Lenovo Phonecall:T61p 15" Date of Release

Hi all,first post. Thanks for the great archives and news!

I talked to Lenovo EPP when Santa Rosa first came out, they said they'd have more information today on dates and availability on the 15th of May. Well, the 15th of May is here, I chatted with them, and it seems they have no further information on the future of the T61p. Which is REALLY disappointing, and bad for someone who needs a laptop in the next 2-3 weeks.

However, a phone call to Lenovo non-EPP said that T61p should come out mid to late June. That's 1.5 months away at least, plus another half month waiting for the laptop to arrive. That's a long time for me to "borrow" a Costco laptop.

The timeframe I must buy for is near future, 2-3 weeks, as I started business school yesterday. I cannot wait 2 months without a laptop, borrowed or purchased.

The big question, What's better in 2-3 week Timeframe? T60p or T61? Or costco and wait until T61p (2 months?)

Criteria to consider:
-cost is not an issue, except no 15% restocking please.
-15.4" vs. 14" I like 15.4" big widescreen, more work area.
-Plays Warcraft3 at full res best.
-2.4 Santa Rosa w/ Robson vs. 2.33 Sonoma
-64 bit vs. 32 bit Vista 20% speed increase true?
-256MB ATI fire gl V5250 almost as good or better than Nvidia Quadro NVS 140m? (Lenovo Tech Support says 256MB V5250 makes it faster than 128MB Quadro NVS 140m)
-533mhz ram vs. 667mhz ram.

Which combination offers more performance? The suped up T60p or the slightly nerfed new T61?

Machine Comparison:

T60p
I have a 15.4" T60p coming in today with
-2.33 duo core
-ATI fire gl v5250
-4gb 533mhz 2 dimm
-100gb 7200rpm hd
-vista business 32 bit
Hardware wise, it's the highest performing T60p configurable NOW.

T61
-2.4 duo core
-1 GB turbo memory
-NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140m
-4gb 667mhz 2 dimm
-100gb 7200rpm hd
-vista business 64 bit
Should be the highest performing T61 configurable NOW.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

If you travel or carry the laptop at all, I would go with the T61. The weight and size makes a great difference for mobility. The performance should be about the same for the tasks you mention.

 

Just FYI, (I was confused by this as well) but apparently the 3dMark06 score for the NVS 140m is higher than for the V5250, at least with stock drivers. I can't recall where I saw the information but I'm sure google will help you out if you want confirmation. I can't seem to get any confirmation about what exactly 3dMark06 means, though, as in: Will the 140m really have better performance, despite less RAM?

 

sure can be. Actually the amount of RAM doesn't tell you much of the performance. You need quite a lot of high quality textures to fill up the 128mb. If that happens, then the extra RAM can increase performance compared to the card with less RAM.

 

3dmark06 scores don't really provide much information. I am relatively sure that the v5250 is a "better" card than the nvs 140m in terms of performance. I am pretty sure the v5250 will score higher in 3dmark05 and 03.

The nvs 140m is derived from the 8400M, so it should perform somewhere around the range between the Go 7400 and 7600. Past trends have shown that the middle end cards never match last generation's mid-performance cards (e.g. x700 vs Go 7400). But for Warcraft 3, the nvs 140m should be more than adequate at 1280x800 with everything high, maybe not with 1440x900 high.

But who we're kidding, even Intel's x3100 can run War3 like a champ under the appropriate settings.

If you can't wait, I'd pull the trigger on a T61. Otherwise, borrow Costco laptops... but there's a reason why it's 2 months instead of 6 months for returns now...

[Edit:] Err, seeing how you already ordered a T60, just keep it. Santa Rosa doesn't offer that much in terms of performance gain and it'll probably be awhile until we see performance DX10 cards in our hands.

 

It's the people that abuse the Costco return policy that reduces it with every year. Use good ol' pen and paper until June.

 

"Borrow" a Costco laptop? Is that why the membership price has gong up to $50 instead of $45?

 

I'm in a similar predicament. I need a new laptop now and would like a T61p w/ 4:3 screen but mid June release means sometime in July before it will actually be received. Who has that kind of patience?!? I'm leaning towards a T60 15" Flexview w/ Vista Ultimate but it vexes me that it won’t have the Santa Rosa chipset w/ Robson. I just want to be damn sure the T60 doesn't have the whacky WWAN antenna mounted on the side.

I still play WarCraft III on occasion, but never on my laptop. Need my old wired mechanical mouse and larger desktop monitor for the serious gaming. I’m currently ranked #2, only #1 when time permits. Amazing how WC3 never seems to get old.

A barely tolerable friend of mine rents his laptops (Sony & an HP) and TWO home theater systems from Costco (50" Pany plasma & 50" Sharp LCD). I think his morals are despicable. I could never take all that gear back and expect a refund just so I could upgrade to new tech. Then again, Costco is asking for it by offering those indefinite return policies.

 

Not anymore. They changed it this year.