Versatile Thinkpad Questions

[jdhurst]

I have a T61p Thinkpad with Vista Business 64-bit. It does everything I need to do and leaves nothing behind. I am considering upgrading this machine to Windows 7 Professional 64-bit and at the same time, put in a new 500Gb 7200-rpm hard drive to replace the existing 200Gb 7200-rpm hard drive.

I see people with tablet machines and I wonder whether I should get a tablet machine.

I reviewed the Lenovo Idea Pads, and all the ones I saw were not much customizable and had non-business operating systems which I cannot use. At this point, unless I have missed something, Idea Pads are not for me.

I looked at the Thinkpads (and I go here a lot). I looked at the SL series but they are big, heavy, do no more than what I have and are not tablets so far as I can see. I looked at the X Series and there appears to be a tablet (X200). It appears it can come with a 500Gb 7200-rpm hard drive and Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, but no CD-ROM.

So I guess the question is: Has anyone used such a machine (X Series Tablet) as a business-only machine? And if so, how does it compare with the T Series I already have?

Thanks, ... JDH

[RealBlackStuff]

If you upgrade your T61p, be very wary of the WD Scorpio Black 500GB/7200rpm.
Apparently they vibrate something awful!
Search the forums with "scorpio black vibration".

[jdhurst]

Thanks for the wisdom on the WD upgrade. I have had good success with Hitachi, and I will pay the premium to get one. Savings on hard drives are not on my radar screen. Only top level performance and reliability make to my final selection screen.

I keep looking at the X tablet and think (1) it is a painless way to work on window 7 (I can do what I want while keeping my Vista machine in production) and (2) I want something different to use more freely at meetings so as to reduce the amount of paper I lug around. ... JDH

[jdhurst]

I guess the other thing is that the X Tablet has integrated graphics whereas my T61p has discrete graphics. I don't know if this will have much negative impact on my work. ... JDH

[ajkula66]

That really depends on the type of work you're intent on doing with it...

A lot of graphic-intensive stuff, CAD, Photoshop etc. might choke a platform with integrated graphics.

Everything and anything else will fly pretty well by most people's standards, but YMMV.

[jdhurst]

My vendor says I cannot get a Hitachi 500Gb notebook drive until later this month. Indeed the Hitachi website does not list it for sale.

My vendor has suggested a Seagate ST9500420AS 7200-rpm 500Gb notebook hard drive as an alternative. Is Seagate a good drive? Is there any reason to wait?

On the Thinkpad front, I assume it will go in my T61p. Does anyone know - will this drive work with the IBM / Lenovo HD Active Protection system?

I am ready to order, so any assistance and/or advice will be welcome. I can alwasy get the Hitachi 320Gb drive and use it later as a spare.

Thanks, ... JDH

[ajkula66]

Seagates are good in my experience, and all of my ThinkPads apart from 701C and T43 run on them...

Haven't tested the 500GB version yet, but have a 320GB/7200 in my R6 FrankenPad-was in my T60p prior to that-and love it...

My experiences only...

[jdhurst]

Thanks so much. Order going in today. ...JDH

[ThinkRob]

I've had both the 500GB Scorpio Black and the 500GB Scorpio Blue -- the Blue has minimal vibration and decent power usage. The Black... not so much.

Unless disk seek times and throughput are of paramount importance, I'd recommend the WD Scorpio Blue series.