ThinkPad Z61p & photo editing

Hi, everybody.

I am a long-term ThinkPad user (i20, R32, T60). I bought an Acer notebook last December but I'm not to pleased with it. Build quality is poor (if not worse than that), keyboard awful (too springy and too much flex on the right side), screen has annoyingly narrow vertical viewing angle and it's almost useless for photo editing.
The solution is simple - I would like to replace the Acer with a ThinkPad Z61p Z61p 0674-KSG. Lenovo discontinued the Z series and the price has dropped significantly - the time is right (I'm on a budget and cannot afford a T61p - way too expensive). I took a look at my co-worker's Z61p and was impressed - built quality seems better than with my T60, screen looks nice. Unfortunately I didn't have much time and could not go into details. I have a couple of questions for all the Z61p users out there:

1) Screen resolution
Do you find the screen resolution too high for everyday work (icons and GUI too small)?

2) Quality of the screen
Can you say a few words about brightness, vertical viewing angle, horizontal viewing angle, color reproduction and gamut (after calibration)? I'll use the notebook for photo editing - quality of the screen is very important.

3) Noise and heat
How noisy is the Hitachi 100 Gb 7200 Rpm HDD? What about heat / fan noise? The T60 I use in the office is very quiet.

4) Quality issues
Any quality issues I should be aware of?

5) ThinkPad UltraBay HDD Adapter
Does anybody use one of these? I would like to buy one and install 2nd 160 Gb HDD exclusively for data storage (images, music, videos, documents,...). Any recommendation regarding the HDD itself? I'm looking for something reliable yet quiet.

6) ThinkPad Z61m
Is the ThinkPad Z61m 9450-HAG with 15.4" WSXGA TFT (1680x1050) also a good choice? What about the screen - and differences between this one and the WUXGA screen in the Z61p? I know that the GPU is weaker but I will not use it for gaming.

7) ThinkPad R61 with a discrete GPU
I consider this one as the last resort - only if ThinkPads Z61p or Z61m are no longer available. Any comments regarding the screen and build quality? I must be honest - I was very satisfied with my R32 until it died after (way) too many falls and drops in the production hall.

Many thanks to all of you who are willing to help me in making the right choice.

Have a nice day,

Peter K.

 

The Z61p wasn't here long before Lenovo pulled it. As a result not many were sold. I don't know you'll get a lot of opinions on it here. You may want to post over on ThinkPads.com. As a more ThinkPad centered forum, you may get more opinions over there.

I was lucky enough to get to write the review for the Z61m. I thought the screen on it was pretty decent.

I thought the T61 was pretty good quality wise though I haven't seen the R61, but they're very similar construction wise.

My R60 has been holding up quite nicely after a years plus of use, my third ThinkPad in a row.

 

The Z61 is an excellent notebook overall, you can try to find the "m" version with a titanium lid, I liked that, but it's not an option for the "p" version.

As for the screen, they are the same that Lenovo (and the other companies) use now. Basically, the WXSGA+ LG/Phillips screen is the best you can get but there is also a crappy Samsung screen and you may hate your notebook (most people do), if you get that screen.

The same goes for the WUXGA screens when the Samsung one is known to be terribly crappy.

And if you don't need the video card, then I'd go for the Z61m since the WUXGA screen isn't for everyone unless you can see it somewhere and decide for yourself.

There is no any serious quality issues, the only thing I can thing of is that the DVD doesn't fit perfectly into the media bay, which results in a small gap and flex in that area.

Otherwise, it runs relatively cool and quiet but is a bit bulky and heavy overall, rather a desktop replacement...