Lenovo Questions - Processor, Keyboard, Wireless, etc.

Hello All:

I am in the market for a new laptop, and I am leaning towards the Thinkpad T60 Widescreen. I am primarily a MS Office user (Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, IE), no gaming, and not too much travel. I am looking for a laptop rather than a desktop for two reasons ... (1) I want to bring my work home and have the convenience of simply unplugging and taking it home, rather than emailing it to myself, and (2) I want the ability to get out of my office and work somewhere else, when I need a change of scene or to just "hide" and get some work done.

The primary attraction to the Thinkpad is the discussions/reports on the keyboard and quality. I have looked at Dell but do not particularly like the feel of the keyboard ... a major issue for someone who does a lot of typing and research online.

Here are my questions ...

A. I have heard that Lenovo uses several different keyboard suppliers and that some are better than others ... three questions here: (1) are all of the keyboards still considered "great" in comparison to other laptops (I assume Lenovo has some sort of quality control), (2) what is the best keyboard, and (3) how can I specify the "best" keyboard in placing my order?

B. For someone like me, who does little to no gaming, but would use the laptop for my iTunes library and the ocassional DVD, does the processor speed really matter from T5500 to T7200? I will be using Vista. Having read the reviews and comments, I am pretty committed to going with one of the Intel Core 2 Duo processors.

C. How is the reception/speed with the integrated wireless (I am a Verizon customer)? In this day and age of ubiquious hot spots, is it worth it ($200 plu the month subscription)? I like the idea of being able to pick any spot and work (inside or outside).

D. Should I hold off for T61? For Santa Rosa? Purchase Wireless-N Card? Is the Wireless N Card backwards compatible?

E. How is Lenovo/IBM for service? For durability? Any issues I should be aware of?

F. Most reviews I see comment that this model (Thinkpad T60) is quiet and not too hot ... is that the concensus?

Thanks in advance.

Bluesman

 

in response:

A. I believe that all the keyboards are relatively good in terms of comparing to other laptop brands. The best one is from NMB, the worst one is Chicony. The medium one is ALPS. However, it also depends upon the person's preferences. You cannot specify which one that you want at the time of ordering. I have heard, though, that a few people here have been able to get their laptop replaced for free by calling Lenovo and saying that they are not satisfied with their keyboard and that Lenovo shipped them the NMB one for free.

B. I do not believe that you would really notice the difference between the two based upon the uses you plan to use it for. The T5500 should fit your needs.

C. This depends upon your traveling uses. If you are commonly in hot spot areas, then dont go with the WWAN. If you find that you often will not be able to access a wireless/wired network, then go with the WWAN. I did not get the Verizon WWAN on mine, so maybe users that actually do have that option will chime in here.

D. That also depends on how long you can wait. You also have to weigh the benefits. One upside is that if you wait until Santa Rosa comes out, the older T60s will become cheaper as they will be "older" technology. On the other side, you could get a T61 and the laptop will have a somewhat faster processor no matter which you go with, but as to how faster it is vs the cost I do not know much about that. The wireless N card you can buy later, but it is an option in select T60 builds as well.

E. I have only called Lenovo a few times mainly for price matching. They seem to be very responsive and understanding. I have not talked to them in terms of tech support. Perhaps someone with more experience with Lenovo's support will chime in on this. The only issue I do want to warn you about is that the ThinkVantage suite of software that comes installed on the laptop is mostly OUTDATED. The easy way to update this is to download System Update 3 (link in my sig) and run that. Also take note that you do not need to keep all the ThinkVantage software. You can remove parts if you want. As for extra software installed on the laptop that is considered as "useless" software, in my opinion it isn't much.

F. Pretty much. You can also use undervolting to further extend battery life. The fan has 2 speeds and is fairly quiet in my opinion. As for battery life, my T60 (specs in my sig) averages 5 hours with the wireless on and the screen turned all the way up. If I turn the screen all the way down I can go up to 6.5-7. I have posted a review recently on this site that you may want to read fo rmore information

 

Another question ... I found an IBM Shareholder discount program/link that lets me price out a computer ... For all I know, I may be holding some IBM stock in one of my mutual funds/401K accounts, but I am not a direct shareholder. Should I forge ahead since the link and code still works, or do they check this stuff out?

Does anyone else out there know any way for me to specify the better keyboard?

Thanks so much for the prompt response ... very helpful. I previously read your review (and the other one here), which lead me down this path to begin with.

 

The only way they may let you specify which component may go into your laptop will be if you give their sales rep a call. But only then, they may only put in a request, there will be no guarantee.

 

Forge ahead. What's the worst that could happen if you get "caught"?

 

I went to best buy today, and to my amazement, they had a T60 WS there. The keyboard on it was complete junk. Reminded me a lot of the keyboard on my 6 year old dell... I mean, it was really poor for a Thinkpad... It also looked quite a bit different than the keyboards I've seen on the reviews here on the site though. I'm guessing it was the Chicony...

 

I have Z series with chicony and i do not see any problem with it. Yes it is noisier but somehow it makes me type faster.

I saw in exhibition t60 with keyboard but it seems like the keyboard "floating" on some kind of spring mechanism. You can actually see the underlining mechanism under each key (most apparent at arrow key on the right bottom)- like as if it have not been placed appropriately. But when i try to type it feels firm.
I think its ALPS keyboard.

 

Spent some time last night at Office Max, checking out the keyboard on a variety of laptops (Toshiba, Compaq, Gateway, Sony) ... the only Lenovo/IBM in the store was the V100, and it still blew most of the others away. It was more solid (no flex/bending), the keys felt larger/more three-dimensional (as oppose to some that feel like thin pieces of plastic on a tin sheet), and there was much better "feedback" (I could feel when I hit the keys true).

How do you tell what company manufactures the keyboard for a Lenovo/IBM laptop? I did not see anything on the unit itself, and it is not included in any description.

And odd question but ... Can you just buy and install the NMB keyboard on any laptop (or any Lenovo laptop)? For me, the quality of the keyboard is paramount because I spent 80% (or more) of my time drafting Word documents. Makes no sense to me that I have to play the "keyboard lottery" to get what I want and am willing to pay for.

 

AFAIK you can only tell for sure by using product type and serial number at lenovo website. If you choose before purchase then you have to recognize each manufacturer characteristic. Such as : chicony with noisy press but neat placement, etc.