Looking for advice on x60

Hi all,

I had a trustworthy Toshiba Satellite 2400 for 4 odd years and lasted me throughout my undergraduate course. I adore it lots but really hate its (nearly 3kg weight). I am embarking on my PhD soon and is shopping for a laptop. I will be running Matlab, doing typically Engineering stuff (EE) on it and minimal games. I have decided to get a x60 because of its long battery time, sleek outlook and light weight.

The x60 configuration which I am eying on is:
Duo core 2 T7200 2.0Ghz
1gb ddr2
120gb hdd
12.1 xga
intel 950gm 128 vram
wireless 3945abg (intel?) and bt
modem
gigabit
ext usb dvd +/-rw (dl)
fingerprint
winxp pro

I will be getting it 2 wks time. My purpose of this thread is to find out the following;
1. I have read about about the poor reliability of the intel wireless module. Is it really that bad? I have no opinion of changing it in my country.
2. What is the typical battery life that you guys have acquired using the standard 8cells battery?
3. Anyone tried to install Vista? How is it on x60?
4. What are the things that I should be careful about this unit? It seems that there are no other major complaints, is it safe to conclude that it is a good unit to acquire?

Please advise.

Thank you.

 

Welcome to the forums, and great choice on the X60. I had the X60 for about a month when I was reviewing it, I really loved it and do believe it to be the best ultraportable out there (if you don't need an optical drive).

1) I had no issues whatsoever with the wireless.
2) I got about 4.5 - 5 hours
3) Had it before Vista, so don't know.
4) Yes, it's a great choice. The only issue is of course the fact it has a small screen and you can't see a ton of stuff on it, but that's what enables it to be so small, light and easy to carry.

 

Does Lenovo send NBR their notebooks for review? Just 1 week?

 

Andrew and Johnny,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

(Andrew) You had a problem with your green led cover? It seem that it is not common is it? Sorry to hear about it. Thank you for your assurance. Yes, I do note the small screen. I guess I really need a small laptop to travel and compute. I will be getting a desktop for home and will have another desktop in the uni (assigned by the uni in my cubicle).

(Johnny) What is NBR?

 

NBR = notebookreview.com

 

I never heard of the led cover problem except once here. However, the intel wifi card in the X60 is a chronic problem reported by many users. Some ppl have returned or even discarded the X60/X60s, it's been so bad (see thinkpads.com). Avoid the intel wifi on this box kif possible. In north america, most x60's ship with the Atheros.

If you can make do with a core duo instead of a core 2 duo, you may save some money that way and/or get an X60s. With the thinkpad wifi (ie., it's the atheros card).

I easily get 7 hours on my battery. I have gotten 8+ with lighter use. As your battery ages, the life diminishes. Read the threads here on battery maintenance to maximize its longevity.

 

If you order by the 15th of March you can get it with XP and get the free Vista upgrade. Then install it when it all gets hashed out. Having played with Vista a fair bit, getting XP is a good idea for the moment.

 

In Singapore (where I will be in till April and where I am getting the x60 from) only have the intel wifi choice. So i guess i have no much choice but to make do and if it is so bad, i will just get one off the net and do the installation myself when i go back to melbourne (where i am pursuing my studies).

skibunny: you mentioned that the x60s is better for long batt life. i read that you have a x60 (without s, low voltage) and you stated that you have about 6-7 hrs of batt life. I guess if x60 can give such a batt life per full charge, i am okay with it. i do hope to get a t7200 processor. you mentioned that you have a 2gb ram. the x60 which i am getting only have 1 gb. i heard that the 1gb stick in "originally" underneath the keyboard. the other slot at the bottom of the x60 is empty. i am thinking of upgrade at a latter stage. i just want to confirm if the bottom slot is really empty for you people.

And yes, I am getting it between 10-11, just in time for the vista upgrade. so i will have two OS. Anyone know when will the vista cd will arrive? If i buy my laptop in Singapore, can i request to have it posted to Melbourne?

Please advice.

 

Skibunny: are you seriously discouraging my idea of buying the x60? should i look for something else? do you have any recommendation? Good performance (good processor, etc.), light weight, thin, good battery life per charge, no need for dedicated graphics card,

you mentioned that:

"I easily get 7 hours on my battery. I have gotten 8+ with lighter use. As your battery ages, the life diminishes. Read the threads here on battery maintenance to maximize its longevity."

What is your usage? When you have 7hrs, do you use the wifi? what are you doing? I know of someone who has only 2.5 hrs of batt life.

 

Pardon me if I am wrong. I read so many posts complaining the poor reliability of the Intel wifi card. Is this inherent to x60 only, i mean i have no previous experience about this problem. But as far as I know, many major laptop manufacturers are using the Intel card to acquire the Centrino sticker, and there hasnt been any problem. So i can only assume that this is inherent to x60. Please advise me.

 

I installed OEM Vista Ultimate on my X60 and the only problem I have is that Bitlocker does not like my TPM. It is 1.2 as required and when I go to click enable, they want me to put in an ownership password to enable the TPM and Bitlocker....???????? The TPM is already on so no idea. That is the only problem otherwise Vista works no problem with the X60.

 

Per the specs, the x60 gets 7.8 hrs of battery life and the x60s gets 8 hrs. The difference being the LV processor. So you see, the battery life difference is very small.

What wil have a greater affect on your battery life is how you use your laptop and maintain your battery. On the X60, you can use the thinkpad battery maximiser utility to control your CPU, which will throttle back the cycles and effectively closely simulate the LV cpu of the X60s. The brightness setting of your screen while using battery will have much greater impact on how long u run on battery than the CPU voltage. So the X60 and X60s are extremely similar. If you want Core Duo 2 as you say, then get the X60 because when i last checked there was noe CD2 on the x60s.

As for the intel wifi card, i think most complaints have been on the x60s machine. But research to be sure. Quite a few ppl here have bought an X60 model with intel wifi, and i haven't heard them complain. Yes, the main benefit of the intel wifi is to have the centrino moniker... also it draws less power, but on the other hand, it has less range & reception.

 

No i am not discouraging the purchase. It seems perfrect for you. The only thing is dislike is the small screen, but that's the price of portability... plus you have a desktop.

I can get over 7 hrs with wifi on the whole time and i've had it since summer. Bluetooth and WWan are off. I am doing surfing and typing, nothing CPU intensive. I run on battery maxlife mode.

The X60 gets a bit warm on the right palmrest, but not as bad as the macbook pro.

 

the slot is on the bottom and very easy to install ram into. it will be empty provided your laptop comes with 1 stick of ram. Some do, some dont, over here they tell you.

When you add ram, be careful of the brand and quality. I have had new ram rejected by a thinkpad, and have read others encounter the same. After adding ram, the machine would unpredictably crash, then when i reomved the ram the machine was fine again. So it must've been the memory.

 

Hi,

I have a very similar system to the one you mention, 1706-GMG, the main difference being 1GB RAM, 100GB HD and a 4-cell battery.

I cant comment on your 8-cell questions, or Vista, as I have neither. I have ordered the express Vista upgrade, though I am not sure if I will use it at this stage. Getting XP Pro was deliberate since it gives me a choice of upgrading or not, also no Vista X60 machines have become available yet in the UK and I didnt want to wait. PC Magazine have a review of a Core 2 Duo X60 with Vista on their website.

On the Intel wireless front, although I have only had the machine for a few days, I have no complaints. The signal strength is better on the X60 than it is on my T60. Simply out of caution I would have gone for the atheros card, but the ability to configure systems in the UK is somewhat limited (i.e non-existent). I may be lucky, or the situation may not be as bad as various forums suggest.

More generally, I would say that am very pleased. I ran pi and got 1m04s, which is the same for a T60 with the 2GHz T7200 as reviewed by notebookreview. If you want core 2 power there are not many options, if you are going to do a lot of matlab or other number crunching work then the additional power will be useful.

It will take me some time to get to know the new system properly (I only got it last week). Only compliants I have so far are (i) the left palmrest is a bit creaky (its above the PCMCIA slot, so not much underlying strength) (ii) it comes with too much crap pre-loaded (curable with the fantastic rescue and recovery which allows you to do an 'clean' install with only the software components you want). Also, I am unimpressed with the size of the ultrabase, it defeats the purpose of a small system and guess I will end up using it just as a docking station.

Would i buy the system again? Yes

S.

 

Thank you all. Buying a great and decent laptop seems so hard. And especially hard if you are shopping for a thin and light one. To be honest, I can be rather fickle-minded. I have been wandering around in the 2 major computer/notebooks shopping mall in Singapore. (where there are many retailers under a single roof)

I have long fell in love with the x60 profile but was then looking at ASUS a few weeks because it seems that so many people were talking about them. But I do read about their batteries life problem (easy degradation) and some other small problem.

I then came back to my first love (thinkpad x60) and did not find any major complaint. I did lots more research and reading on it. And eventually decided to get it. And now is the final reading and checking stage. Anyway, you people have been great to a newbie to me. Taking time to reply. I am so glad to join your family.

Thank you so much.

 

Saggy, my X60 has NO creaks whatsoever anywhere. I think something is not right with yours.

The X6 ultrabase *IS* a docking station. I have it and rarely use it.

 

I do have one last question. The x60 which I am eyeing has a 1gb ram. The problem is that it seems in Singapore the x60 has only 1 gb ram which I assume to be underneath the waist rest. Therefore, the bottom slot is empty. It seems that in certain makes there are 2 512 ram. I am trying to avoid the possibility of 2x512ram.

I am buying my x60 from shops which the sales are normally not very aware of whether it is 1x1gb or 2x512mb. I dont think it is fair to ask them to remove the bottom slot to show me (but this is a possibility).

1.Is there any software that I can bring in a thumbdrive to install to let me see what are in which slot?
2. I have a dead pixel in my current satellite which I hate it so much. I guess there should some software for me to test dead pixel? What is your recommendation?

Thank you.

 

cpu-z would show the detail specification of your laptop and the detail of ram

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

 

If you cannot install or run any utilities, than there is a different solution.
All computers have a product number on the bottom (e.g. 2722-GDG). You can look up what is inside of that notebook on Internet (at Lenovo's support page enter the product number): http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=HOME-LENOVO

 

Thanks a lot boon and darius for the urls. Anyone can recommend any Dead pixel test program ?