My new (used) T60p!

[Fudo]

I’ve been like a kid in a candy store and I want to rant about it for a bit. I hope someone will find it useful…

I love Thinkpads and there are very few other models I would even consider using. I started out with a high-end T23 (sxga+ and built in wifi), graduated to a 14” T41p, and was recently in the market for something with a little bit more oomph. I had maxed out the T23 and it was an excellent machine, save for the S3 video card. If the backlight on that baby hadn’t gone out I still might be using it.

It seems like with many in this section, I’m not so fond of Lenovos design choices for the newer Thinkpads. It’s mostly the widescreens that I don’t care for. Every time I try one, it seems like a huge loss of real estate. The form factor makes no sense to me. I’m sure if I gave one a couple of weeks to get used to it and probably wouldn’t mind so much, but from a logical standpoint a widescreen laptop doesn’t match up to my usage.

So for me it made sense to step up to a UXGA flexview screen. It’s a shame Lenovo didn’t carry these on until at least the T61… as the T61 with a UXGA IPS and an updated ATI video card would have been perfect. Upgraded I think it could almost even match today’s offerings in terms of speed. Alas, like with everything else, it’s all about the tradeoffs. However, I’ll take my 4:3 flexview any day over a faster processor. The 3GB cap might be a problem in the not too distant future but I have yet to explore the SSD option. If the page file is on the SSD, wouldn’t that help out a lot?

So I bought a UXGA T60p off of ebay, put at wd500bekt hard drive in there, swapped out the 3945abg for an apple Atheros 9280, and windows 7 is running buttery smooth.

I used this Bios with the SLIC and no whitelist:
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... post354748

It seems to work great. I haven’t had any negative experiences with the Atheros 9280 though I’m not sure how it compares with the Intel 6200. In the past I’ve found Atheros chipsets to be superior to Intels so I stuck with what I know. The wifi light does not work, the radio off switch only turns off the Bluetooth, but FN-F5 can disable the wifi as well as Bluetooth. There seems to be no interference with Bluetooth devices as someone else reported with an Atheros card, though I’ve only ever connected one device at a time.

The hard drive is great and is very speedy for a traditional drive. It makes no noise that I can hear. There is a little bit of heat but not anymore than any other hard drive I’ve worked with. I’ve had good luck with Western Digital's and terrible luck with Hitachi’s so that’s where my decision came from on that front.

I changed the old worn out touchpad for a new one off of ebay from the seller ny-citi-com. It was brand new and a genuine part.

The Atheros card is also off of ebay from the seller usa-view. It was brand new and sealed.

Here’s my mini review:
Advantages over 14” T41p: Faster, much better screen, can finally play some games, the fingerprint scanner is neat, better audio quality through headphones, it seems sturdier, and did I say faster?
Disadvantages: Bigger, heavier, the case and design don’t feel quite as high quality as the T4x series, and the screen actually took some getting used to.

I’m actually a little surprised at the fit and finish. Many aspects of the design do not feel as well thought out as on the T4x and it certainly doesn’t feel like an upgrade from that standpoint. It does feel sturdier but it’s also heavier and thicker. The materials feel cheaper. It’s been a while since I played with an R system but if I didn’t know better that’s where I’d place it. After getting used to it for a bit I wouldn’t say it’s bad, it's just different. It feels sturdy no doubt, but it feels cheaper than the T4x. I don’t know how else to explain it. Its the little things like the gap under the LCD frame, the lack of screw numbers on the bottom, the squareness of the machine. It also feels like cheaper plastic. The T4x felt nicer.

Can anyone comment on the build quality and looks of the newer T400/500 series? To me the newer X’s seem more appealing. Are there any decent screen options on anything newer than a T60p? Overall I'm very pleased with my new laptop but I'm discouraged about the lack of a foreseeable upgrade path.

[ausmike]

G'Day Fu*..

Nice when things work eg SLIC + UXGA = super nice for me - I have two of these with Win7X64 Entp and these machiens are aways being fussed over by wife & three teens
I have mine runnign with 8GB memory and they never miss a beat !!! Yip TOTALLY agree - T60p = Amazin machine - pity(or good thing for the comp'tors)....that they wont be "re-NEWED" in some of the next latest series...

I have been a TP user since ways back and now lucky enough to get to play with most NEW models b 4 anyone else....

In short - I would suggest your look at these models If you like Less Weight machines = T410s (these are under 5lbs) and not so light = T410 series (about 6Lbs and they are SUPER FAST with i5 Proc. I have both T410s and a T410 (2522 model with Sw.GraPh) - which I often sit in corner often as everyone seems to prefer the older T60ps......

I would sugest you look here as there are at moment lots of SPECIALS
I always buy the Right Proc models I want and dont much worry about the rest in 'options' as I upgrade them with SSD's +X64 OS's etc ....etc...


Hopr this is helpful
Happy Tp'ding!
Cheers

[dr_st]

Congratulations on your new Thinkpad. I think you will find with time that the T60/p is a very nice machine. I hope it serves you well for a long time.

The perception that a T60 looks/feels "cheaper" and the materials are of "lower quality" is a common thing with T60 "newbies", transitioning from a T4x machine. Something to do with the color scheme, and the chassis angles... I can tell you from experience - this feeling passes. The more time passed the more I actually started to prefer the clean-looking design of the T60.

Some of the other disadvantages you mention are due to comparing apples to oranges. You moved from a 14" to a 15" machine - naturally the latter is going to be heavier (and thicker too, the thickness difference being 100% in the LCD lid). Having handled and weighed a handful of T4x/T60 machines, I can tell you for sure that when comparing apples to apples (same screen size and same battery size), they are almost dead even when it comes to size and weight (with T4x being ever so slightly thinner, and the T60 ever so slightly lighter - I think due to the newer and lighter optical drive models they started using in the T6x series).

So worry not, and enjoy you T60p!

As far as what's down the road - I have to agree with ausmike that the T410/T410s (and the subsequent T420/T420s) are very nice machines design-wise and feature-wise. They are all widescreen as you know - nothing that can be done with that.

As far as screen quality, they will not match up with your Flexview, but Lenovo's new X-series, the X220, has an IPS screen which boasts the same color depth and wide viewing angles. The screen real estate it not good (only 1366x768, far far from UXGA or even SXGA+), but it is definitely a nice machine and I will consider it myself at some point down the road.

[Fudo]

Thank you for the replies!

dr_st, you're right about the perception of the T60 being of lower quality. Now that I've gotten used to it a little bit I'm beginning to appreciate the design. I think the much of the feeling comes from the T60 being thicker than the T4x.

A few more questions:
Does the T60 have a different sleep/standby state than the T4x? Sometimes when I close the lid it will go to standby and the crescent moon will come one. It resumes when I open the lid. Sometimes though the machine turns off and there is no moon. If this is the case, when I press the power button, the machine goes through its normal boot up. However, instead of loading windows, it resumes windows just like the standby I'm used too. This isn't much of an inconvenience but I'm curious what is going on.

My machine also seems to be running hot. TPFC shows 75C for the CPU and 79C for the GPU with heavy web browsing. I've read into the penny mod, bending the heatpipes, and using a metal shim. Is there any consensus on which is best? My gut says to just bend the chipset/gpu part down a little, add some AS5, and forget about the shim.

Another issue I'm having is that the left side of the metal chassis is broken at the weak point. I know many have this problem but is there a good fix for it?

I thank you in advance. I seem to be having a hard time finding information using the forums search function...

[Harryc]

The forum search function is temporarily crippled. Use the following Google advanced search -
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q ... as_qdr=all

[arrangeit]

I have mine runnign with 8GB memory and they never miss a beat !!!

Are you referring to the T60p...the 945 chipset locks out any RAM above 3GB.

@Fudo...I've got a T60 and a T60p...I'm happy. Looking into fan mods, that's about my only beef.

Cheers

[ssd_thinkpad]

Looking into fan mods, that's about my only beef.

I have my T60 with UXGA flexview display and integrated intel gma 950 graphics, and it rarely uses the fan. It is completely silent and even if the temperature goes up to 80 celsius from time to time, the thinkpad can stand it.

[james2008]

Congrats on the purchase! I made a similar switch and have been thrilled, for the most part. One thing that bothers me, though, is the extremely low quality built in microphone for the T60. The 4X series was much, much better on this front.

[dr_st]

Does the T60 have a different sleep/standby state than the T4x? Sometimes when I close the lid it will go to standby and the crescent moon will come one. It resumes when I open the lid. Sometimes though the machine turns off and there is no moon. If this is the case, when I press the power button, the machine goes through its normal boot up. However, instead of loading windows, it resumes windows just like the standby I'm used too.

You probably have a setting to hibernate after some time of idling. In this case, if the machine is in standby mode, and the timer passes, it will move from standby to hibernate.

My machine also seems to be running hot. TPFC shows 75C for the CPU and 79C for the GPU with heavy web browsing. I've read into the penny mod, bending the heatpipes, and using a metal shim. Is there any consensus on which is best? My gut says to just bend the chipset/gpu part down a little, add some AS5, and forget about the shim.

Consensus you probably will not find, but I am with you - remove the fan, clean it, clean the thermal paste off it and the CPU and carefully apply a little bit of new one, check that the thermal pads are in good shape and make good contact (bend if necessary, but be careful).

With the advanced mods (penny, etc) it is easy to make things worse if you don't know exactly how to do it.