My brand new Z61m

[mister_lake]

Wow..seems like I've been waiting ages for this thing to come in the mail. Finally it is here...I love pretty much everything about it. I'm quite impressed by the thinkvantage software. especially being able to set different network profiles and extensive Analog/tv/lcd profiles. typing on this keyboard is very pleasurable. the trackpoint rocks.

The only thing I'm kinda disappointed with is the speakers. They're just loud enough, but it seems like high pitches make the speakers crackle and pop badly. Is this normal for everyone else?

maybe it's something that can be fixed by driver/firmware...

[nxman]

Yes thats normal ThinkPads are weak in multimedia but tough business machines

[archer6]

The only thing I'm kinda disappointed with is the speakers. They're just loud enough, but it seems like high pitches make the speakers crackle and pop badly. Is this normal for everyone else?

The primary focus of the ThinkPad line of laptops is business. They are designed first and foremost to be high quality, stable, long lasting business machines.

I find that if I plug in a set of earbuds the sound is very good and the volume becomes acceptable. If the sound is high priority for you another very good solution is a set of high quality external powered speakers. I have heard a setup like that and the external speakers improve the sound quality immensely. Suddenly you have component quality sound. Either way you are bypassing the internal speakers and thereby eliminating the problem.

[mister_lake]

This certainly seems like a solid machine. The keyboard is nice type on.

Having the cntrl/fn buttons in the wrong place sucks. I remap my "Caps-lock" key to be left-cntrl.

I *DON'T* like the extra buttons around the Arrow keys..they make it difficult to find them by touch. I'm used to sweeping the keyboard from top-to-bottom to find the empty spaces above the left-right arrow keys.
to think, I might have to pry some keys off my brand new $2,300 laptop.

The same goes for the placement of the Esc key...I might have to remap that to F1.

I do like the ultranav though. I think trackpoint on a laptop is something I can't go without now. the dells have it too, but the third middle button to scroll web-pages makes all the difference in the world. And I do use the touchpad now and again.

The thinkvantage suite is great...although I'm having problems getting it to "override" IP address when changing network profiles which is a little annoying because that would be the single most useful thing of having a net profile manager.

I like the native resolution of this screen (1680x1050) and I'm sure that's where a lot of the money went, but i'm getting a sense of buyer's remorse when I see the screen slightly tilted back and some areas (depending on color it seems) are finely blotched. it's like using the "noise" filter on photoshop. Not to mention there's a stuck pixel near the center of the screen which I'm just noticing now. god I wish i hadn't seen it...now it's going to be staring at me for the life of this laptop...*ugh*

I'm not impressed with having vents on the bottom of the machine either.

I want to be a thinkpad believer....I want to so badly...

[archer6]

I like the native resolution of this screen (1680x1050) and I'm sure that's where a lot of the money went, but i'm getting a sense of buyer's remorse when I see the screen slightly tilted back and some areas (depending on color it seems) are finely blotched. it's like using the "noise" filter on photoshop. Not to mention there's a stuck pixel near the center of the screen which I'm just noticing now. god I wish i hadn't seen it...now it's going to be staring at me for the life of this laptop...
I want to be a thinkpad believer....I want to so badly...

If you are within your 30day return period. Just call them, arrange a return for new machine. This will take care of the issues regarding the display....

[f1reverb]

If you are within your 30day return period. Just call them, arrange a return for new machine. This will take care of the issues regarding the display.... :D

There is no 30-day return policy anymore. It's 21-day if the box is unopened, and if opened there is a 15% re-stocking fee. This is for a direct purchase from Lenovo.

http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... &langId=-1

[archer6]

There is no 30-day return policy anymore. It's 21-day if the box is unopened, and if opened there is a 15% re-stocking fee. This is for a direct purchase from Lenovo.

http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... &langId=-1

Whoa.....

f1reverb,
Thanks for the update and the link to this change. I was completely unaware of this new policy.
Sounds like cost control to me, and yet a loss of one of the influencing factors for buying direct from them. Especially since there are a few Lenovo authorized online resellers that routinely have better prices and far better inventory. Many times I have used these resellers because they could supply the computers when Lenovo could not, nor could they even give me an approx delivery time that would not change almost daily. Hence, the reason there is an entire thread on the forum about delivery times from Lenovo. It will be interesting to see just how this plays out.

[indigoandblack]

Not to mention there's a stuck pixel near the center of the screen which I'm just noticing now. god I wish i hadn't seen it...now it's going to be staring at me for the life of this laptop...*ugh*

Hi, Lake... I'm going to have a guess that that "stuck pixel" may not be what you think it is. Is it always in the same place or does it appear in different places?

Sounds like the UltraNav bug to me. Do a search above and you'll run across it. It has to do with a problem with one of the UltraNav programs (don't remember which one, but if you find the post, you can go kill the process and verify for yourself that's what it is).

The same thing happens on my machine occasionally. It's annoying, but lucky for you (and me) it is not a failed pixel.

-Cygnus

[mister_lake]

Not to mention there's a stuck pixel near the center of the screen which I'm just noticing now. god I wish i hadn't seen it...now it's going to be staring at me for the life of this laptop...*ugh*

Hi, Lake... I'm going to have a guess that that "stuck pixel" may not be what you think it is. Is it always in the same place or does it appear in different places?

Sounds like the UltraNav bug to me. Do a search above and you'll run across it. It has to do with a problem with one of the UltraNav programs (don't remember which one, but if you find the post, you can go kill the process and verify for yourself that's what it is).

The same thing happens on my machine occasionally. It's annoying, but lucky for you (and me) it is not a failed pixel.

-Cygnus

oh true..it's gone now. good...but i guess it sucks there's a bug in the software.

I have an external USB ultranav keyboard...the volume control on the keyboard doesn't work..only the mute button..kinda lame..oh well.

I'm increasingly dissatisfied with these speakers. I swear it wouldn't have taken much more engineering to put a little woofer in there. oh wait...that's right - thinkpads might lose that "business machine" credibility.

is there such a thing as a laptop base that would plug into the USB to
a) keep the heat off my lap
b) have a GOOD set of speakers

man, I'd be all over that. hope some business person reads this and gets on the ball. there's money to be made there.

[mister_lake]

The screen.

now I've used it awhile. I can say that 1680x1050 BORDERS on eye strain.

most annoyingly, the screen isn't bright enough and the brightness isn't dispersed very well - on the left and right sides I can see where the light fades off. I NEVER had that problem with my old toshiba satellite(although it only had about 20 minutes of battery life).

The trackpoint is about the only thing going for these babies...

[christopher_wolf]

The trackpoint is about the only thing going for these babies...

If one happens to be dilligent enough to willfully avoid the many other useful features, then yes....Maybe.