Thinkpad T6x - looking for a Chromebook alternative

[Greg Robinson]

Hi,

Been a while since I've been on this great forum. Hopefully I'm posting this in the right place. Feel free to boot me elsewhere if appropriate.

My wife wants a Chromebook for light duty web browsing, email, and the occasional word processing/spreadsheet work. She wants to use Excel and Word, doesn't really like Google Docs. One semi-unusual need is that we'd like to Remote Desktop into a Windows 7 desktop in our basement. That machine holds our photos and my wife uses Picasa on that machine to manage photos and share, etc. So I need to be able to remote in from this "new" laptop.

I'm thinking about an unconventional alternative to the tiny-screen, online-only Chromebook: a T60 or T61 with an SSD upgrade, max out the memory, and a Linux distro such as Ubuntu with LibreOffice to handle her Office-type needs.

My questions:

1. Will a T60 or T61 handle these needs sufficiently? Or is that machine getting "too old" as one I.T. friend said this morning?

2. Which model would you recommend? I'm looking at ebay and there are a ton of them on there, but I suspect half or more are in crap condition. I see there's a Marketplace on this forum. Please advise on which model(s) I should be looking for.

3. How noisy (thinking of the fan) is the T6x? My wife complains about our old Sony VIAO because its fan was somewhat obnoxious at times. Does the SSD drive help keep things any cooler/quieter?

UPDATE: I should add, screen size is not a huge factor. I think my wife prefers the old, squarish screens to widescreen, but she's gotten used to widescreen. Our Sony was 13.3 widescreen, which she always felt was too short/not enough height. I love the idea of an IPS panel, but I suspect that may break the bank. Trying to keep this project around $300 including the new Intel 120GB SSD, which appears to be around $90 or so.

Thanks in advance for any tips/suggestions/recommendations!

[brchan]

1. Both have more than enough power for web browsing and word processing. I would not consider them "too old" unless you are doing heavy CAD, video editing, or gaming.

2. A T60 would easily last 3+ more years, and the T61 even more so. A T61 14.1 inch standard ratio screen with intel graphics would be the most reliable of the T61s, but the hinges may snap overtime from a design flaw. In this case, a dual core T60 would probably be the best bet (or a T61 with a T60 lid assembley, if you don't mind getting your hands a little dirty). Flexview 15" T60s are also nice, but are getting quite rare.

3. The fans on the T6x series are generally pretty quiet and cool. However, fans on T61s with the FX570m graphics card or T7700 CPUs can get pretty warm (even more so with a T7700 and FX570m).

[Greg Robinson]

Thanks for the input! Much appreciated. Good to know re: the fan noise.

[Backslashnl1]

If you are looking for a small notebook, you should look for a T60 or T61 with 14.1" standard screen, with 1400x1050 resolution and Intel graphics.
If you choose a T60, make sure it contains a Core2Duo T7x00 series CPU. In case of the T61, all CPU's will do.

I prefer the Intel graphics models because they generate less heat, which means less fan noise. They are fast enough for the Windows 7 Aero skin and have good driver support, also for Linux.

If the small form factor is not a real issue, you could search for a 15" IPS model. Only 15" T60's with 1400x1050 or 1600x1200 have them.

[Greg Robinson]

Thanks for the tips! Much appreciated.

[systemBuilder]

T60/p or T61 is the minimum necessary computer these days to play back 1080p and 720p on YouTube. So I would not get a T4x if that matters to you.