Thinking of picking up a T61 or R61

I am currently shopping for a thinkpad through visaperks (which the sales seem to have gotten much better). I bought a T61 last summer but it had issues when running off of battery (it wouldnt, it would freeze). However I really need a new laptop now, and I am willing to give thinkpads another chance. I am looking for the a laptop that will mainly be tethered, so battery life is not a huge concern. I will also not need anything too extensive performance wise (would like to play RTS's, and then standard office, and accounting programs). I just have a few questions

1. Is the upgrade to the T series worth it if I am not going to be carrying it around a lot? It will be brought to campus on the odd occassion, but not daily.

2. What would you suggest for a processor? I am not sure how much I should bump it up from the base 2.0 gigs, but not sure how high I should go.

3.. Should I go with 2 or 3 gigs of ram?

4. Is the upgrade from a 5200rpm hardrive up to a 7200rpm hardrive make a noticeable performance difference?

5. Does the turbo memory serve a point yet?

6. Also finally would you suggest vista or xp? I have heard numerous complaints about vista and really dont know what I would want. Also are you able to do a clean install, with the windows discs you get with the computer?

 

search through this board... this question is asked almost every day and there are lots of thoughtful responses.

My .02:

• 14.1" R61 is almost identical to 14.1" T61; not so with larger 15.4 models...
• Get a Penryn, doesn't really matter which one...
• 2gb is fine for XP, Vista might need more...
• For most, 5400rpm drive is fine; heavy disk-intensive apps? maybe 7200rpm...
• Turbo memory only works in Vista, and not worthwhile if you've got enough RAM...
• Ignore Vista and get XP

Again, search the archives for more detailed explanations

 

1: Same as above
2: Same as above (no choice either)
3: 2GB XP or Vista Basic, 2.5 GB Vista Premium
4: Get 7200 RPM, drive speed is the system bottleneck
5: Turbo Memory is only good with less than 1GB of ram, don't get it
6: If you order Vista Business, you get a set of XP Professional recovery CD's...try it, if not, you can always restore to XP.

 

Get Vista Business at the same price as XP Pro. The Vista Business license entitles you to use both Vista and XP Pro. Search for "Vista downgrade rights" on Microsoft's site or Google for more detail.

I am very happy with Vista Business x64 on my T60.

 

Awesome thanks, I think I will go the business route then. Also dumb question what is a penryn processor? Also sorry just one last question what is the difference between all the wireless cards?

 

Penryn is the newest micro processor from Intel. It is more power efficient and some have a bigger cache. The performance increase is not huge but it is there. The real benefit is in the power efficiency Penryn is 30% more efficent than Merom (older Intel processor). So all in all it is in my mind a worthwhile upgrade.

 

I bought a R61 14.1" recently. I have it hooked up to a 22" monitor all the time when I'm on desktop. 14.1 has decent mobility whenever I take it out. There isnt much difference between 14.1 R61 and T61 from what I've read here.

Definitely get the Penryn and if you plan to use a 4 cell for the flush look get the X3100 graphics.

If I were to do it again, I would probably get a T61p or the version with discrete graphics so I can play games off of it, but I really dont like the fact the battery cartridges are sticking out the back. X3100 allows you to play games but you just have to tune it down a little bit.

It runs pretty cool especialy when sitting on an aluminum cooler. Not sure about the ones with better graphics.

 

I'm awaiting my new T61 that I ordered on March 18th. According to an email I just recieved, it was shipped from China on the 20th.

I believe that any weight savings is a good thing. I used to lug around an old Dell Inspiron 8100 though airports in my backpack. I think that 14 inch laptop must have weighed around 8 pounds or so. I replaced it with a Lenovo R60, which isn't a lightweight either, but at over a pound less, it sure felt alot better. I initially didn't think a weight savings of a pound would make much of a difference, but boy was I wrong!

As for the CPU, go for a Penryn at 2.0GHz. It should do the trick for office work and accounting programs.

With respect to RAM, go for at least 2GB since it is a relatively cheap upgrade. If you run XP, 2GB should be enough. With Vista, go for 3GB. You can save some money by purchasing this memory yourself and doing the upgrade on your own. I recently purchased another 1GB stick from NCIX (Vancouver, BC) for $17.99.

I went with a 7200rpm HD with my setup. I like the extra speed. Boot up and resume times should be faster. What can I say, I hate to wait!!!

I stayed with XP Pro since I didn't want to run into any program compatibility issues. I've also heard that battery life is slightly better with XP as well. XP is a mature operating system and I have never had any issues with it. Vista is anothe story, however.

Oh yeah, if you are in Canada, have you tried to get onto the EPP site? I'm not allowed to post the code here. I went to www.redflagdeals.com to get the code. You can find it in the Deals forum. Thread name: Comp - [Visaperks.ca]IBM Thinkpad T61p/T9300/1gb/80gb- 1070$+tax. It's about 10 or 11 pages into the thread.

 

thanks adwood I will check out that link. I was going to settle with a R61, but if I can up the graphics for a minimal price i will definetly do that. Just a few last questions
1. I was thinking of doing 2 gigs of ram from lenovo, however I have been starting to think of just picking up 4 gigs and installing it myself. Overkill?
2. Do all the thinkpads have the penryn processor cause I definetly want that. If not how can i tell if it comes with it?
3. For a hard drive, again thinking of upgrading and installing myself. Is this a complicated process? If not any suggestions on a HDD? I am looking for 160 or greater, at 7200 RPM

 

For 4GB, it is overkill for Windows XP and unless you are running a 64bit version of Vista, I don't think the OS will see up to 4GB. You will most likely get a reading of 3.25GB, or something like that, of installed ram on your 32bit version of Vista. Do install it yourself though!!

Penryn processors:

Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9500 (2.6GHz 800MHz 6MBL2)
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9300 (2.5GHz 800MHz 6MBL2)
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T8100 (2.1GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)

Installing a hard drive is not that difficult assuming you have the correct drivers and programs available. It can, however, be a very time consuming process. There is some install help guide on these forums somewhere for an XP installation. On the Canadain EPP site, an upgrade to a 160GB 7200 drive is another $50 and would be the easiest solution.

One way to duplicate you information from your existing drive to another drive is to use some copying program like Acronis True Image. You will also need to conect your new hard drive to the computer somehow (ultrabay, usb to sata connector, usb to ide connector)

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28275&vpn=USI-2535&manufacture=Kingwin

 

Definetly install RAM yourself if you want to go for 4GB best is Vista Buisness 64bit but you lose some features the 32bit versions of vista will see about 3GB so going for 4GB is a it of a waste.

Hard Drive is easy one screw to take out the hard drive. But befor you take out the first drive make a copy of it on a CD or an external harddrive then just load it on to your new hard drive and you'll be good to go.

 

Based on the benchmark I have seen, higher capacity 5400rpm HDs actually performs better than lower capacity 7200rpm's, due to increased data density. For example 100GB 7,200rpm is nowhere close to the 250GB 5400rpm

 

Get T8100 with 250GB HD and 1GB RAM(1 DIMM). Then buy a 2GB Ram after market. U should be able to get one ~= $30.

 

Just curious anyone know any good deals on a 2 gig stick of ram? I looked at tigerdirect and it seems the cheapest is around 70ish. Keep in mind I am in Canada.

 

Check out Newegg.com

 

1: For 14.1" I would definitely go with R61. For 15.4", I had thought the only major benefit the T-series offered was if you got a T61P (and thus a 570m over the 140m).
2: I would recommend the T8300. It is a 300mhz upgrade over the T8100 and only costs ~$35 more.
3: Configure the laptop with 1GBx1DIMM, then buy a 2GB stick thirdparty.
4: I'd go with the 160GB 7200rpm. The upgrade price is pretty fair.
5: Most things I've read indicate that Turbo memory generally offers very little if any improvement. I wouldn't bother getting it.
6: Hmm, up to you on Vista vs. XP.

For good deals on RAM, look at the RAM Deals! thread (note that the prices listed on the first post are not up to date). You can also check out www.wireddeals.com, which collocates SlickDeals and FatWallet.

 

alright last one I promise. Upon further pricing I can get a T61p for about 150ish more.
1. If I want a DVDr am I really looking at 5-7 weeks before the laptop ships?
2. What is the 256mb video card capable of? Since between the R61, and T61p i am looking at a nicer video card, but a lot longer of a wait. Basicly is this a good card atleast... worth a $150 upgrade?

 

An nVidia card will cut down the battery life by 50% (From 6 hours to 3 hours on a 6 cell) . If you are on the go a lot, an X3100 GPU will let you use the laptop a lot longer.

 

Estimated ship date is very conservative measurement. Adding a DVD/RW drive shouldn't take another 5-7 weeks unless Lenovo has run out of stock.

I assume by 256mb card, you are referring to the 570M/8600M GT. It'll offer very nice performance for a laptop card but like hyperq said, it'll severely cut into your battery life even if you're not using it (the videocard). Maybe not 50% but definitely 30% or more. Whether or not the upgrade is worth it, it's up to you.

Pros:
Far superior graphics
- you can actually play games at decent resolutions at decent framerates
- NVidia driver software is way better than Intel's

Cons:
Significantly lower battery life
Hotter/Louder computer
More expensive (150 is a decent chunk of change)

 

Ya to me the battery is not a huge concern. As long as I can get 2 hours of basic use that will be plenty. My biggest concern is that the more expensive card actually gives a nice upgrade for the money.

 

Mmm...I suppose. But only because there aren't that many options available for notebooks in the first place regarding graphics. You take what you can get...