.

@ falcong: The x61s is hardly "outdated" with its ability to take 8GB RAM, not to mention many other little hacks and upgrades which can be applied, including the half-height wifi card mentioned above. I own and regularly set up and sell a bunch of these x6x machines and have found that most people who complain about hot palmrest/overheating issues are are too bone idle to *completely* clean out and lubricate the fan and all vents - and maybe even refresh the thermal paste. That's the first thing I do when I receive these units and they run very smoothly and quite comfortably after that. Exchanging the well-used, poor condition battery they often come with for a Genuine, good condition or New battery gives these guys new life and better performance. That's something that's often overlooked in the discussion of temperature on these units.

Daniel.

Okay, so it must be an X61s then. I'll speak to the owner later today, and probably go get it. I'll reply here whether I got it or not, as well as posting a few pics if I got it

Thanks for replying!

[falcong]

@RedBlackStuff,Thinkpad Lover:

I run the latest middleton's BIOS in my X61s and I have an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 card in it and it still can get quite hot.
Also there is no HDMI or DisplayPort, only D-Sub. No SATA III. 1024x768 screen resolution (yeah I know there are mods to 1400x1050, but it's hard to get this screen brand new and originial). Sorry, but this machine is a dinosaur compared to X220.

[Tasurinchi]

Sorry, but this machine is a dinosaur compared to X220

Of course an X61s is much older, but I think the OP's question was if it's a good deal to get an X61s for 70£, and I agree with the people that said that it is a good deal. I don't think you will get an X220 for that money.

[falcong]

Of course an X61s is much older, but I think the OP's question was if it's a good deal to get an X61s for 70£, and I agree with the people that said that it is a good deal. I don't think you will get an X220 for that money.

Yes, this is brilliant deal. These new netbooks are crap, definitely go for X61s. But he should keep in mind all these disadvantages of X6x serie that I have mentioned above.

[Tasurinchi]

The thing is that heat perception may be very different from person to person. I also have the 6200n in one of my X61s, together with a palmrest model including some copper shielding above the wlan card.

I personally feel that the difference in temperature with the rest of the X6's models I have is huge! I have to dig for an old thread here where I posted the temps after this mod, but I think they were around 45°C if memory serves me well...

My 2 cents...

[Cola]

Thanks all for your replies. I ended up buying his X61s and an X41 he had as well. (Got both for 90£)

I'm installing Windows to them as I'm writing this.

Specs for X61s is:

Core 2 Duo L7500 @ 1.6GHz
2GB DDR2 ram
12'' XGA
Intel GMA X3100
160GB SATA HDD

With original charger and 4-cell battery. In quite nice condition imo. I'ma give the keyboard a bath tonight though, letting it dry over night leaves it nice and like new tomorrow.


Specs for X41 is:

Pentium M 1.6GHz
1GB DDR2 ram
12'' XGA
Intel GMA 900
40GB ATA HDD

Has got a small hole in the right corner. The previous owner didn't know why. Hence I got it this cheap. In general it's in good nick as well, though the keyboard needs a bath.


Pics:

X41
http://i.imgur.com/GuVPYl.jpg

X41
http://i.imgur.com/ZoM33l.jpg

X61s
http://i.imgur.com/iJdWbl.jpg

X61s
http://i.imgur.com/kO0hEl.jpg


So yeah, haven't cleaned them yet, so they don't look photogenic yet, but keep an eye out in the pictures forum. I'll post these two babies and my T43p as well. Maybe my T40 as well

[RealBlackStuff]

Please change your pictures to LINKS, they are too big.
Looks like you got yourself 2 bargains, especially the X61s.
You mention £90 (=$139.81), should that not be €90 (=$109.87)?

[Tasurinchi]

Wow, those are dusty Thinkpads

20£ (or €) it's a really bargain for an X41...

[Cola]

Please change your pictures to LINKS, they are too big.
Looks like you got yourself 2 bargains, especially the X61s.
You mention £90 (=$139.81), should that not be €90 (=$109.87)?

Pictures changed.

And no, I mean £ (GBP), as it's the easiest from me to convert from DKK (Danish Krone) to GBP, as 1 GBP is 10 DKK.

Wow, those are dusty Thinkpads

20£ (or €) it's a really bargain for an X41...

Yeah, but as mentioned, when I get home from my vacation in Italy the next week, I'll clean them thoroughly and then take new pictures, and post them in the Picture forums

[ScottyBoy]

I'ma give the keyboard a bath tonight though, letting it dry over night leaves it nice and like new tomorrow.

Good deal! My tuppence worth of input would be to remove the keyboards from the two TPs and clean with keyboard wipes - quicker, easier and a lot less hassle to get done...if needed you can also pop off the keys from the keyboards, to clean underneath them as well.

BTW you might want to consider installing the Middleton BIOS onto your X61s as well.

[Cola]

Good deal! My tuppence worth of input would be to remove the keyboards from the two TPs and clean with keyboard wipes - quicker, easier and a lot less hassle to get done...if needed you can also pop off the keys from the keyboards, to clean underneath them as well.

BTW you might want to consider installing the Middleton BIOS onto your X61s as well.

Thanks!
I'ma try removing some of the keys when I'm taking off the keyboards, to check hos it looks underneath.

What advatages does the Middleton BIOS have compared to the one It's running now? (Pretty sure it's stock bios. I'm not into bios stuff ^^.)

[Tasurinchi]

What advatages does the Middleton BIOS have compared to the one It's running now?

The main features are the removal of the whitelist for wlan cards and enabling SATA-II speeds. Very handy if you plan to install an SSD in the future

Regarding keyboard cleaning, I have an extreme approach. I normally remove the keyboard from the TP (4 screws), take it to the kitchen's sink and apply a strong stream of hot water. I just take care that the electronics don't get wet (no submersion!) and then leave it for 24 hours to get dry. So far never a problem with that...

[Cola]

The main features are the removal of the whitelist for wlan cards and enabling SATA-II speeds. Very handy if you plan to install an SSD in the future

Oh very nice, I'll google around a bit to see if I can find it. I actually was thinking of putting in an SSD. Especially with the incredibly low SSD prices atm!

[Tasurinchi]

No need to google: click me

[Cola]

No need to google: click me

Awesome. Thanks

[ScottyBoy]

What advatages does the Middleton BIOS have compared to the one It's running now? (Pretty sure it's stock bios. I'm not into bios stuff ^^.)

Basically Middleton's BIOS provides core native SATA-300 speeds, SLIC 2.1 (Windows 7 activation support) and most importantly the hardware whitelist is removed (really handy for installing non-Lenovo half-height Intel N Class PCIe Wifi Cards) - there are additional benefits as well (i.e. Ctrl+Fn keys swapping and Dual-IDA support) but they are low down in the list for me.

IF you do proceed with installing bear in mind there is the potential of the BIOS update bricking your ThinkPad...listed below is a link to the main section for the BIOS download links and assuming your X61s is a standard XGA model then you'd be looking at the BIOS available in the first line of the table.

T61/X61 SATA II 1.5 Gb/s cap - willing to pay for a solution - Page 8

You might want to consider reviewing the entire Middleton BIOS thread at the NBR Forum to get a handle on what's involved but it is relatively easy to get install - I generally use a bootable USB flash memory stick to get it done, as some of the systems I've worked don't have a working optical drive and/or HDD when I get them.

EDIT: B*gger! Was already answered whilst I was typing a reply and hunting out the link to the Middletion BIOS table!

[rsutoratosu]

I'm posting from a x61s now. If you're using it for basic task, its fine.. multiple flash IE/chrome windows, you're asking for trouble..

x61s @ 1.6Ghz and 3GB ram on Win XP with Samsung 128gb ssd.

[ScottyBoy]

Regarding keyboard cleaning, I have an extreme approach. I normally remove the keyboard from the TP (4 screws), take it to the kitchen's sink and apply a strong stream of hot water. I just take care that the electronics don't get wet (no submersion!) and then leave it for 24 hours to get dry. So far never a problem with that...

I'll be honest and say I've never done that - always stuck to keyboard wipes.

[Cola]

Yeah. My approach is the same as I did to my T43p and my T40 when I had that one.

I remove the keyboard from the machine, fill the sink with hot water, add a small amount of soap, submerge keyboards, let them lay there for a good hour, drain the sink, put them on a lightly heated radiator for minimum 12 hrs to make sure ALL water is out before connecting it to the motherboard again.

There's a very handy thing here, which most people doesn't know. Electronics and water works quite well together. Just not when adding electricity.
That also means that you could infact submerge your entire Thinkpad into water without it taking any damage. (Of course sinking it into a 4m deep swimming pool with salt water, might not be as good because of the pressure at the depth, as well as the salt killing somehting, but without pressure or salt, it should be okay as long as it gets to dry completely

[ThinkRob]

That also means that you could infact submerge your entire Thinkpad into water without it taking any damage. (Of course sinking it into a 4m deep swimming pool with salt water, might not be as good because of the pressure at the depth, as well as the salt killing somehting, but without pressure or salt, it should be okay as long as it gets to dry completely

With the exception of the hard drive. Those are *not* tolerant of water!

[ajkula66]

That also means that you could infact submerge your entire Thinkpad into water without it taking any damage. (Of course sinking it into a 4m deep swimming pool with salt water, might not be as good because of the pressure at the depth, as well as the salt killing somehting, but without pressure or salt, it should be okay as long as it gets to dry completely

Apart from what ThinkRob already stated about the hard drive, I highly doubt that the screen would survive...

[RealBlackStuff]

I'd rather buy another keyboard than run the risk, that a waterlogged keyboard wrecks a good laptop! YMMV
I think it's silly to try and save what, $20.-?
Turning on the heat when it's already near 100 degrees F outside? You must've had too much Akvavit!

[Cola]

I'd rather buy another keyboard than run the risk, that a waterlogged keyboard wrecks a good laptop! YMMV
I think it's silly to try and save what, $20.-?
Turning on the heat when it's already near 100 degrees F outside? You must've had too much Akvavit!

In Denmark it's max. 25ºC (77ºF) outside at summer... If it isn't raining. Avg. is about 15-20ºC (59-68ºF)

Anyway, I washed the keyboards, and now a week after, they both work as usual. I gave my T43p's keyboard the same treatment a month ago, still works perfect