T23 replacement -> T61? A few questions ....

[esmail]

Hi,

I currently have a T23 and am looking to get a T61 (14" widescreen, unless someone convinces me otherwise

Not interested in playing games, mostly programming, writing, web surfing. Using Eclipse in wide screen might be nice

I might watch the occasional DVD on my laptop, esp while traveling, but certainly not something I'd do regularly.

I'm looking at T61 mostly .. but I am still muddling through the various configurations and am open to suggestions.

Based on the messages here I believe I should be ok with the Intel GMA X3100 GM965 integrated video card, DVDs should play fine right? Does this share video memory with system RAM or does it have its own? How much video memory ..128MB sound right?

A few questions:

- If I can find the system config I want from the Lenovo outlet, is there a downside from ordering there? Will it be cheaper than configuring it myself? Will I get less service?

- Battery life: I am curious about this. Some reviews I read said this was the major shortcoming of the T61. If I go with the widescreen will that affect battery life?

- Will the 14" widescreen be like the screen that I currently have on my T23, but just wider? Or will I loose some in the height? I believe my current resolution on the T23 is XGA, so I'm thinking WXGA will be just fine.

- Is the finger print reader worth the $30?

- In general, where is the best place to buy? Online? What major stores might have T61s in the store? I kinda live in the boonies and it takes me about 3 hours to a real city, so I'd have to plan ahead if I was to visit a Best Buy, Staple etc.

- Any place to find find good bargain coupons?

- I am faculty at a U, while I don't believe that we have a direct contract with Lenovo, I think we still can qualify for the educational discount. Is this a good deal?

I plan to get XP (tried Vista, hated it) and also dual boot Ubuntu eventually. Core2Duo T7500, 100GB 72rpm, 1GB RAM (I plan to buy add 2GB more via crucial or newegg), DVD recorder (the configurator says this choice will delay the order 3-4 weeks?), 3
year depot service. Comes to about $1500 on the Lenovo site. Is that a good deal?

I am hoping that the change from the T23 to this will be quite noticable.

Anything else I should be asking or forgetting? Should I be considering a different model? (Overall I've been happy with the form factor of the T23 .. it's definetly not leight, but it's managable)

Thanks!

Esmail

ps: this would be my 3rd TP. T560x->T23->T61?

pps: sorry for this long post

[k2jsv]

Lenovo Outlet - If you are ok with a reconditioned unit... go for it. I have purchased 2 laptops from there without issues. But WYSIWYG

Battery Life - I have a 7 cell battery in my T61, when I am at work I can get through almost half of an 8 hour shift before I get a battery warning (10%). That is with some light computing. Web Browsing, downloading e-mail, smartphone syncing via bluetooth, and Instant Messaging.

Widescreen - You will lose a little bit of height. I am not a big screen snob so I don't really know the differences in the screen types. My widescreen on my T61 is more than sufficient, and I dare say is a little better than the LCD in my old A31p.

Fingerprint reader - meh. I saw no real use for it. But a nifty "gadget" to be sure. For the security conscious it is probably more useful than I who rarely lets this thing out of my site for more than 10 minutes. If it is not with me, it is home locked in my office.

Buying Online - I purchased right through the Lenovo site, and had the laptop in 2 weeks. Some have not been so lucky, but from what I have read the response is mostly positive.

Coupons - Google. I found one just by Googling.

Educational Discount - You shouldn't have an issue there. I am a part time student and all I did was create a profile with the school I attend and off I went.

All said and done when I got done configuring my laptop, less the student thing and the coupon I spent about $1600 on my laptop. I topped out the processor and HD on mine when ordering, got XP and a DVD Recorder as well. I also only got the standard warranty as well. I put this computer on my homeowner's policy so if it gets damaged, lost or stolen I get a new computer. Raised my yearly premium $3.70

I also am in the process of upgrading the RAM for almost half of what the extra memory would have cost from Lenovo.

PS. Wanna sell your T23 when you upgrade? I need something small that I can hide in a console at work to set up a live scanner feed for my website.

[esmail]

Lenovo Outlet - If you are ok with a reconditioned unit... go for it. I have purchased 2 laptops from there without issues. But WYSIWYG

I think they also sell new machines.

Battery Life - I have a 7 cell battery in my T61, when I am at work I can get through almost half of an 8 hour shift before I get a battery warning (10%). That is with some light computing. Web Browsing, downloading e-mail, smartphone syncing via bluetooth, and Instant Messaging.

that's pretty good.

Widescreen - You will lose a little bit of height. I am not a big screen snob so I don't really know the differences in the screen types.

do you have the 14"? I wonder what the height/width are on the 14" WS. If I was getting a 15" or bigger display I'd go widescreen for sure, but with 14" I think I'd be giving up too much screen real-estate. I don't think they have a webcam option with 4:3 14" screen.

Coupons - Google. I found one just by Googling.

Will Lenovo let you apply them even if they are running a special? If so the savings could be substantial I'd guess.

PS. Wanna sell your T23 when you upgrade? I need something small that I can hide in a console at work to set up a live scanner feed for my website.

I'd definetly consider it once I'd have put the T61 through its paces and was satisfied it would be reliable.

[k2jsv]

I have the 14 inch widescreen. I like it, it was a little interesting getting used to it at first because I came down from a 1600x1200 screen on the A31p to 1440x900 on the 14" WS.

As far as the coupons are concerned... dunno. Try it. What is the worst that happens. They deny it... Also, there is a 10% coupon that is in the ad section on the site on the left side. Just noticed it while typing. (so much for situational awareness, eh?)

[liliggyracin]

We currently just purchased 29 of these units with the 14" widescreens and have got nothing but good reviews from our users. (With the exception that they dont fair well when being dropped from a 30 foot bucket truck) As for coupons I cant help you there as we are leasing these from Lenovo for 3 years. Standard for us is 3gb of ram, docking station and getting 19"ws lcds from ViewSonic We are running XP Pro and dumping the Vista image. Only small problem I found is getting the Universal Packet Driver to always work when ghosting images but if your only looking at one I would highly recommend it.

[esmail]

Thanks James & liliggyracin ...

the WS vs Standard is the only thing I'm still pondering, but since I don't access to seeing one (even within a 3 hour car ride) I think I will stick with the standard screen. This means the system should be very similar in size to my current T23 from what I have read.

I only wish the standard screen would come with the web cam too.

Happy Holidays.

[esmail]

I took the plunge and ordered the T61 14" standard screen model (T7500, 100GB 7200rpm drive, XP Pro, 1GB RAM (will buy&add 2GB myself), BT, DVD-RW, GMA X3100).

Now I can't wait

Anyone know how accurate Lenovo's shipping estimates are and if they update the status page fairly regularly? (Aside from regular impatience I will also be traveling near that time and just want to make sure I can make arrangements in case I'm not here).

Can't wait

[sugo]

For T61 shipping dates take a look at this thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

I got my T61 within a week from clicking the order button.

[pailhead]

I just got my T61 15.4" last week. First Thinkpad, first notebook ever.

I think I'm done with desktops now.

I can get about 3.5-4 hours out of the battery, depending on what I'm doing. I don't think you will be able to break 4 hours no matter what on the standard battery though.

As stated earlier, the widescreen is a not as tall as 4:3. Widescreen is where it's at as far as I'm concerned. I find it works well with reading text (the biggest complaint), I just don't maximize the windows (think Apple). Widescreen gives me the ability to stack windows behind each other and grab them as I need them, rather than going down to the taskbar.

As far as where to buy, that's up to you. I got mine straight from Lenovo through the Students and Alumni site. You get something like 10% off right away using it. There are Ecoupons you can use in conjunction. I got a barebones 15.4" T61 (for upgrading over time) for well under $900 sent to my door. I don't think you will find a better price than going straight to Lenovo and using Ecoupons, the only downside being your order will take some time to arrive. Mine took about three or four weeks.

[esmail]

I am really curious about the wide screen. If there would have been a reasonable way to see one (none w/i a 3 hour drive!) I would made the effort and who knows perhaps picked it (the camera would have been a nice fun thing to have). Lacking that, I ordered pretty much the same size/form factor machine I'm typing on right now (T23) .. which I'm quite content with.

Re coupon etc .. I went through Lenovo's site which is currently running a holiday sale, and also managed to use a coupon for additional 13% off (expires tomorrow) .. so I was quite happy about the savings.

I had tried a Dell M1330 last week and paid over $1000 more, and it turned out to be a total disaster, so I returned that system for a full refund. Still not sure if Vista alone (and poor drivers) are to blame or if the hardware was faulty. Solidified my decision to not even consider systems unless they offered XP for now.

[pianowizard]

I took the plunge and ordered the T61 14" standard screen model (T7500, 100GB 7200rpm drive, XP Pro, 1GB RAM (will buy&add 2GB myself), BT, DVD-RW, GMA X3100).

Did you make sure it has an SXGA+ (1400x1050) screen?

[esmail]

I took the plunge and ordered the T61 14" standard screen model (T7500, 100GB 7200rpm drive, XP Pro, 1GB RAM (will buy&add 2GB myself), BT, DVD-RW, GMA X3100).

Did you make sure it has an SXGA+ (1400x1050) screen?

Hi, actually I wanted an XGA screen, so that's what I ordered

[pianowizard]

Hi, actually I wanted an XGA screen, so that's what I ordered

Hmm, you mentioned that you cared about real estate, so I thought you wanted a high-resolution screen.

[esmail]

Hi, actually I wanted an XGA screen, so that's what I ordered

Hmm, you mentioned that you cared about real estate, so I thought you wanted a high-resolution screen.

Yup, but that was in comparison with WS vs no-WS at the same resolution.

I do have to wear reading glasses these days so I didn't want something with too small of a native resolution. I have been quite content with the XGA on the T23.

Too bad I live out in the boonies and didn't have a chance to try out a WS version of the system, I seriously considered it, but didn't want to order it w/o seeing it first.


It will be interesting to get the T61 .. same size/format as my T23 but hopefully faster in a major way!

[pianowizard]

Yup, but that was in comparison with WS vs no-WS at the same resolution.

I see. It's moot now, but even the lowest-res 14.1" widescreen has 30% more real estate than XGA.

[esmail]

Yup, but that was in comparison with WS vs no-WS at the same resolution.

I see. It's moot now, but even the lowest-res 14.1" widescreen has 30% more real estate than XGA.

Ok, maybe I'm a bit confused (wouldn't be the first time , but here was my reasoning:

As the height / width difference gets bigger but keeping the same diagonal length, the screen area decreases .. so that was my reasoning about having less real estate. A square screen would yield the largest area, the more rectangular, the smaller the area.

True that WXGA has more pixels than XGA, but won't they be smaller? Resulting in a tinier font?

Now I'm wondering if I made a mistake in my reasoning.

[pianowizard]

True that WXGA has more pixels than XGA, but won't they be smaller? Resulting in a tinier font?

Yes, a 14.1" widescreen has a smaller surface area than a 14.1" standard screen, and things appear smaller on a 14.1" WXGA screen (higher pixel density) than on a 14.1" XGA screen (lower pixel density). But the term "real estate" refers to the total number of pixels, whereas what you were concerned about was really pixel density. Now I understand that you want a screen with low pixel density.

[tpribors]

My migration was from T23 to T60. I had a T42p at work. The T series are workhorses. If you liked your T23 you won't be disappointed in the T61.

[esmail]

Yes, a 14.1" widescreen has a smaller surface area than a 14.1" standard screen, and things appear smaller on a 14.1" WXGA screen (higher pixel density) than on a 14.1" XGA screen (lower pixel density). But the term "real estate" refers to the total number of pixels, whereas what you were concerned about was really pixel density. Now I understand that you want a screen with low pixel density.

Ah, so my reasoning was ok, just my terminology not

Thanks for helping to clear this up for me. I *really* would have liked to see the WS in WXGA (and would have liked the web cam too) but since there was no way I could see one in person (not even within a 3 hour drive!) I just went with what I know (ie a T23 like system). Having a different form factor would have really driven home the fact that I have a new/different system.

It stinks being stuck out in the boonies.

[esmail]

My migration was from T23 to T60. I had a T42p at work. The T series are workhorses. If you liked your T23 you won't be disappointed in the T61.

Glad to hear that. Yes, the T23 has been a great little machine, just need more umphf in terms of CPU and diskspace.

I sure hope the power boost from the 2.2Ghz system with 7200 rpm drive (now PIII 1Ghz, 5400rpm) will be very noticable.

Also my first dual core machine, hopefully that will eliminate most of the pauses when my machine would be ordinarly be "busy and hung" doing somethings.

[pae77]

The speed difference between a T2x with probably a 4800 rpm drive and a T61 with a 7200 rpm drive should blow you away.

And if you add some cheap aftermarket ram so you have at least 2GB for XP or 3GB for Vista, it should be even faster.