Upgrade advice - moving on from my T60p

[zern]

Hi everyone,

My trusty T60p is getting long in the tooth. I will probably upgrade later this year. Would love to hear your any input/opinions.

My dilemma is: nothing in the current Lenovo range seem particularly "right".

The T410 is very bulky compared to my 14" T60p. The T410s is not that much slimmer in practice, and offers lower CPU performance.

The X201 is the closest match at the moment - light, fast CPU; though I will suffer the lower resolution (I currently have the 1400x1050 screen.) It is still more or less of the same bulk as my T60p! I find this somewhat disappointing. I don't need an optical drive. But would prefer a 2-spindle machine so I can have an SSD as the primary disk and a BIG secondary HDD.

EIDT: OMG just realised the X210 does not offer discrete graphics. That's a bummer.

I suppose I should say what I use this for:
- writing (large Word documents)
- Dragon voice dictation
- heavy duty web browsing
- Visio diagramming
- Adobe Illustrator and InDesign
- some Photoshop
- occasional 3D modelling and rendering

All thoughts, and predictions as to what may be coming!, welcome.

Thanks!!!

[Harryc]

The T410 is very bulky compared to my 14" T60p.

Not sure I agree with that statement. The T410 is clearly lighter. See this thread -
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=84479
As far as dimensions, the T410 is 13.13 x 9.41 x 1.09-1.26”, and the 14" T60P is 12.4 x 10.0 x 1.0-1.2"
So really the T410 is lighter and only slightly wider (.7") and is less in depth by (.6"). Seems to me those offset each other and so dimensions are a wash.

[dr_st]

As Harry said, the T410 is not as bulky as you make it to be.

It is somewhat thicker than the T60, but it is lighter.

The T410s is considerably slimmer and much lighter. CPU performance is not so much lower, and definitely higher than your current T60.

Either one will be a worthy upgrade, except the somewhat lower resolution. (1440x900 vs 1400x1050).

[zern]

The T410 is lighter yes. it did look and feel much bulkier to me than the 1+inches would suggest when I briefly had one side by side with my T60p. My T60p almost looked like an X series next to a T410!

Anyone done a hands-on "feel" comparison of the T410s i5-580M vs the i7-620M T410 doing Illustrator work and 3D rendering?

EDIT: found these
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 33&start=0
http://superuser.com/questions/132724/c ... re-i5-540m
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardwar ... -t410.html

Looking like the T410s might be a contender...

[JMvS]

With a SSD I assume yes.

Just be aware that compared to previous T series, the T410s is noticeably more delicate, so if you are used to something as tough as a your T60, maybe the T410 with i5, SSD and discrete graphic would be a more prudent choice, if you don't mind the extra pound or so.

NB: my main uneasyness with the T410s I own is a flimsy ultrabay: each time I hold it, I can hear a squeak from the DVD burner.

[dr_st]

Another thing to consider - if the upgrade is not urgent, new Sandybridge Thinkpads are probably not so far away. It is possible that there will be something interesting there worth waiting for. And if not - the current generation will still be available for a while, and probably cheaper.

[zern]

Good point re Sandybridge - that's just the sort of valuable insight I need as I have not really kept up with chipset increments.

No, I am not in desperate hurry. At the earliest, the upgrade will occur late in 2011. Probably enough time to wait for any potential issues with the new chipsets.

I hope the next batch of "real" thinkpads (as opposed tot he Edge series) offer something interesting and want-able!

[mrybczyn]

Given the lack of decent IPS screen laptops, I think my t60p is here to stay. For a side-grade, i'm considering a large smartphone / small tablet of the Android variety. The AMOLED and PVA screens on the samsung units are quite nice, for instance. Made in Korea, too

Cheers,
Mitch

[zern]

Interesting thought Mitch. (Samsung makes great screens! I have a couple, on rotating stands.)

Tablet eh? Hmm maybe I should look at the multitouch screen option on the T410s. Anyone have experience with this? DO you find it useful esp given the unit does not transform into a slate?

My current backup/alternate laptop is an X60 tablet. After a stint on that, I do find myself poking the T60p's screen. The pen input and the slate format does make the X201 tablet a somewhat attractive choice - I often find this combo, in portrait mode, great for reading and editing text. Problem is, the X201 tablet only comes with low voltage processors and less than optimal screen resolution. And I am often away from the 24" screen on my desk, sometimes for months at a time.

I don't have an IPS screen in my T60p. I am ok with an "normal" panel as long as the backlight is even and the screen surface is matte not shiny.

[ArtShapiro]

You've nailed the reason why you shouldn't want to upgrade: the preposterously inadequate vertical resolution of modern laptops. They're intended for folks who want to watch movies, not for any reasonable computational or browsing purposes.

Is there anything particularly undesirable about your T60p? Obviously an impending failure alters the scenario.

I'm hoping there's some fundamental change in display technology that makes it feasible to have more reasonable screen sizes before my own T60p eventually dies. I personally like that machine a lot more than, say, my wide-screen T61 or my totally-inadequate XGA X61.

Art

[zern]

Yes Art, I am absolutely a fan of vertical resolution - the very reason why my external monitors have pivoting stands. I abhor the wide screen format on working machines. Even when I watch a movie on my laptop it is never full screen as I'd be doing something else at the same time. Otherwise I'd watch the movie on a big screen TV!!! But I guess it is easier to sell "wide screens" to the consuming masses who don't really think too much about how they use technology.

There are no particularly immediate undesirable things about my T60p currently. I do run up against the 3Gb RAM limit now and then. It could be a lot zippier (with an SSD on a full SATA II bus + Win7 for example). And much lighter!

Overall it's been a great machine. Almost reaching the service life time of my much older T21! I am going to wait until a "desirable" upgrade option presents itself.

[RealBlackStuff]

If you 'only' need more RAM, and not too much graphics power, look for a 14" T61 with integrated Intel GPU and SXGA+,
such as mine:

Product: ThinkPad T61 8897-03U [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: T5270(1.4GHz), 1GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, Intel X3100, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 6c Li-Ion, WinXP Pro

You can soup them up to 2 x 4GB = 8GB RAM, and with a BIOS-hack you can achieve SATA II speed.
The CPU can be upgraded to much faster ones, though this C2D T5270 is great on battery-life.

[zern]

Thanks for the GREAT IDEA RealBlackStuff!!
This could be a fun project.

I presume a T61p can also be had with discrete graphics and gruntier CPU? I have a T7600 at the mo and am not keen to move down in performance.

Off to eBay...

[JMvS]

Indeed, the SXGA+ T61 format was perfect in many regards.

I have one with the Nvidia NVS 140 discrete graphic, and it was doing fine for CAD and games. Well of course I ran into the RAM barrier doing 3D stuff with CS5, but I could've upgraded it from 3 to 8, dropping XP for Win 7 x64.

I'm not using it as a portable anymore (battery and screen died), but it still makes a nice desktop, coupled with a cheap Advanced Dock I found on ebay, I can now run dual monitors. Wonder if I could use the PCIe slot for a graphic with more punch.

Even if I've got a T410s, rehabilitating it with a new screen, RAM and SSD would indeed be a fun project.

[RealBlackStuff]

@Zern:
NOT TOO HASTY!
The Intel GPU is an absolute must!

Don't buy a T61 with nVidia GPU, they will all fail sooner or later with a faulty GPU, nVidia is notorious in the T61 series, lots of HP, Gateway and Dell series as well.

[zern]

The T61 with discrete graphics has a widescreen - no go. Thanks for the warning about the GPU.

[ziemeck]

Maybe motherboard mod is something to consider? If you're not afraid of screwdriver and have a free 3-4 hrs, you could purchase Intel T61 motherboard and mount it in your t60p. The t60p motherboard with ATI fireGL could be sold at a price that would cover the T61 intel board.
Note: you'd have to purchase replacement heatsink too.

[zern]

That's probably too much of a "mod" ziemeck - but great thought nonetheless.
I rely on the T60p way too much to risk that drastic a surgery.