Fastest and most future friendly 4:3 Thinkpad.

[DaKKS]

I have recently come to the realization that my T42 wont be around forever, as it suffered a memory breakdown around noon today, and now I'm looking into a replacement. I absolutely abhor the widescreen laptops and want to stick with a high res 4:3 screen.

Here's the deal, unless bureaucracy strikes again i should be going through basic training and SNDC (Computer and communications engineering) next year and I'll need something that doesn't scream "please put me out of my misery. I'm dying here." I'm not opposed to building a Frankenpad, hence the reason i ask now, not in a few months. I'll need time for the parts to arrive in case I'm building it.

My requirements:
4:3 high res screen
4GB minimum ram
High spec dual core, I'm thinking T9X00 or the likes. Guessing quad is out of the question.
Proper GPU, none of that Intel rubbish. Had quite enough of that the last five years.
Dual HDD capable. I'm thinking 128GB SSD + 750GB HDD
5+ hours minimum battery life

I'm thinking the T61 would be a good fit, but you gurus probably know better. Any ideas?

I'm flexible on the price, but to be frank, I'm not Romney...

[ajkula66]

You've got nowhere else to go, but to a FrankenPad with nVidia-based 4:3 T61/p board.

Unless you require a 15" LCD, a T61/p in the same format will do just fine.

Battery life might prove to be a problem, though...

[DaKKS]

You've got nowhere else to go, but to a FrankenPad with nVidia-based 4:3 T61/p board.

Unless you require a 15" LCD, a T61/p in the same format will do just fine.

Battery life might prove to be a problem, though...

14 or 15 doesn't matter that much. I've use both and the smaller size doesn't bother me. As long as the keyboard doesn't get cramped, I'm fine with it.

I've seen Thinkpad's go up to 10-12 hours, 5 can't be impossible, can it? I'm not opposed to yanking the secondary hard drive in favor of an ultrabay battery when i have a need for it. Or going SSD all the way w/ ultrabay battery.

Also, how well does OSX work on these frankenpads? Not a requirement, but a nice plus if it works.

[RealBlackStuff]

There are no batteries available for T60/T61 in 4:3 format that can last as long as you wish.
As to OS-X, there is a whole Forum here for it.
Specifically OS-X on T61, see here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=103990

Top Dog would be a FrankenPad T601FL (15" T60 chassis/T61 motherboard with Penryn CPU/LED-LCD).
If interested, PM me, I can build you one.

[dr_st]

A brand-new 9-cell on a 14" 4:3 T61p may last up to 5 hours if really stretched, but once capacity starts going down, you will be hard-pressed to get even 4.

The "proper GPU" is a serious hit against battery life. "That Intel rubbish" would be a much better choice long-term in terms of battery life and reliability (discrete GPUs have a tendency to die sometimes, and the nVidia 8-series in the T61/p units even more than the others).

Of course, if you intend to play some specific video games that are too complex for the Intel X3100 but not for the oudated and not-too-powerful-to-begin-with 128MB/64bit-bus 570M in the T61p, then I can see the justification.

[DaKKS]

Ta for the help guys. Guess i have some thinking to do then. Nvidia or Intel...

I actually own a notebook with a X3100 (T7250, 4Gb ram, SSD) and its completely useless. That thing could barely run BF2 and CS:S and neither of those games are particularly demanding. Now, I'm not much of a gamer, but i do have my moments.

RealBlackStuff: You have PM.

EDIT: Just spoke to an acquaintance who works at a computer store and they just a got a sh*tload of N/OS T61's, X60's and X200's. (440, 340 and 500 USD respectively) And by N/OS, I mean N/OS. He opened the factory box right in front of me.

[SKA]

Dear DaKKS

What does N/OS mean ?

Thanks !
Ska

[Brad]

New/Old Stock.

Brad

[DaKKS]

I've been looking at more modern (widescreen *puke smiley*) thinkpads and i think i'll have to swallow my hate and live with it. I've never going to get the same "bang for the buck" as you americans say with a 4:3 Thinkpad.

I've actually started looking at an X200. P8600, 8Gb ram, SSD drive and a the larger battery (6 or 9 cell) running Ubuntu or Seven, might just give me the battery life i need. Of course, the GPU is still rubbish and the screen is not just wide but small too. I'll have to make a lot of concessions. But for portability's sake, i might just tolerate it. Had the P8600 and GMA 4500 in a school laptop few years back and it was pretty decent. Not good, but decent enough. Of course in a smaller package, it might just be a pocket rocket.

Does anyone have a X200 and a say T4X series and can take a pic of them side by side, just so i can see the size of that thing? Thinkpads have pretty decent keyboards, even the smaller ones, but if its too small I'll scratch it off the list.

[dr_st]

Keyboard-wise, the one on an X200 and the one on an T-series are exactly the same size. One of the advantages of widescreen X series is that they finally managed to fit a full-size keyboard on them.

[DaKKS]

*must tolerate widescreen. must.... tolerate... wide-ugh-screen...*

Finally settled on an X200. Its in good nick, still has warranty and i got a good deal on it from a friend. I'm not getting a hard drive though. SAF is a bit paranoid, something about possible security leak. I'm picking it up on wednesday when his insurance company lets it go. (Its current mounted as a "carputer" in a crashed car) I'm telling you, this is the only country on this planet where a driver can completely miss a 4.5 tonne BMW with sirens and lights flashing. We have now scientifically proven that a Volvo loses against an armoured BMW 7 series. Stupid [censored] is fine though, but his V70 got turned into a C30. *sigh*

[emeraldgirl08]

I am wanting to go two steps forward to an X220. Better battery life, IPS LED, and the ability to add an mSata and a platter storage will work fine for me. The X200 I have has an MVA or PVA screen (forget which one) but it seems to be getting a bit dim. The X200 has certainly served me well and I as always I wish to stay with ThinkPads but I am ready to move on to a Sandybridge X220.

The 16:10 screen is not too bad in my opinion. Did you not see THIS??? It could be much worse lol.

[DaKKS]

I am wanting to go two steps forward to an X220. Better battery life, IPS LED, and the ability to add an mSata and a platter storage will work fine for me. The X200 I have has an MVA or PVA screen (forget which one) but it seems to be getting a bit dim. The X200 has certainly served me well and I as always I wish to stay with ThinkPads but I am ready to move on to a Sandybridge X220.

I'm probably gonna give it an X201 motherboard+touchpad and an AFFS screen in the future. I think the screen will be the first mod, better in the field. I'm one of the reasons i decided to go for the X200, its extremely upgradable. Now the 16:10 screen is a huge tradeoff, but i believe i can tolerate it. As for potential "dimness" (thats not a word, is it?) the screen in the thinkpad I'm buying hasn't been used at all since it was new, so I'm pretty sure its still good.

The 16:10 screen is not too bad in my opinion. Did you not see THIS??? It could be much worse lol.

Unless you're asian, I'm pretty sure that's gonna give you a headache... hehe...

[DaKKS]

I finally gave up on 4:3 Thinkpads, too much hassle and I'm not getting much performance for my money. Bought an X200 than I sold to a mate a day later. It might show up here since its getting a x201 motherboard. Currently awaiting delivery of an X201 (3680-MG1) from the UK.

Gonna bump it up to 8GB ram, new keyboard (ENG/HEB), 120 GB SSD and a 3G/GPS card. (4G once we scandinavians decide on what band were using.) Still haven't decided on the battery, Lenovo 9 cell or china 12 cell... Might go for an AFFS screen in the future.

[pianowizard]

Might go for an AFFS screen in the future.

Go for the 1440x900 screen of the X200s and X201s.

[DaKKS]

Go for the 1440x900 screen of the X200s and X201s.

Let me guess, its not plug an play, is it? I need to swap out the entire assembly, correct? Why cant anything about these darn things be simple? Swapped to a 1080p screen in my Zepto in under 20 minutes minutes...