Lenovo T61P Users

After looking long and hard at the Dell XPS M1330 I think I'm better off with the Lenovo as it's $1,000 less than the Dell (spec'd how I wanted!) $1,800 for this spec seems great to me:

• System Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz 800MHz 4MBL2)
• Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
• Operating System Language: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium US English
• Display Panel: 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
• System graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M (256MB Open GL)
• Total memory: 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
• Keyboards: Keyboard US English
• Pointing Device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
• Hard Drive: 160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
• Optical device: DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim
• System expansion slots: PC Card Slot & Express Card Slot
• Card Reader: 4 in 1 Media Card Reader
• Wireless cards: Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
• Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN
• Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery
• Power cord : Country Pack North America
• Language Pack: Language Pack US English
• Microsoft productivity application preload: MS Office Home & Student 2007 - English US & CN

A few quick questions.

As I have not seen the laptop in the flesh how portable is it? With the 9 cell battery it takes the weight up to about 6.7lbs. I wouldn't be carrying it around all the time but I would carry it to work 4 or 5 days a month (although most of that is in the car!)

Has anyone bought the Intel Turbo Memory? It says it doesn't work with WWAN (I have a Sprint Wireless PCMCIA Card). Would it be worth buying it anyway and turning it off on the BIOS if it doesn't work (in case I don't use the WWAN Card in future)

Is there a big difference between Vista Home Premium and Vista Business? Is there any advantage to going for Vista Business 64 bit over the 32 bit?

Is there a huge difference between the performance of the NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M 256MB and the 128MB offered on the 14" version of the laptop?

Thanks!!

 

The graphics cards are very different, you will notice right away if you play just about any newer games. First day I had my T61p I went out of town on a business trip and it never failed me once. One other guy brought his laptop a Dell E1705 and he could barely connect to the internet at the hotel for some reason, while mine had no problems at all.
As for portable its just right for, was easy to use while on the plane and it doesn't seem that heavy, "then again if you think 5-10pounds is heavy should go to the gym". I would avoid the turbo memory because I've read nothing but people haveing problems with it and there still isn't any real reason to buy it yet, besides being able to say you have it.

 

I am using a 14" T61p with a 6cell battery. I carry it to work everyday so I think anything heavier will be too heavy for me.

Mine doesn't have the turbo memory so I don't know how good it is. But I heard quite a few people complaining about that TM causes some problem and I don't know if the coming vista SP1 is going to fix that.

I removed vista and installed XP right as soon as I made the recovery discs. The advantage of choosing business edition is that Microsoft is offering "downgrade to XP".

The 14" has half the VRam as well as half the memory bus, which makes it about 30% slower than the 256MB version. I would say the performance for the 256MB version is like a desktop version of Geforce 7800GT plus DX10, and the 128MB version is like a 6800GT(Ultra, maybe?) plus DX10.

 

I can answer a few of those questions.

The 9 cell battery extends out of the back of the computer, making it a little unwieldy (in shape, not necessarily in size). I would probably carry it separately in the bag. My 14" is extremely portable - I'm very glad I didn't go for anything smaller.

I have the Intel Turbo Memory. It's very difficult to judge whether it is doing anything. Many people would recommend getting another GB of RAM instead. Also, according to some theories on these forums, Intel Turbo Memory has some conflicts and may/may not be causing BSOD or freezing issues.

I can't outline the differences between Vista Home Premium and Vista Business, but I know that Google can =). You can definitely find a rundown comparison of the features - that's what I used to decide.

Choose 64-bit only if you plan to use 64-bit applications or applications that require a lot of memory. This is because Vista 32-bit maxes at 3.25 GB RAM, while 64-bit allows much, much more. Judging from your config, you don't need that. Also, most people don't notice a performance difference using 64-bit, and there are definitely software/driver incompatibility issues (many are still only 32-bit). I'd recommend against it.

The 256MB card performs substantially better in 3dmark06. It's about 3900 3dmarks vs 2400 3dmarks for the 128MB card. 3dmark06 is heavily biased towards memory, so take those numbers with a grain of salt. From what I've read, the 256MB card will result in a 20-30% boost of FPS in most situations.

 

Thanks for all the great help everyone, I really appreciate you all taking the time to give me your feedback That's a great help and has made me certain of the spec I want.

Thanks again!

 

I just got my T61p with the same exact specs. Portability wise, it is much thinner compared to my Dell Inspiron 6000D and is also a bit lighter. I got both a 9 cell and a 6 cell battery. I don't find it is too bad at all to take around. I will bring it to school on occasion. If you were lugging it around everyday, I would get something lighter, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I think you would enjoy the notebook quite a bit.

As far as the GPU goes, there is quite a performance difference. The 14" card is designed for 2D apps whereas the 570m is designed for 3D aps. It depends what you will be doing with the card as to whether it will be worth your money or not.