My Son Stole My T60p & I Don't Like the New Thinkpads

[JalopyBob]

I had a nice T60p 15.6" that I bought new. It had the core 2 duo 2.4 processor, big 9volt battery, and discreet graphics card. I thought that it was my idea of what a laptop should be. Finally the hard drive bit the dust and my son replaced it, and liked it a lot so I let him keep it thinking that I would buy a new Thinkpad. I really liked the T60p that I had better than the new models, especially build quality. So if I found a nice T60p or T61p, what could I do to it to help let it run into the future? I thought maybe a MacBook Pro, but without the pointer stick I would be lost. Is there a anywhere that updates T60p or T61p to run with the big dogs?

[brchan]

A custom T601 frankenpad (15" T60 with IPS display and T61 motherboard) would probably be the best in terms of screen, performance and form factor. If you are not comfortable modding a T60 with a T61 motherboard (requires cutting), there are some forum members who are selling them.

If you don't care about screen quality that much but prefer the 4:3 form factor, a standard ratio T61 with SXGA+ would be a nice choice too (or a T400 widescreen which is faster). The later T410/T510 models are even faster, but come in widescreen and use cheaper plastics, which you may not like.

As far as performance goes, a T61 with a T9500 processor, 8GB ram, and SSD will be more than quick enough for daily tasks. If you want even more performance, you could mod the motherboard and put in a quad core processor: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 0&start=30.

[Cigarguy]

Your son is a smart kid, you should be proud of him. Knows a good thing when he sees one.

What's next for you will depend on your computing needs. Anything newer than a T420/T520 will have the newer chiclet keyboard with a different layout. Personally that change was the last straw for me with regards to Thinkpads. For anything newer than my T420 I have bought a HP Elitebook. I don't care for the screen quality or track pad at all on my T420 even with an upgraded high res screen. I don't mind my T500 and T61 widescreens. T61 with Nvidia GPU can be problematic and DDR2 is not cheap, so of these two I'd prefer a T500 which also have native SATA II support. I have a few T61 and T500 in my stable. However of these my favourite is my T60 in both 14" and 15" 4:3 variety. The 15" all come with the lovely Flexview screen which the 14" 4:3 is a darn good non-IPS screen. My computing requirements are basic Office, websurfing, and emails on my laptops and tablets while the heavy computing stuff is done on my desktops. So for mobile computing screen quality, keyboard, build quality and a SSD is more important than raw computing power.

[brchan]

I would probably avoid the T500/W500 models. They are faster than the T6x series, but have a design flaw at the area of the lid roll cage that connects to the left hinge. Eventually, the left hinge rips and cracks the hinge posts from the lid. The T400 models seem not to suffer from this issue, however. If you need to buy new, I would agree that HP Elitebooks are great choices. One of my family members has a 8470p and it is solid as a tank. Keyboard and trackpoint equivalent were decent too.

A T61 can also be flashed with middleton BIOS to give it SATA II speeds. Honestly, computing power since the core 2 duo processors (found in the T60 series) have offered massive leaps in performance over previous generations, and the requirements of most of today's software (excluding CAD, simulation, and games) has yet to utilize all of this potential. I can easily see the T6x series being a daily driver for 5+ years, and T420 and similar models even longer. Even my T23 with Linux is still perfectly capable of web browsing/word processing, and even alarmingly smooth flash video (with the occasional stutter).

[RealBlackStuff]

Or go to the (near) top of the line, and look at this T601FL Frankenpad: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=114543
Meets most, if not all, of your requirements!

[pianowizard]

The later T410/T510 models are even faster, but come in widescreen

The OP's T60p is widescreen, specifically, 16:10.

[Temetka]

Honestly as a parent, if my son stole my Thinkpad I would take it back. Then maybe talk to him and see if we can get a machine from e-bay and build one up.

Other than the machine that was listed earlier in the thread, I think you best bet is to get a machine that closely matches the specs of your original machine.

Or get the one from your son back.

[Freddie Mercury]

Honestly as a parent, if my son stole my Thinkpad I would take it back.

Did you read the whole thread?

so I let him keep it thinking that I would buy a new Thinkpad.

The son liked it, so the OP gave him the laptop. No stealing here...lol

[Temetka]

Honestly as a parent, if my son stole my Thinkpad I would take it back.

Did you read the whole thread?

so I let him keep it thinking that I would buy a new Thinkpad.

The son liked it, so the OP gave him the laptop. No stealing here...lol

Le sigh.

Yes, I read the whole thread. But it was clear to me that the OP was very attached to his machine. I love my T410 and Precision M4400. I'd never let my wife or kids use them, that's why they have their own machines. That being said, I am glad the kid likes Thinkpads. Even though the newer models aren't the classic TP we all know and love, I still think they are better machines than the crap you find at Walmart, Costco, and even Fry's Electronics. Consumer junk in other words.

@OP: Did you find a suitable replacement yet?