Thinking of another thinkpad....

EDIT: Bought a T61p with fried nvidia for $70. I heard that IBM released an updated mobo that wasn't faulty...


I'm thinking about picking up a 'mid aged' thinkpad for general use, mostly movies and older games that won't run on my m6600.
I know to stay away from the t61/p series because of the nvidia issues...
s there anything I should be looking out for in the t60/t500/t400 ones?
t60p($120)t500($300)t400($275) all with dedicated ATI
Did lenovo ____ the thinkpad, or are they still the same quality as an IBM one?
ight now I'm leaning to a t60p, but IDK...
I would like to keep it under <$300.

 

I'd avoid the T60p mainly because it's getting quite dated (particularly in terms of graphics) and in general they run rather warm. I think the Tx00 generation is great: the machines all run exceptionally cool and quiet (on idle, I literally cannot hear my T500's fan even with my ear near the vent, and the vent area is cool to the touch), and modern games still run well on the T500. The WSXGA+ display on the T500 is great as well.

Not sure what games you would like to run that your M6600 can't, though...

 

T500 and T400 are good units.
I highly recommend them, I believe they are one of the last models to have the LCD roll cage.

 

Older one, mechwarrior 3 for example...

 

Just bear in mind that both T400 and T500 came in two guises: Intel graphics only or switchable Intel/ATi. Verify what you're getting 1001% before purchasing to avoid disappointment later on...

While I can't give any advice on what games will run smoothly on this generation, I'd say that T500 would be my preferred choice, since the LCDs are (on the average) much nicer on these.

Happy shopping.

 

How about the W500? They have become dirt cheap, are available with WUXGA Display (OK, so is the T500) and the ATI Graphics is on par with the HD3000. Older games should run an max. Details.

 

W500 is by far my personal favourite...but there is one major caveat with these, and that is the screen.

If you get the unit with LG panel, you're in luck.

However, should you receive the one that sports a Samsung LCD, chances are that you'll hate it. Colour reproduction is atrocious, and the same can be said for contrast and viewing angles. One of the three worst panels ever to be seen on a ThinkPad in my not-so-modest experience/opinion.

Units with WSXGA+ instead of WUXGA are much safer bet in my book.

Good luck.

 

Bought a T61p with fried nvidia for $70. I heard that IBM released an updated mobo that wasn't faulty...

 

Well it was Lenovo, not IBM, and not entirely. There are planars with GPUs that are less likely to fail, but they are rather rare. I also don't think that any of the NVIDIA GPUs from that generation are immune to failure, just that the "fixed" revs are much less likely to die as early as the "unsafe" ones. (But don't quote me on that last part.)

 

The fried GPUs on that generation were Nvidia's fault, not Lenovo's. There was a huge stink about this way back when, and probably the major reason I've been very leery of Nvidia to this day. That's probably me being paranoid, but those G64/G86 models were faulty and I wouldn't recommend a notebook with one to anyone, period. Not when people were putting their mobos or GPUs in the oven every few weeks to try to limp them along.

All that said, I think you'd be pretty happy with the T400 or T500, especially if you game(in which case go for the T500). The T60p 15" with 4:3 FlexView is considered to be one of the best displays IBM ever put on a ThinkPad, but they are getting a little long in the tooth and unfortunately run pretty hot.

 

I just hope that you haven't bought a 14.1" (4:3) unit, since there are no *known* safe nVidia boards for these...some of them are safer than others, but none were produced after the usual "safe" date of 08/08...

Good luck.

 

I'm looking for a cheap travel Thinkpad...and the X301 looks to be a good choice. I have a spare 7mm 250gig drive sitting around. Would this drive work? Also, it will run Windows 7 well, right (drivers and all)?

edit: nevermind, I see it uses a 1.8" drive. Rats. They are expensive.

It's $427 on eBay.

Lenovo ThinkPad X301 Core 2 Duo 1.4GHz SU9400 4GB 64GB SSD 13.3" DVDRW *Warranty | eBay

 

That's a pretty good price for a X301, regardless of all the shortcomings than one could possibly find with the X30* range...

 

Not to derail the OPs thread, but since you responded so quickly...

Am I correct in thinking the 1.8 mSATA drives will work with this? I could get a 128gig MyDigitalSSD for ~$120 and have a pretty good spare travel system for under $570. Does this remotely seem like a good idea?

Also, is the screen on the X301 LED backlight? I read that it was and is 300 nits, which should be plenty bright. I don't want a dim non-LED screen if at all possible.

Or this is available for $550. 6gigs RAM, 120gig SSD.

Lenovo ThinkPad X301 Laptop Notebook Pristine condition & loaded 008843433528 | eBay

Do all X301's have the 1440x900 screen?

 

AFAIK, that will not fly. These machines will not run off of a mSATA drive from what I recall...

Do bear in mind that the screen in question is regarded by many ThinkPad users to be the absolute worst ever seen on this product line...

All of them are 13.3" WXGA+ (1440x900) LED-lit panels, though

 

Yikes, that's not good. I can live with the screen on my work T400. Would it be that much worse? (the T400's screen is nothing to write home about).

 

That's really an extremely subjective aspect to be discussed...screens always are.

I couldn't live with it for a day unless my life depended on it.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's a zillion people who swear by these machines, wouldn't give them up for the world and are not bothered with the panel in question one bit.

Chances are, if you're OK with a T400, you'll probably be able to get used to X301 when it comes to the screen...

 

Well to completely change gears, here is a 1440x1050 X61 tablet for $175

Lenovo X61 Tablet | eBay

I've read the screens on the X61 are "sparkly." Is this true?

 

First of all it's 1400x1050 (SXGA+).

Second of all, not only are they "sparkly" but tend to develop bubbles as well. I'd be weary of the latter unless the machine is still under the warranty.

X60T screens do not have any of these problems, BTW.

 

Thanks. Would my 7mm 250gig Hard Drive (pulled from my T520) fit in the X61 tablet? I can't seem to find if it uses a 7mm 2.5" drive.

 

That would be me!

 

Ok, last post. If you were looking for a light travel machine, would it be the X61 tablet ($175) or X301 ($429)? I know they are two very different machines, but just looking for opinions (since this is a "seeking cheap machine" sort of thread).

 

If you're seeking a cheap machine I would go with... the cheaper machine.

Ok, ok, I'll stop being a jerk. So I'd recommend the X61t for three reasons:

1) Tablet functionality. It's not terribly useful to me, but I can definitely think of times when travelling when it would be nice to have (movie watching on a long train ride, for example.)

2) Cheap. If I break it, $175 is peanuts as far as laptop costs go. $400+... not so much.

3) Better screen. The X30x screen is pretty bad for anything other than head-on viewing in low-medium diffuse light. Anything other than that and I get frustrated with the contrast ratio. The X61t is not free of issues, screen-wise, but I think it's easier to deal with those on a < $200 notebook than a > $400 one.

That said, I really do think the X301 is a lovely machine. It's fast enough for quite a lot of work, very light, has a respectable battery life, and is an impressive, sleek piece of engineering. If you have the cash to pick one up and the interest in notebooks to spend the cash, I'd recommend you do, if only so you see what a subnotebook is supposed to be.

 

One aspect where X301 wins hands-down over X61T (apart from the sheer engineering/design standpoint) is weight.

If you need any type of serious battery life with a X61T, you'll need an extended (8-cell) battery. With that installed, you're looking at a machine that is closer to 5lb than 4lb...

Before pressing the "Buy It Now" button on either/or of these machines, re-read ThinkRob's response a few more times, he has nailed all the possible scenarios very well.

Happy shopping.

 

Oh Jane please don't take all the credit. :tongue:

I would agree with the X61 tablet, though it does run hotter than I would like it, the X60t SXGA+ screen swap I did is phenomenal. 1400x1050 and it is an IPS screen in 12" form factor. The 8 cell is quite a burden, but it is the only way to hit 4-5 hours on light work. I think I would get better battery life if I put on XP tablet as Windows 8 drivers are meh. Parts are also DIRT cheap, a entire functional X61t is like 150...

 

Hmm, where did you source that panel?

I tossed up a fair offer for the X301 ($409). We will see if it's accepted. The seller has 5 X301's for sale, so I'm hoping it is.

If not I may just keep looking for something for a kick-around machine. The weight of the X61 tablet is too heavy since I will carry it in a bag with my work-issued T400 (through airports and such). 3-ish lbs is my limit.

 

Actually, Jane indeed was the first one on my mind when I was writing that post...

 

Offer accepted at $409. Guess I own an X301...I think I will like it. If not...it's too late to change my mind now! Thanks for the input everyone. I think it's going to be a nice machine. Has a warranty until 1-2013 too, just in case.

 

A very good deal you've gotten yourself, presuming that the machine is reasonably well-kept.

Enjoy!

 

Thanks. The more I read about how people are swooning over the X301, the more confident I get about my decision. I mean, $409 is a drop in the bucket computer-wise. If it's even half as good as I believe it will be, I will be a very happy camper.

That said, the 64gb SSD is a no-go. I need at least 128gb to be comfortable. Would running the OS on the SSD and putting one of these in allow me to use my 250gig 7mm 2.5" drive I have lying around let me use the bay for storage?

New PATA 2nd HDD Hard Drive SSD Caddy Tray for IBM ThinkPad lenovo X300 X301 S70 | eBay

 

Hmmmm...this is the first time I've ever seen a HD carrier for a X30* bay...no clue on whether that actually works, and how well.

If memory serves me, the SSDs that these machines shipped with do not support TRIM, so you might be better off finding a nice 1.8" SSD with 128GB capacity...I believe Crucial C300 was available in such a format.

Good luck.

 

Thanks. I found both the 256 and 128 Crucial (refurbs):

Crucial 256GB RealSSD C300 1.8" SSD SATA III 6GBs Laptop Drive CTFDDAA256MAG-1G1 649528749949 | eBay

Crucial 128GB RealSSD C300 1.8" SSD SATA III 6GBs Laptop Drive CTFDDAA128MAG-1G1 649528749932 | eBay

I may toss an offer for the 256 and see where it goes. I don't really need that much space, so if that falls through, $85 for the 128 is fine by me.

...the bigger question is should I even begin to trust a refurb'd SSD?

 

We do backups and keep redundant copies of our personal files (do we?) because we don't totally trust any drive.

 

Well of course "we" do...and I will do too

I guess there is a certain degree of paranoia regarding a refurb SSD with a 30-day warranty. It seems Crucial washes their hands of it on day 31.

I sent an offer for the 256gb. We'll see where this goes. If they accept, I have a complete X301 package for $559. I'm good with that.

And I will back up weekly (at least). Promise!

And to the OP - sorry for hijacking your thread. Hope you enjoyed my shopping soap opera...hey, maybe you gleaned something useful from it.

 

Nice hijack...

I wanted to get a t60p with 4:3 IPS but the minimum I could price one together for would be $250+ more than I want to spend right now for a 2nd laptop...


Any 'gaming' I would be doing would be <2004. Preformance isn't the issue...

The t61p has
t7300
3gb
1gb turbo memory
320gb
1050x1680 15.4in
etc...


Will a t60p mobo(15.4in) drop into the chassis?

 

Hmm, I've been looking at used (and mint) X301's lustfully for years but never pulled the trigger.

(Sorry for prolonging the hijack. )

 

Regarding the caddy, it's anyone's guess how well it will work. I don't remember Lenovo ever selling an original version, so you might not be getting a clone of an existing part.

In my experience, the problem with a lot of SATA->PATA bay caddies is three-fold:

1) The bridge controller usually sucks, performance-wise. I've seen plenty that barely handle UDMA2 rates (although a lot can hit UDMA4 pretty well.) I wouldn't hold out too much hope for UDMA6 though...

2) You're still bound by the maximum speed of PATA in an absolute best-case scenario. That's fine for most conventional drives, but for SSDs you will be limiting yourself a good bit.

3) (This is my biggest complaint) The bridge chips often fail to pass through various ATA commands. In fact, of the perhaps dozen SATA->PATA caddies I've used over the years, I only remember having two that actually allowed me to do "exotic" things like read the drive's SMART indicators or set an ATA password. Maybe I've had bad luck, but this was not exactly encouraging.

That said, the bridge controllers themselves often seem to be reputable parts (mostly Marvell, in my experience) so I've never really had any issue with data loss or anything. Just that I wouldn't consider one of the PATA->SATA caddies as a long-term solution due to the above.

 

That's a tough call. I can't say that I know anyone's who's actually done it. I know I haven't...

My guess would be not without some modifications...but I may be wrong.

You can always pick an Intel T61 board which is likely a much better bet, for its 8GB RAM limit and cool-running prowess...