T61 4:3 SXGA+ Review T8100 2.1GHz, X3100 w/PICTURES

Background

Had been a IBM Thinkpad user since 2001. In the past I used an A22e with Celeron 800MHz, in 2002 upgraded to a T30 with P4-M @ 1.6GHz, in 2006 I switched to a stunner T42p which has at the time of its release my 'dream Thinkpad' considering my student budget. The latter served me well, but I got annoyed by the fan issue and overall heat machine so time for upgrade, preferably:
- The latest model from Lenovo that would sport the now ditched 4:3 resolution,with the same resolution as my T42p: SXGA+ -> T61
- Cool & Quiet
- Same Thinkpad quality, little hesitant now that Lenovo took over IBM
- Get rid of the GPU failure related to the T4x series
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor. Maybe find a good 45nm processor Penryn that would last me at least 3+ years
- Light gaming (same games I used to play on my T42p: San Andreas, NFS Most Wanted, FSX, etc.)

My T42p came with a Dothan 1.8Ghz processor, 1G RAM, 40GB HDD, SXGA+. Basically pretty reliable although I did not took care well on the screen as it become scratched and then buffed with Brasso

Ordering

Bought a new T61 4:3 off e-Bay with 1 year warranty left

Specs

- T8100 Penryn 2.10 GHz, 45nm
- Intel X3100 integrated graphics
- 1G RAM as ordered (2x512MB actually)
- 80G 5400rpm Western Digital hard drive
- Supposedly according to one source from eBay my SXGA+ display is made by Toshiba
- Vista HP32
- IBM WLAN
- Express card, PC card
- 6-cell battery
- CDRW/DVD Combo

Pretty basic setup, no fancy BT or Fingerprint reader.

Ergonomics

Keyboard
The T61 keyboard it feels clickety compared to my quiet NMB keyboard I got for my T42p after I bought it. Still getting used to it, no flex whatsoever

Mouse/trackpad
Actually miss the red stripes, the touchpad is relatively small but I don't have any issues when using it. Love the trackpoint as I always had with previous Thinkpads.

Screen
Medium leakage at the bottom of the display, annoying when watching a widescreen movie or clip. Certainly more brighter as the one on my T42p but certainly this one have a lot of light leakage as said. There has been complaints on the quality on the T61 LCD's and I could agree but comparing this to other things I gain from where I'm upgraded I'm quite satisfied with the display.

The off-center screen is simply not an issue. It certainly seems weird to have the LCD off-center if I look at it but guess is all part of the design of the antennas and such.

Size & weight
Very similar in weight

Fan noise, heat

This is where the T61 shines. Lenovo did a good job redesigning all the heatsink/chassis vents so that heat is also dissipated passively through the keyboard and IMO the ExpressCard to. (the left palmrest feels at the same temperature than the right considering it has the HDD below I'm surprised to see heat has so many exits. The bottom of my T42p would get hot specially at the center of the machine and also below the touchpad (where the WLAN is and the southbridge are located). No such problems on the T61.

My T42p CPU has been undervolted using NHC, and although that the bottom still gets hot. In conjunction with this I made the fan to not run too often. T61 fan do not have the pulsing bug found on T4x models.

Build quality.

Mixed opinions, "The T61 is not as bad as people say" - it has its pros and cons. I don't have any creakiness or softness in the case that I would call bad. Overall the sturdiness on the T61 is better comparing to the T42p, although on the T61 the left bezel, just left to the left Shift key the plastic seems that is loose and if you tap it will make a cheap plastic sound, not soo great. Palmrest build is different on the T61, I like it and much more sturdy than the T42p one. Don't like the WLAN manual ON/OFF switch, it also feels cheap when you tap on it.

The laptop is firmly closed, no bulge whatsoever. The hinges are very fight (which I like ). There's no play on the battery compartment. I have not tested yet the battery duration during standard usage, but will do later.

Performance/Vista & CPU Power

Absolutely Vista was a nightmare to use, having only 1G of RAM made the OS to use the HDD as a virtual memory which resulted in extreme slugness. I burned Recovery Media and proceeded to immediately wipe the disk and install XP SP3 following the guide at NBR.

The T8100 did the 32M Wprime test @ 0.47seconds. Blazingly fast to my daily needs

Battery life

Later

Gaming

Plays fine, San Andreas @ 1024x768 with stock GMA965 drivers.

Heat

As mentioned the T61 is cool as a dream. Even undervolted the processor with RMClock at the lowest voltage available and the CPU would rarely shoot up the 58C tops. My T42p Dothan used to shoot the mid 60's when stressing and the GPU (which was a FireGL T2e could reach a temp of up to 80C). I'm just glad I went with the X3100.

I still find the fan is ON almost all the time, so I just download TPFanControl and set it the way I was I wanted.


Additional Comments:
- When powering on the T61 the fan does not come at full speed like it did on 'original' Thinkpads
- The later of the BIOS startup splash screen is different, Lenovo biased.
- Additional Power LED implemented on Lenovo designed machines.

I think I made the right move to move to the latest and last 4:3 T series Thinkpad it will ever be made at time. Maybe if I waited for another 6 months or so it would be difficult to get one of these machines new. The fact I got a Penryn processor makes my investment a good one. Cool and quiet, no BSOD's or problems with hardware so far. Soon I will upgrade to maybe 3Gigs. I don't plan switching to Vista, simply hate it.

If you plan on getting a Thinkpad and simply hate those WS versions get a T61 4:3 while they last. Maybe in the future I would get a 14.1 WS Thinkpad, don't think they look ugly. Let's see how the machine lives up to Thinkpad life span expectancy now that I don't intend to replace it anytime soon.

Pictures: (along comparing it to my old T42p):
http://thinkpads.picturepush.com/
ENJOY

 

Sweet.
How's the 4:3, I love those.