X6x No More?

[dstrauss]

Did I buy the last x61s ever?

My computer is enroute from China, and today I went to the Lenovo site to check on current prices, and SURPRISE - there is no listing for the X61 series...NONE...NADA...NEIN. I know the 200/300 series are more modern and speedier, but this is a sad day for this Thinkpad lover. Maybe I should just stick my new X61s on the shelf as a museum piece - NOT - it's got a lot of work to do from here on...

By the way, over at the Outlet center, the cheapest x61s is going for $750, and I got mine (thanks to the heads-up on this forum) a couple of weeks ago for $721 WITH a 160gb HD instead of the 80gb on the outlet model.

[dr_st]

Why is that strange? New models come in, old ones get phased out.

I urged my girlfriend to buy an X61 a few months ago, even though her X32 still functioned just fine, specifically because I knew that they will not be available for long, and for a person who dislikes widescreen, as she does, it was a last chance to get a 4:3 12" laptop, with a 3-year waranty.

When she bought it, the regular (non-s) X61 were no longer available directly from Lenovo, and only a few were available from the outlet. I figured that it's about time they got rid of all their old stock on the X61s as well and took it off their site.

[dstrauss]

I never implied it is strange, just a sad moment. I know widescreen (ala HDTV) is all the rage, but I do a lot of word processing and favor a taller than wider screen. Besides, the X61s series just seems stronger (or is that just more IBM-sk). I got choked up when Toshiba discontinued the T1100 plus series in the way back machine days, so don't mind me.

[Marin85]

I never implied it is strange, just a sad moment. I know widescreen (ala HDTV) is all the rage, but I do a lot of word processing and favor a taller than wider screen. Besides, the X61s series just seems stronger (or is that just more IBM-sk). I got choked up when Toshiba discontinued the T1100 plus series in the way back machine days, so don't mind me.

Believe me, most of us have sympathy with your disappointment since standard aspect ratio screens are preferred by many of us over the wide screens...

[hausman]

today I went to the Lenovo site to check on current prices, and SURPRISE - there is no listing for the X61 series...NONE...NADA...NEIN

That doesn't necessarily prove that the X61 has been discontinued. For example, Lenovo Canada had no X61 models for sale during January and most of February. Then they had a sale for a few days in which they offered them with 14 day delivery, i.e. made to order. Now again there are no X61 models on offer. They could come back.

But you are correct that X61, like T61, has been supplanted by new models. Even if X61 models come back they won't be available from Lenovo for much longer.

[PhilD]

i just bought another X61s two weeks ago from Lenovo because i wanted one more with the 4:3 screen before they phased them out, sounds like i got it just in time. widescreen - eww, yuck, hate them, the future is looking very sad indeed.

[dstrauss]

i just bought another X61s two weeks ago from Lenovo because i wanted one more with the 4:3 screen before they phased them out, sounds like i got it just in time. widescreen - eww, yuck, hate them, the future is looking very sad indeed.

Yuck is right. The 4:3 screen is perfect for business software use - I don't mind my movies being letterboxed.

[gunston]

4:3 screen is still my choice

[Ken Fox]

I have another new X61s coming, although they have delayed the shipping date until the end of the month. Lenovo sales assures me that they will in fact complete the order, and that they have been waiting for screens needed to complete the last few orders that are still out there. I hate the widescreen format and hope to be able to use my 4:3 Thinkpads for a very long time.

ken

[David Ross]

Hi Ken,
Lenovo just had a big promotion/sale on the X61 series. Last time this happened they had no stock for several weeks, but the machines remained on the order page, and many people got profoundly and loudly cheesed off when they ordered but didn't get a machine for a long while. While 4:3 Thinkpad subnotes might be truly on the way out, I think there is also some chance they might reappear when stock reappears.
David R.

[Ken Fox]

Hi Ken,
Lenovo just had a big promotion/sale on the X61 series. Last time this happened they had no stock for several weeks, but the machines remained on the order page, and many people got profoundly and loudly cheesed off when they ordered but didn't get a machine for a long while. While 4:3 Thinkpad subnotes might be truly on the way out, I think there is also some chance they might reappear when stock reappears.
David R.

Hi David,

I think the X61 and X61s are now history as regards any sort of regular online sales from Lenovo. To the extent that they have stock remaining, most probably they will be sold through the outlet. The Lenovo outlet, in my experience, has the very worst order fulfillment system of any online business I have ever dealt with, except for a couple of dishonest and or bankrupt merchants who took my money and never shipped anything. Lenovo won't take your money and ship nothing, but they will delay ship dates ad infinitum with no communication whatsoever. I had one "outlet" system a year ago that they kept delaying the shipment of by 2 week increments every 2 weeks the day after the previous ship date came and went. After two months of that, on one of my many phone calls with them, the person said, "this is never going to ship." Did they make any effort to contact me about that, even an automatic email? No. I have another system like that on order now, which I am afraid is going through the same process.

If you really want an X61 or X61s, I'd check other sources such as ebay and online merchants other than Lenovo.

ken

[David Ross]

My experiences with the outlet have been pretty good, but I've mainly used them for accessories.

The market niche for small 4:3 laptops has been taken over by mininotebooks. I think it is time to dust off the old butterfly keyboard design and bolt it onto a Lenovo S12 (S10 with a 12" screen).

David

[Ken Fox]

My experiences with the outlet have been pretty good, but I've mainly used them for accessories.

The market niche for small 4:3 laptops has been taken over by mininotebooks. I think it is time to dust off the old butterfly keyboard design and bolt it onto a Lenovo S12 (S10 with a 12" screen).

David

Hi David,

I know nothing of marketing nor market niches. I always thought that the X60/61(s) models, like the X4x and X3x versions before them, were for business people who traveled frequently and who wanted a solid, REAL computer that took up little space and weighed very little. The "netbooks" I have seen are really no smaller nor lighter than an X61(s), although they do have better battery life. All the netbooks I've seen are cheap flimsy things with very slow processors, with bad keyboards, and the feel of something that you'd be happy if it lasted for a year. They are adequate to the task that most ask of them, but would not satisfy someone who really needed to rely on a quality piece of equipment, nor a laptop enthusiast who appreciates a well made laptop.

Lenovo is a niche player in the laptop universe. Their cheaper offerings are certainly oriented at buyers not representative of forum participants. The more that they remake their premium line to resemble the mediocre offerings of other manufacturers, the less reason they will give anyone to buy their products. I don't know if there is a "path to salvation" for Lenovo; it may already be too late and notebooks may have already become too much of a commodity item to stop the train before all differences among brands are rendered moot.

There are market niches that are being left vacant, and Lenovo could fill some of them if they cared to, but it doesn't seem like they really want to differentiate themselves the way that IBM did with their Thinkpad line, which for a long time sold for much more than other laptops that on paper appeared to be similar.

But, Lenovo isn't doing very much to help itself in this situation, and after a few more years of this I can't see much reason why anyone would prefer what they are making to the cheapest models available from whatever manufacturer.

ken

[ssd_thinkpad]

IBM lost much money with its computer / notebook business and we do not know whether it was due to its strategy to develop high-end products with very good service. I am sure lenovo does want to make money so they have to develop a different approach for this business. Selling a brand new T500 for 700 $ from lenovo directly is a kind of statement. The lenovo store is like disneyland with happy days all the time. Wonder when lenovo disneyland comes to europe, too !

[Marin85]

IBM lost much money with its computer / notebook business and we do not know whether it was due to its strategy to develop high-end products with very good service. I am sure lenovo does want to make money so they have to develop a different approach for this business. Selling a brand new T500 for 700 $ from lenovo directly is a kind of statement. The lenovo store is like disneyland with happy days all the time. Wonder when lenovo disneyland comes to europe, too!

I couldn´t agree more!

[David Ross]

The "netbooks" I have seen are really no smaller nor lighter than an X61(s), although they do have better battery life. All the netbooks I've seen are cheap flimsy things with very slow processors, with bad keyboards, and the feel of something that you'd be happy if it lasted for a year.

The Atom platform is fine for internet and word processing; it is too slow for multimedia or video games. Some of the mininotes are cheesy, some (including Lenovo's) are pretty nice (and much lighter than the X61), but all have crap keyboards. That's why I suggested the 701's butterfly keyboard.

The X series has been fantastic for me, but I work in an environment of thousands of people with notebooks, and most of what I see people carrying or using these days are luggables, mininotes, and Apples.

David

[iamdmc]

To X61s:

If this is the end... Goodnight, dear friend

It's always a sad day to see a product that means so much to you become phased out in favor of something you don't see value in. I've been hesitant about purchasing an X301 or X200 because of the huge bezel around the screen. I still have faith in Lenovo... once USB3.0, SATA6gb/s, Corei7 Mobile (here's hoping), Firewire3200, PCI 3.0, cheaper SSDs (they're getting there) are released Lenovo is sure to do something great with that. Once OLED screens are more common laptop computing will be a dream.

My next laptop: late 2010 with all of the above. It will be widescreen, which could quite possibly take a lot of getting used to.

[billp117]

Although not perfect...I have no plans on parting with my X60's. They perform well and are easy to find and continue to amaze me with constant reliability.

Bill

[gunston]

some places are still selling X61s

[Ken Fox]

I've laid in, shall we say, a "supply" of X61(s)s. I think they will be relatively "upgradable" over the next few years for most of what is apt to come down the pike.

For those who are in the US, and who may have missed it: There's a promotion going on over at ebay right now. If you register with live.com (part of Microsoft) and then with live.com "cashback," and then use "live search," clicking on the sponsored ebay link in the results, you can get a rebate directly from MS deposited in your paypal acct. Right now the rebate is 14%, although it could go to zero, or even up higher, in five minutes.

Using this deal it has been possible to obtain a NIB X61s for around $600, although at the low end those machines are "stripped," and may have only 9 months of easy-serv warranty left. Still, it's an attractive price.

ken