Thinkpad Z61p for photo editing and home office use

[5R Tamali]

Hi, everybody.

I am a long-term ThinkPad user, starting with the i Series (i20) in year 2000 followed by R32 (2003) and T60 (2006). I bought an Acer notebook last December for "home use" but I'm not to satisfied with it. Build quality is poor (if not worse than that), keyboard awful (too springy and too much flex on the right side), screen has annoyingly narrow vertical viewing angle and it's almost useless for photo editing (one of main usages).
The solution is simple - I would like to replace the Acer with a ThinkPad Z61p 0674-KSG. Lenovo discontinued the Z series recently and the price has dropped significantly (to less than 1.500 EUR; VAT included). I have limited budget and cannot afford a T61p - it's way too expensive. I took a look at my co-worker's Z61p and was impressed - built quality seems better than with my T60, screen looks nice. Unfortunately I didn't have much time and could not go into details. I have a couple of questions for all the Z61p users out there:

1) Screen resolution
Do you find the screen resolution too high for everyday work (icons and GUI too small)? I believe this is easily fixed by tweaking some of the WinXP screen settings so I'm not worried.

2) Quality of the screen
Can you say a few words about brightness, vertical viewing angle, horizontal viewing angle, color reproduction and gamut (after calibration)? I'll use the notebook for photo editing so quality of the screen is very important.

3) Noise and heat
How noisy is the Hitachi 100 Gb 7200 Rpm HDD? What about heat / fan noise? The T60 I use in the office is very quiet.

4) Quality issues
Any quality issues I should be aware of?

5) ThinkPad UltraBay HDD Adapter
Does anybody use one of these? I would like to buy one and install 2nd 160 Gb HDD for data storage exclusively (images, music, videos, documents,...). Any recommendation regarding the HDD itself? I'm looking for something reliable yet quiet.

6) ThinkPad Z61m
Is the ThinkPad Z61m 9450-HAG with 15.4" WSXGA TFT (1680x1050) also a good choice? What about the screen - and differences between this one and the WUXGA screen in the Z61p? I know that the GPU is weaker but I will not use it for gaming.

7) ThinkPad R61 with a discrete GPU
I consider this one as the last resort - only if ThinkPads Z61p or Z61m are no longer available. Any comments regarding the screen and build quality? I must be honest - I was very satisfied with my R32 until it died after (way) too many falls and drops in the production hall.

Many thanks to all of you who are willing to help me in making the right choice.

Have a nice day,

Peter K.

[Pepa]

hi Peter,

i have Z61p (0674GEG) for few months so there are mine experiences so far:

ad 1) 1920x1200 is too high resolution for everyday use, IMO. I have good sight, but at this resolution and standard GUI size its very exhausting for eyes (i'm looking into this screen for about 12+ hours in a day). With mine previous laptop and resolution (standard 15,4" 1280x800) i had no eyes problem at all. Now I have to use large fonts. Its not problem of one or two hours work, but for everyday...

ad 2) quality of mine screen (LG LP154WU1-A1K6) is brilliant (600:1 contrast etc), but i have heard moaning from T61p users with 1920x1200 LCDs from Samsung. And you never know, which LCD will be installed into your very own unit.

ad 3) By terms of noise and heat - Z61p is far the best laptop i ever had. It has bettered cooling/fan system which comes with Z61/R61/T61, but its still based on Centrino "Napa" (actual "Santa Rosa" systems has around 20% greater overall termal dissipation, according to Lenovo). Quiet and cold (except fan grill area when i'm playing games for a long time ).

ad 4) whole chassis looks like tank - robust and solid. But even with internal cage around LCD i found T61 with magnesium LCD covers looks more solid and durable. I also have problem with screeching noise , which showed up after about 3 months of use. It comes (when pressed) from the middle front of LCD cover and approx. middle front of chassis.

In comparision with standard today laptop, Z61p looks like tank. In comparision with older (pure) IBM models like T42, older models wins.


ad 5) i have no experiences with that, using external USB/LAN drive for storing of photos. And hey - reliability of todays hard drives is relative term. First - look at their price.

ad 6) if i could swap mine 1920x1200 for 1680x1050, i would do it immediately (according to point 1). And if you arent gamer or making with something 3D, theres no much point why to invest into high-end Z61p with OpenGL certified onboard VGA.

ad 7) i had R61 right now in company and compared it with mine Z61p side-by-side (and also with T61). R61 is absolutly different chassis than Z61, altho they look pretty similar for a first look (with impress of huge black brick ).

I must say that i like mine Z61 chassis a bit more than R, it looks in many ways a bit more elegant (details like rounded edges, Z profile look etc) and less empty looking area around keyboard. Also mine Z61p has navigation (small piktograms on work desk over any connector on side, so you dont need to look for them on the sides), which R61 lacked (T61 i have seen lacked it too ).

According to LCD - if you will go for Z61 with 1680x1050 or R61, it will be pretty much the same LCD. In both laptops there is more than one LCD panel maker, so noone assure you the same quality of LCD panel even between two units of same model.

If you want i have photos (not top quality, but still) R61, Z61 and T61 side by side

[ZaZ]

The Z61m I saw last year was as solid as any notebook I've year. The screen I thought looked good. There's a review here if you want to see some pics.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.a ... nkPad+Z61m

[frankrh]

1. I am run Linux on it for programming. The font is very sharp. I am pretty comfortable with it whe I running on Windows without choosing larger font. It is up to personal preference.

2. I have to turn the brightness to the maximun all the time. Within 30 degree, you won't feel any difference, but the image quality goes down with wider angle.

3. It is very quite and cool when running on Windows. It can be very hot and the fan is audible when it run full speed on Linux. (with 150% cpu usage). Powerplay of video card on Linux does not work.

4. No hardware issue since it is purchased since January.

5. I boot linux on main hard disk and Windows on secondary in ultral bay. I use the 3rd one as backup.

6. No -- IDEA.

7. The qualify of Z61P is very good.

Good luck,

Frank

[barrywohl]

I used to have a Z61p with a 1920 x 1200 screen. I now have a T61p with a 1920 x 1200 screen.

As far as I can tell the WUXGA screens on the Z61p and T61p are the same and very good, but not as good for photo-editing as the 1600 x 1200 IPS screens I'm used to on the R50p (and T60p) computers. Those screens are brighter, have better viewing angles and better color.

I found no problem with font size in the 1920 x 1200 resolution and no trouble setting the screen to a lower resolution when I wanted.

My Z61p had a Hitachi 100GB 7200 rpm drive and it was great. I used the Ultrabay HDD and it was great. I'd recommend running the new Hitachi 200GB 7200rps SATA drive. I've got two of them. The cost about $200 and work great.

Both the Z61p and the T61p are solid.

I prefer the form factor of the T61p but the Z61p was fine.

I had a design problem with my Z61p so that plugging in the ac adapter would cause the system to lock up. This was hardware, related to electrostatic discharge and never got fixed. If your machine doesn't have this problem, then I have no hesitancies recommending the Z61p.

[matti]

Hi, everybody.


1) Screen resolution
Do you find the screen resolution too high for everyday work (icons and GUI too small)? I believe this is easily fixed by tweaking some of the WinXP screen settings so I'm not worried.

I own a Z61p since two months and use for photo editing and some office stuff. It was cheap, about half of the recommended retail price, and in that sense a real deal. Build quality is perfect. A little heavy but I don´t carry it around that much.

Your questions:

2) Quality of the screen:

Not perfect but OK. I´ve got the samsung screen and it has some light leakage at the bottom reaching approx 1/2 inch up. It´s not really visible if you sit right in front of the screen. Colours are OK but again not perfect. My old NEC Diamontron NF CRT-screen is better. But on the other hand that one is really good. I work as a photographer and have no concerns using the laptop screen for important work. It´s calibrated of course.

3) Noise and heat:

It won´t bother you.

4) -7)

Don´t know anything about this.

Back to your first question. I would like to to know what kind of tweaks you are talking about?
I find the text a little bit too small for office and home use. Working with photos the resolution is really helpful since you have at lot of space on the screen. It´s almost like working with a 24" screen with a normal resolution.
Icons, start menu and other OS-related stuff is also OK. While browsing I use Firefox and do well with the ctrl + scroll option to enlarge text. Works fine with openoffice as well. But the text is too small when working with some office software and writing emails (I use Thunderbird).
Thats my opinion.
And if someone has any ideas how to tweak screen settings to make this part of my work easier it´s highly appriceated.