Owned a T61, What do I buy Next?

[Fakenjones]

Hey,

I've had a T61 for some time now. Really enjoy it. I think what I like most is the sturdiness, the fact that nothing has ever broken despite rough use (my 4150 from Dell was as fragile as glass compared to this). Not to mention the amazing 4 hour battery life with a 9 cell even years later (chargeset 30%-90%). I find it's also very light compared to laptops of similiar power, and tends to run fairly cool except for palm area, which gets warm, but never hot. O yeah, and I love the standard black. I'm the type of guy who still likes XP with classic theme on anything that can't handle Win 7.

Fan recently started to make noises, but I have it undervolted so it never really runs hotter than 58 degrees, averaging 40 degrees, with cool days usually around 30 degrees. But even then, the GPU is getting out of date. It's the integrated one. It has been able to play most games up till now, (I'm not big on graphic intensive shooters), but eventually I can feel its time is coming to an end. Also though the T8100 is powerful, I'm getting curious about these i7s who people rave and rant about nowadays. The screen is also starting to get dim from the right side, especially the top right corner, so its annoying watching movies on it.

So here is where I need your help. I'm exploring getting a newer laptop. I've heard that T6x series was the last real "IBMs" that Lenovo released. That scares me. I've owned T40, T41, T61, T60 and used various others. I loved the old IBM/Lenovo. I hope they still make Thinkpads out there that I can buy that are similar to the old quality.

Which laptop do you think is the natural new brother to the T61 series. I'm looking for:
- the standard IBM black frame (with the sturdy "unbreakable" like frame)
- UltraNAV (especially the trackpoint) - similar/better than T61
- the keyboard - similar to T61 (ie feel, flex, and safety features such as fluid drain)
- Switchable graphics ideally (90% use is work/casual, 10% gaming)
- Preferred ports (HDMI, Firewire to start)
- Battery (>5hrs is must)
- Processor (no clue, I hear i7 is the way to go, but I have to read more)
----> for processors I tend to aim high, but not for ceiling, so like 80% of the best of the best kind of thing this way it stays competitive and effective for atleast 4-5 years from my experience & you don't pay the premium to upgrade to the bestest models, which often offer very little more in value.
- RAM (preferably 4 GB)
- HD (>500GB, and needs to have the same safety features such as air bag)
- CD/DVD (doesn't matter really, but I prefer atleast a CD writer/DVD reader --> almost never used)

So what do you guys think? What model in Lenovo's current lineup will satisfy an old T61 user.
All comments are appreciated.

[richk]

I prefer the larger (15.4") format with a high-resolution screen (WUXGA). I recently replaced my T61p with a W500 and I really like it. I work on machines so the ones I get tend to be one model old. The W510 comes with LED-backlight screens, which are much brighter

[Marie-Anne]

Hey,
All comments are appreciated.

Okay, it's not Lenovo.

But this is currently the dreammachine I'm looking for, partly because it has an IPS screen:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/hp- ... ation/1890

http://www.techspot.com/news/38354-hp-e ... sb-30.html

Looks a perfect gift for me at Christmas time. Hope my husband can "read" my wish!

[Fakenjones]

Hey,

Sorry. In recent times, I've seen 2 HP laptops die / break that belonged to friends. I've seen a Toshiba which seems to be the most fragile laptop ever made (scary I know, considering their old reputation).

So I'm pretty much going for a Lenovo.

I'll look more into the W series.

[pianowizard]

Sorry. In recent times, I've seen 2 HP laptops die / break that belonged to friends. I've seen a Toshiba which seems to be the most fragile laptop ever made (scary I know, considering their old reputation).

Most laptop manufacturers offer a diverse array of laptops, so even within the same manufacturer, laptop quality can range from terrible to excellent. For example, in terms of reliability, Toshiba laptops are still quite good on the whole -- see this 2010 PC Magazine survey, though certain Toshiba models may be much more fragile than others. So, I don't think it's fair to generalize based on just a small sample. The best practice is to research on specific models before buying, but that of course takes a lot of work. If you prefer not to do too much research, the Thinkpads are usually a safe choice because they are a relatively homogeneous brand and the vast majority of models are pretty good. But as you can see in the survey referenced above, on average, Lenovo isn't as good as Apple, Asus, MSI, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and (gasp!) Gateway. Granted, there is a caveat: this survey grouped Thinkpads and non-Thinkpad Lenovo laptops together. But I bet that most Lenovo laptops included in this survey were Thinkpads, and so the Lenovo scores are dominated by Thinkpads.

[Fakenjones]

Hey,

Thanks for that link. I'll definitely check it out.

I definitely do LOADS of research before I buy anything. A laptop purchase usually involves 1-2 months of intensive reading of every review and consumer comment I can get my hands on, and usually also the forums about the laptop itself. Usually start with reviews from NotebookReview.com, then go from there.

So yeah, I like to be thorough. Real thorough.

What I'm aiming for in this thread is more of a pointer. A general direction as to what Thinkpad I should be looking at next. As a successor similar to my T2x, T4x, T6x experience.

So far the only recommendation has been the new W series. Do you guys agree this would be the natural next step?

[pianowizard]

What I'm aiming for in this thread is more of a pointer. A general direction as to what Thinkpad I should be looking at next. As a successor similar to my T2x, T4x, T6x experience.

I understood that, but I felt compelled to challenge your decision to stick with Thinkpads simply because you have had bad luck with a few other brands. For example, I am familiar with the Dell Inspiron 4150 that you mentioned. It was made at a time when most of Dell's laptops (both consumer and business lines) used very cheap material and were extremely fragile. Thinkpads feel great when compared to that 4150, but so do virtually all other current laptop brands.

So far the only recommendation has been the new W series. Do you guys agree this would be the natural next step?

Yes, the W500 and the W510 would be the natural next step.

But even then, the GPU is getting out of date. It's the integrated one.

Actually, you should feel lucky that your T61 has integrated graphics rather than NVIDIA, because the NVIDIA T61's have a shockingly high failure rate. If your T61 were one of those, your admiration of Thinkpads would probably have ended months ago!

[Fakenjones]

I understood that, but I felt compelled to challenge your decision to stick with Thinkpads simply because you have had bad luck with a few other brands. For example, I am familiar with the Dell Inspiron 4150 that you mentioned. It was made at a time when most of Dell's laptops (both consumer and business lines) used very cheap material and were extremely fragile. Thinkpads feel great when compared to that 4150, but so do virtually all other current laptop brands.

Ahh I know. Its a sad state really. So far as I can tell HPs are too flashy for me, Sonys are too overpriced, Macs blehh, Toshibas I'm losing faith, Dell pricy + bad experiences, Acer & Asus I've never looked into. Its being limiting to myself I know, but I really don't want to spend time researching 10 different brands, when I know that one reliable line of brands exists.

Among other things, I'm familiar with this forum, like the support & expertise on it. Also, I figure I'll go Thinkpad till they screw me over, and then I'll spend the infinite hours needed to truely analyze all other brands. Plus I like the Lenovo "Bloatware", Fn key setup, Update software, etc to be much much more professional, clean, and easily available than some of the other manufacturers. I know from personal experience from tech supporting others that Acer can be hell to find drivers etc, and that Toshiba has no software that rivals the Lenovo System Update.

Anyway, this rant is detracting from the discussion at hand. Which is, which Thinkpad is next.

Yes, the W500 and the W510 would be the natural next step.

Hmm another vote for the W boys. Any reason for not supporting the T510 cousin?

Actually, you should feel lucky that your T61 has integrated graphics rather than NVIDIA, because the NVIDIA T61's have a shockingly high failure rate. If your T61 were one of those, your admiration of Thinkpads would probably have ended months ago!

Luck I think has the least to do with it. Like I said, months and months of research usually goes into a laptop purchase. In fact, when I picked mine up, I had the option to get the NVIDIA for like $25-$50 more, but thankfully reading these here forums saved me from that mess.

Any similar blaring issues that I should be aware of in the W5xx, or the T5xx series?

Actually, theres a thread here somewhere isn't there with all the thinkpad model common issues. time to go find that.

[Muse]

Hey,

Sorry. In recent times, I've seen 2 HP laptops die / break that belonged to friends. I've seen a Toshiba which seems to be the most fragile laptop ever made (scary I know, considering their old reputation).

So I'm pretty much going for a Lenovo.

I'll look more into the W series.

I do not know the ins and outs of laptop reliability. My experience is a T60 that I've had for almost 4 years (since Dec. 2006) that has never failed me, IIRC. Not a hiccup, no blue screens, crashes, refusals to awaken from suspend, all of which plagued my Acer Aspire that I bought 14 months ago, which unfortunately went belly up about 10 days ago. The crashes may have been a warning of the demise to come, but I wasn't convinced that the problems were not due to software corruption, so I did not seek warranty support. Besides, the crashes were intermittent and entirely unpredictable, however they were well into double digits. A quick google search on "laptop reliability chart" produces the following chart that has HP dead last, Lenovo in the middle of the pack and Asus and Toshiba almost neck and neck for the lead:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/lapt ... -hp-fails/

I'm thinking that a high end Thinkpad (e.g. T61 or T60) would be apt to be better than the average Lenovo in terms of reliability and may outpace the cheaper Asus's or Toshibas, at least that's my bet and I'm looking to buy one used to take the place of my belly up Acer. Besides, I have 4GB DDR2 and a new unused 640GB 7200RPM 2.5" 9.5mm Samsung HD, that was about to be installed in the Acer. I think they'd go nicely in a used T61 and keep me happy for some time to come (Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit too!).

[pianowizard]

the following chart that has HP dead last, Lenovo in the middle of the pack and Asus and Toshiba almost neck and neck for the lead:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/lapt ... -hp-fails/

I too have been citing that and other recent surveys to warn people against buying HP laptops. However, to be fair to HP, a HUGE number of their recent laptops were screwed up by the exact same Nvidia fiasco that ruined the T61 Thinkpads as well as many Dell laptops. Without this Nvidia issue, Lenovo's reliability scores would certainly have been somewhat higher, whereas HP's and Dell's would have been much higher -- "somewhat higher" for Lenovo because only the T61 was involved, but "much higher" for HP and Dell because many of their models were affected. Those G84 and G86 Nvidia cards are no longer used to make new HPs, so it should be safer to buy HP laptops now, though I remain cautious.