New T61 - Mini Review

Ordered 8/2/2007
Arrived 8/8/2007

Estimated arrival date was 8/21/2007.
I assume I was very lucky.

T61
Specs:
Proc- T7300
XP Pro
15.4 WSXGA+
GMAX3100
2GB RAM
965 Expresss
100GB 7200 HDD
DVD Rec
PC Slot / EX
INT Wire WIFI
Bluetooth
9 Cell Battery

$1706 - this includes tax and shipping.


Currently battery shows 80% and 4:39 remain. This has been accurate so far. I am very pleased with battery life.

I uninstalled Norton and installed Kaspersky. Adobe PDF gone for Fox It. I uninstalled the MS Office trial and installed open office. Firefox was added. No problems yet, other than every time I would try to right click or delete a file from the desktop, System Migration Assistant would start. Very odd. Problem solved by uninstalling SMA.

I wish the speakers had a tad more volume. Build quality seems good. The mentioned flex in the hand rest areas exist, but does not bother me. I really digg the 3D active protection graph.

I wish the del key was at the bottom. I have configured the pad's buttons to scroll up and down as it was on my Toshiba.

Bluetooth connects to my Sprint A900 and download speeds are approx 220k and 75k up.

Runs Super PI 2M @ 54sec. This is 5 sec faster than my desktop 4400+ OC'ed to 2.67. I am impressed.

Former laptop was Toshiba Sat, bought in 2000, still works well just slow and hot. It is a Celeron 650 w/ 192MB RAM. Battery life with batt #2 since birth is approx 90min. Not to mention it will fry your manhood.

My only laptop option was a Thinkpad because of the eraser mouse, my Toshiba had one, and I can't; nay, refuse to use the finger slide thing.

I had a thinkpad back in 1997 and loved it, glad to have one again.

I'll answer questions of you guys have any.

Barrett

 

Does it look/feel sexy? When you touch it do you feel a rush of excitement? Sorry for the weird question but that is what I am expecting with my new T61 I ordered this saturday.

 

Could you do a parts lookup and see who made your LCD? LG or Samsung?

 

Also who made the keyboard?

 

Oddly yes. Black on black gives me a heart.... You get the idea.

I'm fairly sure it's a Samsung. I forget how I know this though.

Device manager says Microsoft Nat PS/2. Yet we all know this is not true. How can I tell?

Barrett

 

There is a sticky at the top of the forums that will show you how to do it. I've never done it but i think it is under Thinkpad Parts lookup.

 

like this.
you get like a paperclip or something, and lift up your keyboard slightly.
and compare with this chart.

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/8117/t60keyboardsfrontedgeud1.jpg

the differences are the forward slash, backwards slash, and the blue pads.

 

That does seem to be the easier way.

 

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=44310

 

It's an ALPS according to paOol's pic, there are definitely little surfboards under the keys.
B

 

BTW, I had an ALPS printer back in the day. It was great for making fake id's. However, if you do that now, they lock you up and throw away the entire jail.
B

 

So what do you think of the keyboard on your T61? Compared to other laptops (thinkpads and otherwise) what would you say about it?

 

I don't recall my old thinkpad, which is likely a good thing. The old Toshiba keyboard was good, or I had become accustomed to it. If I had to type my dissertation again, I would opt for a more ergonomic KB, however, for day to day, this one feels a might good.

B

 

If you are on the fence regarding screen size, I would wholly recommend the 15.4. It is as light as an older laptop, the battery drain does not seem substantial, and playing a small video (south park) while doing your work;- all on the same screen is not only doable, but pleasant. 1680x1050 is great, however; as one ages, this resolution may prove problematic. I pray that I get a few years at this dimension before the inevitable visual sunset rears it's ugly head.

B

 

Any problems with grainy or sparkly screen? I had a 15.4 WSXGA+ Samsung screen that I returned because of this. I'm hoping my replacement is better.

 

How about Keyboard flex?

 

You mentioned your previous laptop got hot. How is the heat on the T61?

 

i doubt this result, T7300 usually gets 59 sec for super pi 2M while T7500 is 54 sec.

 

I get a hard on thinking about my T61.

 

what is the 3D active protection graph? thanks