T60 (2007-63U) Initial Impressions

[bg4533]

I received my new T60 (model 2007-63U) and Advanced Mini Dock yesterday. I ordered the machine on 3/11/06 and it shipped 3/14/2006. Below are my impressions after a few hours of use. This laptop is replacing a 5 year old Gateway Solo 5300. I purchased a Dell 6000 in December 05, but I was not satisfied with it so I returned it. I have used Thinkpads before, but never owned one.

Screen: 14.1" SXGA+ Hydis screen
The LCD looks decent. Everything is very sharp and easy to read, but colors don't seem as vibrant as they could be. The LCD also seems to have a bluish tint. I haven't noticed any dead pixels or ghosting. I haven't ran any tests to search for these issues, but I would rather not know if they are present anyway.

Keyboard: Alps
The keyboard is very solid and responsive. There is a lot of travel compared to other laptops and the keys are a little clicky. I find it takes me a few days to really get used to any keyboard, so I won't give opinons.

Pointing devices:
The touchpad is very low on the keypad and is awkward to use compared to other laptops. I don't know if this is specific to the T series or just the T60. The buttons below the touchpad are a little soft for my liking. I have never really liked pointers, but I have found myself using the pointer over the touchpad.

Fingerprint reader:
The fingerprint reader is a nice feature, but it seems more like a toy that anything. I think I can type my password in faster than the reader can recognize my prints anyway. Cool anyway.

Battery: 6 Cell Sanyo
The fit of the battery is poor. There is about 2mm of movement on the corner of the battery. When lifting the laptop or rotating it to put it in my bag I can hear the battery rattle. The battery is not going to fall off or anything and I don't think this is a serious issue, just an annoyance.

Wireless: Intel 3945ABG
So far this has worked well for me. It works well anywhere inside of my house and I have not had any dropouts yet. I have not tried to push its limits, but so far it seems acceptable.

Noise:
The fan is constantly running but is reasonably quiet. There is a quiet high pitched sound by the heatsink that is annoying. Most of the noise I hear is hard drive accesses.

OS and Software:
The system feels a bit weighed down and sluggish compared to my desktop. On boot the T60 is using about 350MB of RAM where my desktop is using less that 150MB. I want to reinstall a fresh copy of the OS and split the HD into 2 partitions, but I need to locate drivers first as I want to keep the functionality of the fingerprint reader, motion sensor and a few of the other add ons

Aesthetics:
The T60 looks much better in person than it does in some of the pictures I have seen.

Advanced Mini Dock:
The dock was a bit pricy, but it is a lot nicer than having to plug in a lot of cables every time. So far I have just been putting the computer in the dock and removing it without doing anything with software. It seems to be working fine like this.

Comments:
Overall I think the T60 is very well designed and I am satisfied with my purchase. The T60 is much higher quality than my old Gateway and the Dell 6000. It cost more, but it is evident where the money went. My only real complaint is with the fit of the battery. I might try to get a replacement battery.

[darrenf]

Put about a dozen stacked strips of scotch tape accross the label on top of the battery (the labeled area is about the same width as a strip of scotch tape). Be careful not to nick the tape as you reinsert the battery and you should be able to fix the battery wobble (up/down wobble at least). After you put on the first 6-8 strips of tape, test it after every strip or two until the fit is solid.

Note: if you remove the bottom strip of tape the SN will come off with it, so don't take that strip off.

-darren

[bg4533]

Problem solved

I used 12 pieces of tape over the SN and 6 more on the curved area next to it to stop a little bit of front to back movement that was apparent after I stopped the vertical movement.

I don't like the idea of having to put tape on a brand new laptop, but if this is the biggest problem I have then I am ecstatic.

Thanks for the help!

[darrenf]

I'm glad it helped -- and I'm going to try taping the curved area to fix the in/out slack. That sounds a lot less destructive than what I had in mind.

-darren

[astro]

I want to reinstall a fresh copy of the OS and split the HD into 2 partitions, but I need to locate drivers first as I want to keep the functionality of the fingerprint reader, motion sensor and a few of the other add ons

You should be fine if you take a copy of the C:\Drivers directory. It should have all the OEM drivers in there. (Someone pls correct me if wrong)

[darrenf]

C:\DRIVERS
C:\IBMTOOLS

C:\IBMSHARE
C:\SUPPORT
C:\SWTOOLS
C:\VALUEADD

If you want to get all the drivers and utilities, I think you need all of those folders. I have no idea why it uses all of them.

Only the first two folders are scanned by the system updater utility, so perhaps the others aren't required. YMMV.

-darren

[bg4533]

I made a Windows install disc from the i386 folder and everything went smoothly. All functions of the laptop seem to be working properly now.

I noticed 1 subpixel that is stuck red at the center of the screen. Not too bad I guess.

After a few days using the keyboard I really like it. It is extremely solid and provides a lot of feedback.

[bart]

I noticed 1 subpixel that is stuck red at the center of the screen. Not too bad I guess.

Well, that's the 5th person to report dead/stuck pixels in 14" screens on this forum.

Has anyone with the 15" flexview screens got dead pixels?

*Edit* Did not mean to hijack the thread, this was on top with the pixel issue mentioned.