T61p 14.1" docking port

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of buying a T61 laptop. I'm deciding between a 15.4" T61p (with WUXGA resolution - 1920x1200) and a 14.1" model (with SXGA+, 1400x1050). I'm from Europe and the models I'm thinking about are:

15.4" (model 64575FG): http://www5.pc.ibm.com/europe/products.nsf/$wwwAllProducts/NH05FXX?OpenDocument. I'm worried that WUXGA on a 15.4" LCD is very tight and has too small characters.

14.1" (models 88893DG and 88893FG): http://www5.pc.ibm.com/europe/products.nsf/$wwwPartNumCompare/_UI03Dxx?OpenDocument&compare=UI03Fxx. These two models are exactly the same, the only difference is the modem (?).

My question is: Do the 14.1" models have a docking port on the bottom side? I'm not sure if they do, since that port is not mentioned in the Ports section of their specs (the 15.4" model has the port "Expansion Bus port (for Dock II or Port Replicator II)" mentioned, the 14.1" models don't.

Another 14.1" model that I'm considering is the 766315G model: http://www5.pc.ibm.com/europe/products.nsf/$wwwPartNumLookup/_ND115xx?OpenDocument, which has the docking port mentioned under "Ports", but it does not have a "Slim Ultrabay" mentioned under "Architecture" - is this a typo or this model does not support ultrabay?

Thank you for any insight on this issue!

 

The T61P is no longer available, some doubts if it ever was. There are tons of people who've already been waiting 4 months or longer for this machine who still haven't received it.

Don't waste your time on the 61P, consider another manufacturer, Lenovo will never deliver it to you.

 

Well, the T61p is *still* available in Europe, so I'm willing to give it a shot. Does anyone know the answer to my question?

Thanks!

 

They all have the docking port.

 

Can you please stop being a tool? There was nobody waiting 4 months for a T61p. They were released on 7/11/07. That's BARELY a month. You're discouraging other potential buyers/users because you're pissy. Stop.

 

No I will not stop.

Lenovo has lied.
They have ADMITED that the delay is their error but do NOTHING to correct it.
It will be at LEAST 90 days between order placed and the potential of order delivery.

I needed a notebook. I ordered a notebook. I wasn't looking for some maybe potential imaginary machine which may or may not ship someday in the future.

I didn't place an order only to have to call and call, get lied to, have them screw up the web order (lost it) and have to chase this down spending hours and hours of my time on the phone and having to make international calls to Canada to speak to Lenovo's support channel.

I make my living on computers. I need one that's mobile from time to time, but when I need it, I need it now, not some distant time in the future.

I think that most anyone willing to spend $2500 on a machine is in the same boat.
The selection process is not just about hardware, it's also about price, support and AVAILABILITY.
Lenovo is LIEING on their site when they claim 1-2 weeks. This is the sucker bait and switch. Sucker them in for an order, make them wait two weeks, then tell them it'll be another 2, then another 2, then another 2....where does it end?


I needed a notebook in MAY. I spoke to a Lenovo Customer Service Representative during the Memorial Day Sale. They assured me the T61P would be available before the end of the sale. That obviously was a lie.
I spoke to them again the day the sale was ending. They assured me that the T61P would be avail by June 5th and that if I placed an order for a T60P (which had a 4 week leadtime) they would be able to switch it to the T61P when it was available. Lie.
The 5th came and went, suddenly a T60P shows up and I have to PAY to ship it back and pay fees. Sucks.
Then I speak to CS and they say end of June. I continue to wait thinking this machine is ubur duber and worth the wait. CS also assures me that they have a list of people that they will contact as soon as the T61P is available and I'm on this list.
June ends.
July comes again I'm calling. Any day now CS tells me, we'll call you.
So I place my trust in Lenovo's CS department and continue to wait - still without a laptop which I desperately need.
July 17 and I'm poking around on Lenovo's site and see the T61p is off on an odd page that I didn't notice. I order it. I call CS and say "why didn't you call me, I need a machine." They say "don't worry sir, we'll take care of it and get you a machine very fast, it'll be just a couple weeks". Another lie.
So I wait another MONTH. No Shipment.
I had to break down and BUY another machine because I need something. $1900 on a Sony that doesn't really meet my needs, but will work and I may be able to press it into other service once the machine I've been waiting for since MAY does show up.
Tax free weekend came and went, I called and emailed with no response or answer to phone calls. There's $130 lost.
Amex Tailor made 10% discount expired, that's $260 lost.
The prices fluctuate on this machine over this time, it could have been $50 less.
On August 17th I call lenovo again. I'm routed from one person to another who can't do a thing (they keep sending me to the wrong department.) Finally I get to Customer Relations and they ADMIT that they have screwed up the web order, but the machine is no longer available so they will try to rerelease it to production, but don't know if this will work or if they will be able to fill the order. I wasted an entire morning of my time on this.
The Rep asks if any of the resellers have the machine I could get it from. CDW has one that's close, he says that I could order it from them (yea, now I have to spend $400 more for the machine.)
I told the rep that if they don't correct their errors then I will tell everyone of the troubles they caused. His I don't care response was: "that's your right".

I have been without a machine since MAY.
Lenovo has lied and broken promises.
I have spent countless hours of my valuable time on this. I have way better things to do with my time.
There are people with order dates later than mine which have receive machines. WTF is up with that?????

People need to know these FACTS when making the decision to buy a machine from Lenovo. There are machines on the market which are available NOW which will meet people's needs. There are companies out there which are ethical and professional.
Getting a bunch of hassle when paying so much for a machine and wasting time is a huge negative in my book. Had I known in May that I wouldn't get the machine until October I would NEVER have ordered from Lenovo. I would have scratched it off the list.

I am not the only person this has happened to. Lenovo has done this to numerous people. Read the forums and blogs. What's happened to me is SOP.

 

LMAO MonsterMaxx. What happened to you is your own greed and stupidity. You ordered a machine in May. A T60p. First lie right there. You weren't waiting months for a T61p... since the effin' thing only came out last month. You were ordering a T60p and hoping the T61p would come out before the T60p's return time was up. You gambled, and lost.

"Suddenly a T60p shows up" - So you didn't check your order status or even examine the order? You didn't get shipping e-mail? One night the stork magically left a T60p on your doorstep? You bought it and returned it cause you wanted a product that WASN'T RELEASED YET. I'm not sure what you expect Lenovo to do in this situation? Accept the return because you want a product that isn't released? ...

So now you're laptop-less since the first machine you ordered you sent back... due to your indecisiveness. Whee. So Lenovo's first mistake(yes, they are at fault too) is having the CSR give you an estimated release date. Never, ever, ever, ever should a company give an estimated release date. Cellphone companies don't do this because then people like you do stupid things. Laptop manufacturers need to do the same. Not knowing something concrete and giving an estimated answer doesn't amount to lying. Stop being a tool.

Lenovo sales(and IBM) have ALWAYS been M-F. That's why you didn't get a response to your e-mail or calls. Sucks, but that's SOP.

They are pretty bad at routing you to the right person. They messed up your web order... bleh. You're not the only one. It happens. Call in and get it straightened out.

So let's sum this up - You ordered a T60p. It came, relatively quick. You sent it back. You waited a bit and ordered a machine that had a clear 3-4 weeks shipping delay tagged onto it because of the WUXGA. This was clearly posted when you ordered. So you missed that. Then Lenovo messes up and screws your order. Ouch. That does hurt, but maybe if you weren't such a "give me what I want now" type of jerk, the CSRs might handle your calls a bit better. Now, before you jump on me, you ORDERED A MACHINE, SENT IT BACK, and expected them not to charge you a restocking fee. You complained over and over. You likely have a crappy attitude when you call - even if it's not perceptible to you. You then proceeded to threaten the company via a CSR. A CSR. Not a manager, not Exec Relations, but a CSR. Durf?

Yes, people need to know the facts. People also need to realize that you're a doof who is essentially complaining because of his own stupidity. I don't agree that Lenovo is perfect, but you're taking things WAY over the top. Your T61p isn't on "backorder since May"... You need to clear that up posthaste. You've been WAITING for a T61p since may, which you ordered on 7/17. I'm sorry to have to call you out, but your stupid stupid "WARNINGS" are starting to irk me.

Good day.

 

Thanks, it's probably a typo in the specs then.

 

aside from this rather entertaining debate about lenovo support
please let's keep it on topic

yes...all t61's have the docking port option.

 

Thanks for the info, everyone. One more thing: I've read here somewhere that some 14.1" t61p's don't have the IEEE 1394 (aka firewire) port. Is this true? Or is it just another typo in the specs (the 14.1" t61p models I've posted here don't have firewire mentioned, but the 14.1" t61 that I've also mentioned does have it in the specs)?

 

thats not true at all. please dont make false statment and mislead people.

 

Not false at all. The T61P is NO LONGER AVAILABLE. Feel free to check the website yourself. It's gone.

There are a couple people who got them, but the bulk of the people who ordered it have gotten nothing but lies and excuses.

Call CS, spend your two hours of time to get a human, then try to order a T61P. Not possible.

Call CS with a screwed up order like mine. They will tell you that they have to rebook the order and transfer you to another CS to do that. That CS will tell you he cannot do it, the T61P is no longer available.

Yes, I just went thru all this crap Friday and wasted the entire morning doing it.

If I'd been warned in May that it would be at least October I would NEVER have wasted my time with Lenovo. People who order $2500 notebooks do it because they need them, not because they are buying some uber cool imaginary geeha comprised of components which don't even exist yet and for which they'll have to wait 6 months for.

That's where I am. An unfortunate incident ended my Dell's life which had served me well for 4 years.
I needed a new machine for business, selected the T61P as I felt it would meet my needs. Now been 3months with at least another month to wait. I couldn't wait, I needed a machine and had to go buy another one because unethical Lenovo won't fulfill their contracts.

There are professionals like myself who would consider the T61P based on it's theoretical specifications. They need to know that if they really want the machine there is a high degree of probablity that they will have to wait a long time before it's even available to order again and that after that there's a good chance that Lenovo will screw the order up. That they'll have to deal with a horrible CS department. And even if after all that they decide to get the machine it could be as much as 6 months before it arrives - if ever.

This is a major consideration in any good decision matrix. The reputation that IBM earned is gone now that Thinkpads are made by a wholly owned communist Chinese company who is unethical and incapable and unwilling of performing up to IBM's reputation. People need to be warned.


People know that when the sales side of the company is this bad, the support side will be something out of nightmares.

 

well i am thinking order a t61p using this thread method

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=158127

 

It's not there either, the T61P is gone from Lenblowvo's website.

 

You could still order the T61p using corporate contracts, similar to the method linked above, or through state education sites. Moreover, people have been reports of people starting to receive their T61p 14.1" and 15.4".

As for MonsterMaxx, delays are nothing new for Lenovo. In addition, other manufacturers have been experiencing delays as well (See Dell XPS M1330 2+ month delay). The Chinese bashing is getting really old.

 

Monster just chill. Even though Lenovo is at fault, there's no point spamming every thread saying Lenovo sucks. People have bought the T61/ T61p and have received them. Just because of your one bad case doesn't mean the company as a whole is bad.

I'm not defending Lenovo as I blame them partly for not shipping the laptops in the order people placed the order, but at least they are still shipping out laptops, which means sooner or later, we will all get ours.

 

Ok, I've talked to Lenovo and only the widescreen models have firewire ports. The 4:3 models don't.