Some questions about the T61

I am looking to buy a T61 in Canada (model 766416U on Lenovo Canada) through the current offer with VisaPerks.ca and had a few questions about the T61 in general:

(1) Can the Intel turbo memory be easily removed or is it tricky to physically remove it? Will that void the warranty?

(2) How many total memory slots does it have? And where are they located - underside of the laptop? And/Or beneath the keyboard as in some Dells? Does the keyboard have to be removed to change one or both of the RAM DIMMs?

(3) How many total hard drives can the T61 accomodate? Also, if the main/system HD has to be replaced/upgraded... how easy is it?

(4) XP Pro compatibility: Can I downgrade from Vista -> XP pro and get everything working in it? Are XP drivers for the T61 hardware easily available?

(5) As far as IBM/Lenovo Canada is concerned, is the warranty on the T61 voided if I change/upgrade the RAM and the hard drive?

Thanks!
Regards,

 

Art_Vandelay,

I will not want to speculate on the reason you contemplate on removing the turbo memory. If that really be the case, please seek the qualified technical help of your authorised dealer to remove it. This way, should there be any technical issue forward, Lenovo cannot fault you but continue to honour its warranty obligation.

The T61 has 2 memory slots. They are both located beneath the palm-rest on the left side of the touch-pad. The keyboard does not need to be removed. However, several screws from the base need to be unfasterned in order for the palm-rest panel to be opened.

The T61 can accommodate upto 2 "internal" harddrives. One located beneath the palm-rest on the right side of the touch-pad. The second optional one will have to displace the super-multi optical-drive.

As for "external" harddrives, you can have many more of them so long as you have enough USB ports (and / or firewire port) to support them.

The main harddrive can be physically removed by first removing its single retainer screw and then sliding it out of its bay.

You can certainly opt for the XP Pro. Compatibility should not be a technical concern. Just inform your authorised dealer of your requirement for XP Pro and they will be glad to do the rest.

Your warranty cannot be void so long as the changing / upgarding of RAM and /or harddrive is performed by authoried personnel; this includes the trained technician from your authorised dealer.

rgds,
Benjamin Chin
10 Oct 07

 

Art_Vandelay,

Should you have specific concern over your rights as consumer and the validity of your warranty claim, you can seek clarification with the warranty department of Lenovo Canada.

rgds,
Benjamin Chin
10 Oct 07

 

Ben,

Thanks for your detailed reply. I have a few follow up questions.

And those can be any standard current SATA notebook hard drives?

I will be ordering online through Lenovo Canada's website and their configurator does not allow the option of changing the pre-installed OS from Vista. Which is why I was asking if XP drivers are available from IBM/Lenovo for the various T61 components.

So what you are saying is that if I change/upgrade the RAM and hard drive myself, then the warranty can be voided by Lenovo if/when I make a claim?

BTW, the only reason I was inquiring about physically removing the Intel Turbo Memory module was to run XP Pro without any problems. I think I read on this forum that there are IBM supplied patches/updates available for XP that make XP play nice with Intel Turbo Memory. In the event that those patches don't work I would then think about removing the ITM module.

Thanks!
Cheers,

 

1. The T61(P) has full support for Windows XP and Vista.

2. For the turbo memory there is no need to remove it, simply install the driver for Windows XP that completely deactivates it.

3. You can change the RAM yourself and it won't void the warranty on anything. (If you use completely aftermarket RAM from Newegg for example if you have issues they have to be returned to the Manufacturer or Newegg though)

4. For the HD question you will have to wait for someone with a T61 to answer, I myself am still waiting for mine to be built and don't wish to mislead you.

 

Are you sure about this? I succinctly recall from one of Stallen's post and possibly more others that it won't void your warranty.

edit: there's numerous posts asking about this and they all say it wont. One such: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=132719&highlight=void+warranty. Benjamin: Please don't give erroneous info without checking to make sure.

 

morphy,

Unless you or someone else will stand on legal grounds to defend the rights of Art_Vandelay on any possibr dispute over warranty, it is my sincere wish to put Art_Vandelay on the safe sideto let authorised personnel do the changing / upgarding of RAM and /or harddrive.

It is upto Art_Vandelay's own discretion whether or not to heed my advice, there is no need for you to tell me if this or that is appropriate or not.

If you or anyone will stand on legal grounds to defend Art_Vandelay then put this to Art_Vandelay in writing; if ever anything goes wrong with Art_Vandelay's warranty, at least he/she knows who to seek damages from.


rgds,
Benjamin Chin
11 Oct 07

 

The way I always heard everything is that the warranty is not void if you damage anything, but that damage simply won't be covered, leaving the rest of your warranty intact.

 

Benjamin Chin,

Firstly the OP never asked if its safer for him to install the ram/hd himself or to let authorized personnel do it...he merely wants to know if doing it himself will void his machines warranty.
I never told him what he should or shouldn't do I just answered his question.

And like you said you gave him advice and so did I. I also took the liberty of pointing out that you gave bad advice. The OP is perfectly capable of deciding if he wants to follow the advice or any advice for that matter or none at all and make up his own mind. To suggest that I or any poster here has to be legally liable before they can give any advice is just plain ludicrous


cheers,
Morphy
11 Oct 07

 

major pwn.

 

morphy,

Whether or not you told Art_Vandelay what to or not to do, I hardly give a care; that's between you and Art_Vandelay.

My previous statement "there is no need for you to tell me if this or that is appropriate or not." refers to your unsolicited remark of "Benjamin: Please don't give erroneous info without checking to make sure."

You or for that matter any person with any logic thinking should understand that by my suggestion of letting an authorised personnel do the technical upgarding is simply putting Art_Vandelay on the safer side. Yet you elected not to give me such benefit of doubt; but instead passed such rude remark "... don't give erroneous info..". At least this episode exposes the sort of charecter you have.

My reply was meant for and attentioned to Art_Vandelay, not you.

Put yourself in a situation that you are talking to a person and out of nowhere another person walks to you and pass such rude remark; how would feel ? You would similaly have told that person off that you were not even talking to him in the first place.

In the same way, I am tell you that you are rude. So mind your own business.

If you are afraid or not prepared to stand firmly by your views to cover Art_Vandelay on legal rounds, its alright to say so. By simply diverting attention by writing "To suggest that I or any poster here has to be legally liable before they can give any advice is just plain ludicrous" simply highlights your weakness of character. Don't dare to cover Art_Vandelay, just say don't dare.

The person whose "plain ludicrous" is really yourself.


rgds,
Benjamin Chin
11 Oct 07

 

BC

You really need to hop off that outmoded synchronous soul train you're languishing on and instead embrace some much needed asynchronous communication because that's what goes on here, on this forum, in case you hadn't noticed - an infinite looping, rambling series of threads whereby everyone and anyone can continually send info back and forth, to the OP and to each other, whenever & however we feel like it.

Thus “unsolicited remarks” which you seem to find offensive are continually gonna fly round here – that’s just the nature of this beast, and IM(not so humble)O is the great benefit to this interactive forum.

Therefore, when you say, and I quote, your remarks are "attentioned to Art_Vandeloy," (with the odious implication that the rest of us should kinda butt out and accept whatever the heck you say as gospel) well, that's just "plain ludicrous" Mr Benjamin Chin.

Toodles
ArchAngle
Thursday 11 October 2007 12.25pm

 

Benjamin, this is a public forum. If you don't want anyone else to read to or respond to your messages here, maybe you should stick to private messages and emailing?

 

To braddd:

Anyone can read, agree or disagree; but to offer counter-remark, don't you agree it is necessary to first consider who the original article was meant for ? Secondly, is it right to brush someone off without due regards to the good intention of that person ?

To ArchAngle:

Nowhere did I suggest any word of mine is gospel. You're entitled to your views, so do I.


rgds,
Benjamin Chin
12 Oct 07.

 

Someone's got a case of thinskinitis