Smallest Thinkpad With Integrated DVDR ?????

[DWSpiro]

I have a T43p and have wanted to update for a while. I am a loyal Thinkpad customer (I think this is my fifth) and would like to stick with the brand, but I have been VERY disappointed in the new models. Obviously if I'm going to upgrade, I want a core 2 duo with max ram, but I also want to go smaller and lighter - AND I need a DVD burner IN THE UNIT due to my travelling.

Seems to me the only option is the T61, which is not much of an upgrade to my T43p. There are smaller Thinkpads out there, but the DVD is in the ultrabay and I don't want that.

I figured someone here would have the best solution....if any!
David

[pianowizard]

The 14.1" widescreen T61 with 4-cell battery is indeed the smallest Thinkpad with built-in DVDR, and I agree that's a pretty heavy (5.0 lb) laptop.

[SHoTTa35]

huh? a T61 not being much of an upgrade? Really? I think it is, the fact that you not only get Core Duo but it's Core 2 Duo is a big improvement in performance not to mention keeping your system cooler (c'mon, we all know the T43s runs hot) You can get a SATA drive which will also boost performance also and as you required does come with the DVDR built in.

I'm curious tho, why would you need it built in? You really use it that often?

[DWSpiro]

Yeah, I really do. I use that computer pretty much as my primary when I'm on the road, and that can be for a short trip or, currently, on my second month away from home. Not only do I use the DVD for simple things like catching up on stuff I tape when on a plane, but also as my only optical drive when I'm away. Yeah, I could have docks wherever I go, but it's so much eaiser to have everything integrated - even though it is big and heavy.

What I meant in terms of not much of an upgrade was more about the size and weight. Absolutely, having a SATA drive means I can have the max capacity (what is it, up to 250gb right now?) - to say nothing of up to 4GB ram. And it would be faster, cooler, but roughly the same size and weight.

Do we know if anything smaller is coming down the pike? I always marvel at HP, Vaio, Toshiba and the rest who really cater to smaller machine. I used a friend's VGN-TX25 vaio which is the smallest thing I've ever seen. Took some getting used to, but I could easily see myself adapting to the keyboard (although I'd miss my trackpoint). But the machine was SO [censored] slow. Really not capable for Vista - so that was the end of that. Convenient, sleek, and powerful I guess in its own way. My friend said if I loaded XP Pro on the Vaio it would be great, but why on Earth would I do that?? I think I'll stick to my Thinkpads....

[nurio]

How about an X61s/X61 with and external USB DVDR? It not built in, but it would probably keep the weight lower then carrying a dock.

[DWSpiro]

That's actually a possibility (the external USB). That way I could have all the convenience of a small powerful machine and just slip in a drive when I need it. But keep it out when I don't. I'll have to think about that.,

OK, so if we take the drive issue out of the equation, would you say the x61s is the smallest and most powerful Thinkpad around?

[Volker]

Small. Powerful. Chose one!

The X series with attached media slice has a somewhat built-in ultrabay

Personally, the T61 Core 2 Duo + 4 GB ram feels a lot faster than my old T41

Oh and finally: Unless you actually have to hand out DVD-R's where there is no network while travelling, I'd prefer a 2nd hdd and/or flash storage.

[pianowizard]

would you say the x61s is the smallest and most powerful Thinkpad around?

Performance and weight wise it's a good laptop, but there's a potential problem. What's the display resolution of your T43p? SXGA+? UXGA? The X61s only has XGA, which you may have a hard time getting used to.

[DWSpiro]

My resolution is 1400 x 1050. Display is the ATI Mobility FireGL V3200 which, I believe, is a UXGA. I hadn't even thought about display issues....

[pipspeak]

Not wishing to be funny at all... check out the 13.3" Fujitsu or Dell models. However, expect to pay significantly more than a similar (but larger) T61.

[pianowizard]

Also check out the 4.0-lb Lenovo V200 series, which has 1280x800 resolution (30.2% more pixels than the X6* Thinkpads, and the same as all 13.3" laptops I'm aware of) and an internal optical drive. I find it the second most appealing laptop that Lenovo currently offers, with #1 being the T61p.

[DWSpiro]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've only seen pics of the V200, but it looks kinda clunky - I'd love to actually see one in person. And, did they do away with the trackpoint for that line?

Have any new models been announced as coming down the pike? If something potentially great is coming, I'd be willing to wait....

[FRiC]

The Lenovo series have always been Lenovo's own, unrelated to IBM Thinkpads, and they've always had that look.

One thing I hate about Lenovo's own series is that the screen are shiny, but the image doesn't look any different from anti-glare screens. It's as if they just made the screen shiny since everyone else is doing so, without using an actual glare panel.

[sylvain]

There are smaller Thinkpads out there, but the DVD is in the ultrabay and I don't want that.

I know that i'm a newbie...since I own my T60P for only 2 weeks now and on top of that I'm French Canadian...but what is a ultrabay ????

[sylvain]

I have just found this : http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraBay

So, when a DVD drive is not a ultrabay media...so you can end-up with 2 drives..

For my concern, I think that my Thinkpad T60P use a ultrabay for my DVD burner

[NaT]

sylvain, an ultabay is a removable device. You can remove the DVD and install either an "ultabay 2nd HDD adapter" (needs to buy that), and put in another 2.5" HDD, or you can put in an "ultrabay battery" to give you some extra battery life.

[sylvain]

sylvain, an ultabay is a removable device. You can remove the DVD and install either an "ultabay 2nd HDD adapter" (needs to buy that), and put in another 2.5" HDD, or you can put in an "ultrabay battery" to give you some extra battery life.

Extra battery...interesting, how can the battery travel to get to the main power...pretty awesome trick to do...

I expected a hdd, or a CD-ROM or something else...but a battery, I think that this is impressive

[DWSpiro]

With my old Thinkpad, I used the ultrabay for all of the above - an extra hard drive, an extra battery for those LONG trips (before power ports miraculously appeared in most planes), even a floppy drive (if I can remember far enough back to when I last used or saw a floppy!)

Anyway, getting back to me - it looks like my choices are the X61s if I want small and can use an external DVD or dock; or the T61p if I want about the same size as my T43p but increased power and stuff.

Anyone wanna weigh in with pros and cons between those two machines? Other than the DVD thing, what about heat, speed, responsivity, etc...

Also, is the same highest speed available? I just saw a T61 which was advertised having a T7500. But most of the X61s and T61s I've seen have T7200 and T7300.....

[NaT]

If I have to choose for the smallest "thinkpad" brand available with DVD writer, I'd go for X61s with ultrabase x6 (a total of just a bit over 5 lbs) , or with an external DVD. Because you can always carry both if u need a DVD or you can just pop the main unit off when you don't want a DVD, with a lighter weight.

But if you also want a performance, and all-in-one unit, like I do, I'd go for T61/T61p, but remember the weight will go to around 6 to 6.7lbs (with 9 cell battery. Don't forget, with higher performance, GPU, CPU, you're losing battery time).

I think X-series do not have T7500, T7700 for a good reason; X is not positioned to be a very high-performance one. Also, if u add those CPUs, you'll lose battery time. X also doesn't have big chunk of heatsink inside like T or R series, to make it smaller and lighter.

Extra battery...interesting, how can the battery travel to get to the main power...pretty awesome trick to do...

sylvain, in additon to battery life, I found this ultrabay battery also add a nice trick. If you have more than one standard batteries, with this on, you can swap them when a battery is running out without going hibernate or shutting down.

[nurio]

If you want a bit more CPU power, but still want to keep it small you should also consider the X61 which is available with core 2 due T7300 (2GHz). The X61s is only available with L7500 LV (1.6GHz), but it is a bit smaller than the X61.

If you are good with the L7500 LV (1.6GHz) cpu, but need more screen real estate, then you can also consider a X61 tablet with SXGA screen or a X60 with SXGA+ screen. I must say that I have never worked on any of those machines or seen them, so maybe someone else would be able to share his or hers experience. Also the tablets are quite more expensive than the X61's.

[TPA]

I know you said you are loyal to thinkpad, but toshiba just came out with a model that rivals x series for weight and has integrated optical.

Portégé r500 2.5lbs

[DWSpiro]

Obviously I want it all . But if I had to choose, I'd probably go with size first and speed second - although I don't want something slower than my T43p. And, you're right - I could have a USB DVD and probably just shove it in when necessary on a plane or in a meeting. I could have the ultrabay at home so I wouldn't need it there. I've just gotten so spoiled having always gotten machines that really have it all integrated. I will look at the Toshiba, since someone recommended it. As I said, I just tried a Vaio and it was a piece of junk - sexy and sleek and compact, but unbearably slow (and a core solo).

Do we know of any new Thinkpads on the horizon.....

[kelchm]

What is it exactly that you need an optical drive for?

With flash memory so cheap now days I don't see any reason not to use it instead.

[DWSpiro]

Because I do alot of video work and very often I'll need to burn DVDs for people, or CDs when I travel, or simply watch a DVD on a plane. I tend to use the optical drive far more when I'm travelling than I do at home.

[snife]

Because I do alot of video work and very often I'll need to burn DVDs for people, or CDs when I travel, or simply watch a DVD on a plane. I tend to use the optical drive far more when I'm travelling than I do at home.

If your doing a lot of video then I would have thought the graphics chipset might matter, if it does then T61 is your only real option. However, if your not that bothered about having integrated graphics then you might want to consider the X61 Tablet as you could get the higher resolution display (SXGA+ - same as you have now) and you may also benefit from the tablet facility for your video work. For travelling a lot, dont consider the ultrabase for the X series, definitely go with the USB drive, and make sure you find one which can be powered from 2 USB ports, the latest Lenovo multiburner cannot but the last generation could and that makes a big difference not having to carry another power adapter.

[tomh009]

If your doing a lot of video then I would have thought the graphics chipset might matter, if it does then T61 is your only real option.

Video/DVDs don't really stress the graphic chipsets, even old ones like the Mobility Radeon on my X31 handle both playing and editing video just fine. The stress for those is on the CPU, which has to handle the encoding and decoding.

Discrete graphics are needed for 3D graphic applications (typically games).

[DWSpiro]

Well, bear in mind that the video editting I've been doing has managed pretty well on the T43p - so I'm thinking whatever option I take will be a step up. But, yeah, the USB optical would make more sense than the ultrabay (for travel anyway).

For the week I used the Vaio, which was an 11" screen, the size wasn't too small for me. The constant scrolling up and down was a pain, but I suspect I'd get used to that pretty quickly. I did miss the Thinkpad trackpoint, which I'd gotten so used to over the past 15 years. And, I've always had good experiences with Tech Support - although I have to admit I've only used them once or twice since Lenovo took over....

[pianowizard]

For the week I used the Vaio, which was an 11" screen, the size wasn't too small for me. The constant scrolling up and down was a pain....

You probably used the TX series, which has 800 pixels along the vertical axis. The Thinkpad X series is even worse than that, with only 768 rows of pixels, so you'd have to scroll even more.

[DWSpiro]

Yeah, I used the TXN25N, which is a very cool LOOKING machine, but so incredibly slow that I thought I'd drop dead waiting for Word to open! Because it's a widescreen and smaller, it took some getting used to going from a T43p, but I think I could have managed that. The keyboard was difficult to get used to, and so was the touch pad, but I think I probably could have dealt with that. It was just so nice to have a sleek, compact machine that allegedly had everything in it I could want. The speed really killed it (being a core solo with 1 gb ram didn't help).

I'm gonna try and physically take a look at the x61s and see how I feel about it. That seems to be the most serious contender after everything you guys have mentioned. Have an ultrabay at home and bring a USB DVD when travelling and that would be that.

I'm curious if anyone here has felt the difference between T7300 and T7500. Obviously I'd max out the ram to 4gb, but how much difference. Many people report T7500 running cooler....

[snife]

so incredibly slow that I thought I'd drop dead waiting for Word to open!
............
T7300 and T7500

1.8" drives claim another victim - of all the things i'd avoid when purchasing a laptop that comes number 1 (even above a touchpad!)

I don't think there would be much noticable speed difference between the 2 CPUs so if there is a big price difference i'd say not to bother, i cannot comprehend how the faster one could be running cooler, maybe consider intel turbo memory with the extra cash instead, either way though the X61 will leave that Sony standing in terms of speed.