T61 or X61 owners, need your opinion

Hi,

I am actually looking for a laptop to be my workhorse to do my scripting in linux shell and as well as in web programming (php/python).

I have the option now to either buy

i)a 2007 X61/T61 with the price of usd410/usd340
ii)or some other Lenovo new laptop like Thinkpad Edge with the price around usd600

I know Edge is definitely no compared with a X61 or T61, but I'm quite worry a good laptop with 3 years old is it worth the money ?

How long do your T61/X61 last ? 5 years or more ? Will be most appreciated with any Thinkpad T series/X series owner here chip in some valuable advice, thanks.

 

If you can spend $600 you can probably get a x200 via eBay. The X200 is a better machine than either of those two, my opinion of course. That's the way I'd go.

 

if this is your only laptop i would go with T400/T500 or X200.

 

My T61 is approaching 4 years old now but it's a solid machine (specs: T9300 CPU, 4GB RAM, Intel SSD, 500GB HDD in the Ultrabay caddy, Intel GPU), i'm pretty sure the T61 has good native support on Linux so there isn't much you need to adjust out of the box. But this boils down to whether you're willing to invest on certain upgrades such as the RAM and hard drives/SSD to make the T61 worthwhile, most T61's don't usually have high end configurations so may strain in stock form (T7xxx CPU, 1-2GB RAM, 80-120GB HDD etc). Also the NVIDIA GPU is faulty on those models so the safest bet is to stick with the Intel GPU's.

As others mentioned the T400 does seem make a better proposition in the long term, but also consider the R400 as there's not much difference from its T-Series sibling and is generally cheaper.

 

This is true; however it is kind of missing the more general truth. All thinkpads have fairly good out-of-the-box support in Linux. The Edge will have the worst support, methinks. The vanilla kernel has built-in thinkpad_acpi, and the tp_smapi module works for nearly all Thinkpads ( Tp smapi - ThinkWiki). I use only Linux (specifically Arch Linux) on my T410, and I have no issues. If you need help, ThinkWiki will almost always have an answer to your question regarding Linux on a Thinkpad.

I'd agree with others that a T400/R400 would be the best way to go if you're on a budget. This is a personal opinion, but for programming, though the 12" X-series supposedly have a full-sized keyboard, you might feel a bit cramped typing on them all day. Another thing which is a bit more trivial: the T410 has an oversized escape key. If you use vim as I do, this is invaluable.

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the valuable feedback, appreciated that

Yeah, I do use vim a lot too so I really got what you mean

Actually the default stock processor T7300 from the T61 with 2.0GHz and Core 2 Duo and 2GB RAM is quite sufficient with my needs as currently my desktop is a Pentium 4 running slackware 13.1 without a problem

So back to the topic, if a T61 can do the job I am hoping to see if there is any current T61/X61 owner that has able to use that machine for a long period and still feel solid gold.

Any more input is most welcome.

 

+1

You should be able to get either for $600.

 

While I don't use my T61 for any heavy duty use (CAD work, graphic design, etc.) I have been using my T61 daily for 4-5 hours a day for the past 3 years. I've had my T61 since the beginning for 2008, and has never had a day's rest. I use it mainly for home use (surfing the web, watching movies around the house, music, etc.). It has taken MANY vacations with me across the US many times, and has never missed a beat (knock on wood). It still looks almost brand new.

I think you will be very pleased with a T61 as your daily driver. However, with something more CPU intensive, a newer model (W510, 701, etc.) will do MUCH better.

 

Ditto. I left my T61 on for about a year and a half straight. Never put it to sleep and the only time it wasn't on was when the power went off. It looks like it did in 2008 and never has once gave me a problem. Granted, there is a lot luck with this type of stuff, but in general the T,W,X series are top notch. If you can though, I would spend a little extra money and get a newer one like others have suggested. It's not like they worst as they get newer.

 

Maybe you oughta Squeeze an extra $100.
$699 for X201i at J&R with no tax (not sure if they still have
free shipping). I am like you and may go for a (R,T,X + three digit number)
in the not so distant future.

 

Wow, good deal. Looks like the T410si has also dropped to the low-mid $700's.