The Holy Grail (PIC Warning)

[Cunha]

It is true that the hyper light weight given with the Z61t is with a travel bezel and the 4 cell battery. Sadly they never made a flat travel bezel (as far as I know) so the type with an angle from the T4X series is what you have to run if you want to strip the machine of weight.

[emtee3511]

Actually, thanks to you, Harry, for taking it off my hands, fixing it and giving it a good home After seeing your beautiful photos, I shudder to think what might have happened to it if it had stayed in Jersey --

[Temetka]

Harry I am glad you found a nice machine and one that seems to suit your fancy as well.

As far as the cosmetics of the machine are concerned my personal view is 'meh'. I don't like the angle of the machine bezel when closed as it resembles the failed HP DV series to me. I do like the titanium lid though, it's very pretty. Nice specs in your machine though.

Strike that. On second thought, I do[/do] like the look of that angled front edge, HP be [censored].

My only question concerning the Z61T series would be if there was one produced with discrete graphics as an option or not.

[Harryc]

All Z61T models had the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 / integrated in 945GM @ 250MHz. The T7200 models had DVI pass-through.

[sparta.rising]

I'm running almost the exact same configuration, except no 802.11n. My cover does not look nearly that good, my clear coat was in terrible shape so I completely stripped it off. I might reapply it when the weather warms up. Unfortunately I tried removing the metal IBM logo, thinking it was just a sticker, only to learn that its firmly glued in there.

[t140568]

Wow! That lid just looks soooo good!
Nice TP, Harry.
I mean, WOW!

[Harryc]

Thanks Tim, I appreciate it. I'm going to do the first of a couple of upgrades to it today... a Core 2 Duo T7600 (2.33Ghz).

[Radioguy]

These models were one of few I was able to handle at a local "staples" store before I ever owned a thinkpad.

I saw a Z-series at Staples as well several years back. It was a 15.4" model and I thought it looked repulsive! The 14.1" Z61t is a much better-looking machine IMO. I actually owned one for a while and liked it very much.

I wanted to drool over the one I saw at STAPLES, but someone stole the trackpoint cap, some keycaps, and it wasn't even plugged in. Hadn't handled a Z since.

Loved the cover, though.

[Harryc]

The transplant was a success, now a Core 2 Duo T7600 (2.33Ghz). It runs very cool and the fan hardly comes on, and when it does it is whisper quiet.

[underclocker]

Over the top, Harry. That is a model that Lenovo should have offered.

Does the BIOS screen show the correct 2.33GHz and T7600? I don't think any were sold that way - although the Z61t HMM does show a T7400 option. Maybe it was offered with a CTO model?

What a super machine.

[Harryc]

Thanks for the comments Ed. The BIOS screen shows Core 2 Duo T7600 @ 2.33Ghz. So BIOS recognizes it.

[yak]

Thanks for the pictures. It's a fine machine. I always thought the Z series were very nice looking and had a lot of T60 features, plus some extras as you said.

One thing makes me wonder though, what display have you used exactly? Is it an official Lenovo branded LCD with a proper FRU or were you able to use a generic one?

[Harryc]

Yak, it was listed as "IBM ThinkPad Z61T Matte 14.1" LCD Screen LP141WP1 TL B2
FRU 13N7106
Part# 13N7105

[Harryc]

The Holy Grail is coming home .
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=98782

Here's how it looks today ...

http://home.comcast.net/~harryc56/Jpegs/top.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~harryc56/Jpegs/right.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~harryc56/Jpegs/left.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~harryc56/Jpegs/lcd.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~harryc56/Jpegs/keyboard.jpg

Edit: Next time it leaves my sight it will be pried from my cold dead fingers ... LOL

[emtee3511]

I knew it -- I saw that marketplace post and was wondering... congrats!

[underclocker]

Harry, congrats! Is that really the exact same unit? Amazing. When I saw the ad, I actually considered buying it, too.

To keep it up to date, I think you're going to have to pop in an Intel 320 series SSD. (Sorry to spend your money!)

I have the Holy Grail's sibling, the Z61m with similar spec's, including the Atheros N wifi, Ti cover and webcam. It's my daily work machine.

[Harryc]

Harry, congrats! Is that really the exact same unit? Amazing. When I saw the ad, I actually considered buying it, too.

To keep it up to date, I think you're going to have to pop in an Intel 320 series SSD. (Sorry to spend your money!)

I have the Holy Grail's sibling, the Z61m with similar spec's, including the Atheros N wifi, Ti cover and webcam. It's my daily work machine.

It is the exact same unit. . It's funny you should mention the Intel 320, I have been shopping already. The Z61m sounds nice, maybe someday you can post pics of it.

[Harryc]

I knew it -- I saw that marketplace post and was wondering... congrats!

I was always sorry I sold it. Thanks to you for originally for selling it to me.

[Tasurinchi]

Nice machine Harry, congratulations! The Titanium lid looks so new! Seems nobody ever used that notebook before.

I've got a Z61m with Titanium lid & webcam for my wife, but the lid is not in such a good condition, I hope some day I find a new one or at least a nice procedure to repaint it so that it looks like yours

[underclocker]

It's funny you should mention the Intel 320, I have been shopping already.

Harry, I noticed in your signature that your Z61t is now fully loaded with the 320 series SSD. So please report, how's performance?!

[Harryc]

I'd say it runs very well. Boot up time is less than 20 seconds (XP Pro) and all of the programs I use seem to load instantly. Here is a CrystalDiskMark run on the SSD.
Note; This machine is limited to SATA 1. Also I have W7 on order for it.



From what I can tell, results are pretty much in line with (if not slightly better than) T60's, which makes sense because they are also SATA 1 -
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=91526

Note 2; If you are going to run XP on an SSD, make sure to do a partition alignment before you install XP using diskpart on another windows machine with the SSD connected via USB. Also (install and) schedule the Intel toolbox to run cleanup once a week if using a 320 or other Intel SSD. This last step is needed because XP does not support Trim.

[underclocker]

Harry, really nice. My similarly equipped Z61m performs equally well. Truly snappier than any current ThinkPad with a mechanical drive.

Note 2; If you are going to run XP on an SSD, make sure to do a partition alignment before you install XP using diskpart on another windows machine with the SSD connected via USB. Also (install and) schedule the Intel toolbox to run cleanup once a week if using a 320 or other Intel SSD. This last step is needed because XP does not support Trim.

Regarding how to handle SSDs with XP, perhaps I'll start another thread. This stuff is confusing and changes based on SSD manufacturer, SSD controller and software used.

[Peak2Peak]

Regarding how to handle SSDs with XP, perhaps I'll start another thread. This stuff is confusing and changes based on SSD manufacturer, SSD controller and software used.

Looking forward to seeing this thread sooner rather than later, as would like to install an SSD initially running with Win-XP and would appreciate any pitfalls to avoid ie: Alignment, softwae to use etc.