Questions about T60p with Flexview

I'm about to give up on the idea of buying a new laptop because the screens are so terrible. So I'm considering buying a used T60p with the Flexview panel, T2600 processor, model 2007-93U. I have some questions about possible upgrades.

1) Is the HD SATA? Is there a maximum size? Will the Seagate 500GB hybrid drive work? Does this machine support one hard drive or two (without displacing the DVD drive)?

2) Are there any adapters available that allow one to attach an eSATA (or possibly USB 3) external drive? Or a dock?

3) The T60p doesn't have HDMI, which I would love to have. Are there any docks or adapters that support HDMI? I want to be able to put Netflix or Hulu movies on a 1080p TV. How can I do that?

4) Will Windows 7 work on this model of T60p with Flexview screen?

Thanks!

 

Have you seen the HP 8540w or 8740w with the DreamColor 2?

 

I can answer a few of your questions but not all of them.

Yes, the hd is sata. There is no max size but I believe the largest 2.5 inch drive that will fit is a 750 gb.

The hybrid will work, but there have been issues with some models (the T61 comes to mind), where there is an issue with the Lenovo toolbox. The bsod shows up but I don't know if this applies to the T60p.

The machine supports one hard drive if you don't want to displace the dvd drive.

Windows 7 will work fine on the machine, either in 32 or 64 bit flavor. If you put 4 gb of ram in the T60p and run 64 bit, it will see the 4gb but only use 3 gb of ram due to the limitations of the bios.

I don't know the answers to your other questions. The T60p with flexview is a great machine. I still have mine as my backup to my W500.

Good luck!

 

I'm retired and I'm budget limited!

I've not seen one personally, but those appear to be wonderful displays from everything I've read.

I've reached the point in this search of giving up on wanting what is out of reach or has too many tradeoffs.

 

Thanks for the warning. I've just spent some time reading forum threads and that does seem to be a problem with the T60p too, and maybe not restricted to the toolbox.

That may force me to rethink. The machine I am looking at has only a 100 GB drive, and I need more than that.

 

You could put in a non hybrid spinner drive, say a 7500 rpm drive from Seagate, Toshiba,Samsung, or WD and those should work fine. I have a Toshiba 500gb 7500 drive in my T60p and it works fine.

 

Well, did you say that in the first post? I wouldn't get one either cause for 1/10th the price I could get a R60 and FlexView screen, then marry them and get a machines that's just as good for the things I do, in some ways better.

I don't know how you're going to acquire this machine, but I would say a T60 will be approaching almost five years old. Because they use CFFL screens, CFFLs can dim over time. If you can get a look at it before buying, I'd recommend it. You can replace the screen. It's not that hard, but it is an issue with older ThinkPads.

If you're looking for a used T60 I might suggest the marketplace forum on ThinkPads.com. You might pay a bit more there, but the sellers over there tend to be much more honest about what they're offering, which has a lot of value, especially on a used notebook. Just post there you're looking for a FlexView T60. Someone might have something you're interested in.

The T60 has two docks that will give you DVI - the Advanced Mini Dock and the Advanced Dock. DVI can be converted into HDMI with a cable, but DVI won't do sound. You'll have to figure that one. The Advanced has a PCI-E slot. There might be a card for it with HDMI, but I have no knowledge of one.

They make ExpressCard eSATA cards. They might be worth a look. The 3GB limited on the T60, R60, X60 et al is due to the chipset, not the BIOS.

 

Age is a concern, more because an older machine lacks more modern interfaces. I'm looking at a machine refurbished by IBM.

Thanks for reminding me of thinkpads.com. I've purchased parts from Bill Morrow in the past, but it's been years....

 

In some Dell laptops with the intel 945 chipset, you may get to utilize up to 3.25 gigs of ram, depending on the hardware installed (i.e. GPU).

While, T60p is a fine machine, it is getting a bit long in the tooth, and if you are intending to keep it for a while, then i would suggest you get a R400 or R500 from the outlet.lenovo.com or from other online sources. The only downside is that the R500 is a bit bigger and heavier than the T60p 15 inch, and the screen is not as good.

Unless you can get a used T60p within 350 USD, i wouldn't even consider it.

A T2600 CPU is getting too slow and too limited, remember this CPU is limited to 32 bit OS. If you are going to run 64 bit OS, you would have to get the T5xxx or T7xxx CPU, which further adds to the cost of the machine.

 

I don't think HDMI is an option. You might be able to do USB to single link DVI and then convert that to HDMI, but I don't know if that's supported.