Two different Z60t and two totally different impressions

Today I went to two different office depots to look at the Z60t and T43 they had in stock. The frist Z60t looked very very cheep. Even my girlfriend thought her R40 was better constructed and felt more solid. The keys felt cheep and there was a lot of flex. The screen also looked very poor.

After seeing this Z60t I seriously thought once again I should cancel my Z60m order and o for a T43. I passed another office depot on my way home so I stopped in. The Z60t they had on display was totally different!! It actually felt like a Thinkpad! Very little flex like the T43 next to it and I did not notice any difference between the quality of the Z60t and T43 keyboard. I did not notice any of the noisey keys other have commented on. The mouse click buttons on the T43 and R series feels better but it is probably a personal preference. The display on the Z60t was darker then the T43 (15" xga) but it looked sharper from every direction.

I do not know how these two Z60ts could be so different unless they had problems with early production models. The only let down I could find with both is the titanuim lid. From the pictures I saw I thought it was a brushed finished but I was wrong Now that I see it I would probably rather a black lid but I see that is not an option for a system with the X600 card. They really should offer an option for the titanium to be black rather then silver. I wish I could have closed the lid to see if there was that latch issue but the restraints preveneted this.

At this point I just hope my Z60m ends up being like the second Z60t I looked at and that it will get here in a reasonable time.

 

Stories like yours are what makes me feel that the Z60t models may be hit-n-miss. All the issues you described I've heard from some others as well, and then again there are people who have Z60t's and theirs are just like the second one you mentioned - solid with no problems at all.

For what it's worth, I haven't heard of any such issues with the Z60m's, so you can relax.

 

Since this sounds more like a production issue than a design issue, I hope that the facility that produces the shoddy Z60t's is somehow isolated from the rest of the Lenovo's factories.

If isolated sounds like poor word choice, let me suggest "quarantened" instead.

 

The Z60t and Z60m are really quite different actually, they weren't even going to give them the same Z60 model series designation until the last minute so I wouldn't draw too many conclusions or parallel lines between the Z60t and Z60m.

All the same, it's disconcerting to hear these stories about such different build quality.

 

Was one a standard all black model with the other being the one with the Ti cover on it?

 

Does anyone know if similar scenario is happening with the T43s too. I received mine with the Chinese keyboard, which I had to replace with the superior Thailand one. Now that lenovo is based in china, i hope they don't totally embrace the Chinese venders and stop shipping the Tai keyboards or other Thai components that may be superior.

 

My Z60m is arriving soon (ha ha hopefully), how does one tell the difference between the 2 of them?

 

You can tell which keyboard you have by the part number (press Thinkvantage Button and go to System Information).

 

You will probably not be let down by your Z60M. While I am considering something smaller, if I were 100% sure a 15.4" was right for me, I'd be set.

Howie

 

What part number is which?

EDIT: Lenovo lists 3 keyboard part numbers for each country keyboard. Which is the best? Also, what does NMB stand for? "P/N (NMB)" , "P/N (ALPS)", "P/N (Chicony)"

 

It is generally agreed that NMB (the one made in Thailand) is best.

 

I received a z60m December 30th and have no complaints whatsoever. I noticed some flexing in the very middle of the screen that I thought was poor build quality, but then I noticed the same flexing with added screen distortion on my t42p.

Overall I find the build quality of the z60m to be excellent, and I have been extremely satisfied with the purchase...even after waiting 2 months to get it

 

Both were titanium. I really wish there was an option for the titanium to be black or a brushed finish.

 

My Z60t ddnt have any of the problems that were addressed. It feels pretty solid, not as solid as my t41p, but pretty close. So far Ive had no issues with it.

 

That is great to hear. When did you recieve your Z60t?

 

I had 2 z60t. First one had bad quality issues. Second is better but still not good enough.... I'm seriously considering returning the second one.... Just not what I expect from IBM/Lenovo. Spacebar on the second z60t constantly stuck... jeez.. their quality build is just unbelievable....

 

That's some luck you have there. I've had mine for over a month now, still punching away at it with no issues yet. I got mine Dec. 9, took about 2.5 weeks for it to arrive, ordered through PC mall. Had a bit of a problem trying to get a stable connection with my wireless router, but ran a few updates and works fine now. Also ordered the advanced dock for more ports and to maybe put an extra hard or optical drive later. 5 card slots took a little fumbling to get my sd card in, but nothing to troublesome. Only thing is there is an undocking procedure you must do before taking the laptop. Its either pushing a button on the dock itself or going to the start menu and click undock.

 

Hi,

I ordered my Z60t in Nov'05 from IBM - they kept giving me the run around - promising Christmas delivery, then "New year".
Finally in the New year they promised a ship date of Jan 29th.

I cancelled my order and bought one form Euclid whose wait list I was on.

Got mine last week. it is GREAT !!
It does weigh more than their spec - 5lbs 7 1/2 oz on my lab scales. Spec below (same as Baxter's):

Processor - Intel Pentium M 760 2.0GHz (2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Screen - 14.1" WXGA screen (1280 x 768), 200 nit
Memory - 1,024GB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM
Hard Drive - 100GB 5400RPM
Ports - Infrared, 3 USB 2.0, S-video out, dock/port replicator, external display output, AC adapter, LAN port (ethernet), modem port, audio, headphone, external microphone, IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Slots - 1 Type 2 PC card slot (no ExpressCard slot)
Dimensions - 13.1" x 9.0" x 1 - 1.2" (width x depth x height)
Weight - about 5lbs with 7-cell battery and titanium cover lid
Wireless - 802.11 a/b/g, Bluetooth, Infrared, EVDO antenna (Verizon as service provider)
Battery - 7-cell (non-flushed) quoted up to 4 hours of life
Hard Drive Active Protection System - Yes
OS - Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Price as configured: $2,299
SKU: 2511-E7U


My battery, after the first discharge and a recharge lasted 3 hr. 12 min - Internet on always, actively used for downloads, web surfing 80% of the time, and installed MS Office, and ran some CDs, inc. a Powerpoint presentation.

After a Dell and 2 HPs, I just love this machine.

Does anyone know of a lightweight laptop case for this?
(Z60t 13.1" X 1.22" X 9.0")
I wanted the Targus 14" Ultra Lite (2.0 lbs only), but it specs 12.125" length - an inch short.

Thanks for all the great reviews.

KM

 

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I have the very first batch of Z60t. I get it a bit earlier
before it actually release at Canada. My Battary S/N is 200.
This is because I am one of the Notebook reseller.

Haha. Mine have no all problems people say here. The build
quality is a bit less then T43, But I can say It's still good base
from all the z60t I sold to my customer I checked.

7 Cell batt. is a bit, but only a small bit loose if you are picky....

Few Photo of mine......







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