Upgrade from T61p to T60p?

Hello, I'm wondering what your opinion would be. I currently have a T61p but am looking for a better display. Prior to this I had a T43p 15" Flexview and have never been happy with my T61p display. I love the 14in form factor and would like to keep it, but didn't think they made 14in displays with flexview or IPS displays. I came across one on ebay from the IBMFactoryOutlet seller so I ordered it. What do you think my performance hit will be or what will I be giving up?

Here's my T61p specs
CPU: T7500(2.2GHz)
RAM: 2GB
Display: 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD
Video: 128mb Nvidia Quadro FX 570m
Wireless: Intel 802.11 draft-n

I just ordered the T60p with these specs
Description: ThinkPad T60p
Model Name: 2623D8U
CPU: T2500(2GHz)
RAM: 3GB
Disk: 100GB 7200rpm HD,
Display: 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD
Video: 256MB ATI FireGL V5200
Wireless: Intel 802.11abg

I've seen that you can upgrade the CPU in the T60p to bring it to the same level as the T61p, and I'm planning on putting my SSD drive in the T60p. The only real drag left is that my T61p has draft-n whereas the T60p only has b/g. Can I upgrade the card in the T60p to the Thinkpad a/b/g/n card? If so, then by upgrading the CPU and Wireless and slapping my SSD in there, I shouldn't really have any downsides should I?? How do the two memory cards compare? I don't do gaming so I really don't need powerful graphics, but heat and battery life are primary concerns.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

The 14" are not IPS displays. There was never a 14" IPS. Who ever told you that was wrong. I wish there was cause I'd swap it into my R60. It's only the 15" SXGA+ and UXGA LCDs are IPS. The T60 won't be much of an upgrade in the image quality of the LCD. Depending on which display your T61 has and which display you get on the T60, it may be worse. The Samsung panel is supposedly the worst.

 

Hmmm...that would be frustrating.

This is from the ebay listing. Am I misintrepreting the SXGA+IPS line or is it not labeled correctly?

Screen type description: SXGA+IPS TFT
Viewable image size (diagonal): 14.1inches
Screen illumination: Backlit
Max colors or grey shades: 16777216
Max resolution: 1400x1050

 

Do you have a link? As far as I know there was no 14" IPS. So either they're flat out lying, which wouldn't surprise me about eBay sellers, or they're too dumb to know the difference. Supposedly there was a rumor of a 14" IPS, the holy grail of notebook screens, but as far as I know it never got out of the discussion phase. Actually I don't know much. It's just what I heard. I'd try contacting the seller and see what they say. If you've not paid already, I withhold payment until you get some answers.

 

It is not a Flexview / IPS screen.

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread171181.html

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=40808

 

I am sorry to say, but the above two posters are correct. There are no 14" flexviews.

Also, just to say, there are no widescreen flexviews ( I know that SXGA+ and UXGA are nonwide-screen-but some may not realize).

 

And a t61p to t60 is not an upgrade, it's a downgrade.
-Renee

 

You might want to check if you can actually swap cpus. Though the memory wont be a problem using ddr800 at ddr667, you will have issues using a penryn (t61) in a merom motherboard (t60).

 

Sorry to say, but you bought a laptop that is a downgrade from what you have now in every category including the screen. Does the seller offer a return policy? You have to buy the T60p with the 15" 1400x1050 4:3 screen to get an IPS panel.

 

Here's a link to the ebay listing...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=220385537178

It clearly says IPS in the display reference so the posting may be incorrect.

The CPU is upgradable, I found a thread on how to do that. In what other ways would the T60p really be a downgrade if I have a similar CPU, Hard Drive, etc?

 

Last time, there is no 14.1" IPS panels, the listings that you see on Ebay are copy-pasted from the Lenovo site, which is full of all sort of mistakes.

End of story.

 

Alright, I'm a believer

So my next option would be to purchase a T60p with 15" Flexview? I'm guessing the Flexview isn't available for the T61p. I seem to remember reading that the T60p was the last model it was available for.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Kevin

 

Yes, the 15" T60p was the last notebook with IPS displays, they no longer make them for notebooks as it's not profitable.

Nowadays, IPS technology and its variations are only used in some tablets (12.1/13.3") and that's about it.

 

Thanks for the reply dreamer...as I'm looking through all of the 15in T60p's, any advice on how to know which one would be IPS? Is it safe to assume the UXGA ones are all IPS? Or could I go by product number?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

The 15" SXGA+/UXGA displays on T60/T60p were IPS they were also called Flexview, it was only the XGA option that was TN.

 

There was a QXGA IPS offered on the R50p which some people have had some success throwing into other ThinkPads if you want to go all the way. If you're looking for just a good basic all-around machine, the T60 might be a better fit. Some of the earlier T60s had heat issues and if you don't need that kind of GPU why pay for it.

 

Intel released two initial versions if the Core 2 Duo (Merom) processor. One with a FSB of 667 and another with 800. The fastest 667 Merom C2D was the T7600 (2.33ghz). I believe that this is the fastest Core 2 Duo that is compatible with the T60p motherboard.

If you are going to swap your T61P cpu, you are going to have problems because T61p was based on the newer Santa Rosa platform (800fsb), whose CPUs wont work with the T60's 667fsb motherboard.

And this might not be an issue for you, but even if you used a x64 build of windows, the T60 motherboard's still wont recognize mroe than 3gb of ram.

 

By the way, the statement: SXGA+IPS TFT can't be true, because IPS is not a TFT, and TFT is not an IPS

That's the way I've always understood it anyways

 

By the way, That eBay seller is a good seller, because I bought my refurb from him, and he was a great help. He accidentally sent me the wrong T61p model (was better in some ways), and he was very quick about helping me get the right parts to upgrade it. He was happy to offer sending me the right T61p, but when I told him I was a technician, he offered me the missing parts I needed to get the advertised features (WWAN card and Intel 'N' card), and so when I was all done, I had a laptop that was better than the one I originally won on the eBay auction, plus he threw in an extra 2GB stick of RAM for free just for my trouble. Plus this one had a DVD burner, and a 200GB HDD instead of a 100GB HDD. Then I just packaged the old 1GB stick RAM with the old Intel 'G' card in the return envelope he had sent me and I was done.

I would just call them or submit a question on eBay asking what the deal is with that display. IBMfactoryOutlet's support number is: 888-252-8600 They are called Ebuy Electronics. They are an authorized seller for Lenovo Refurbs I believe.


.

 

Thanks ojosch. I've been emailing him through the "submit a question" feature on ebay and he basically said that it says "IPS" so it's IPS. I pointed out that those IBM listings are known to contain faulty information and I requested to cancel that transaction.

I was going to try and replace it with a 15" model as that's supposed to be IPS, and they had a listing for a 15" model, but they say it's a UXGA display at the top of the listing and a sxga+ at the bottom of the listing. They also say T2600 in the header but T2500 in the details.

I'm reassured by the fact that you had good dealings with them, and that they have a 7 day return policy, but boy they sure make it difficult by having such inconsistent information in the listing...

Thanks,

Kevin

 

Then you have never understood it...

In short, IPS is an active matrix LCD technology that uses Thin Film Transistors. Its first version was even called "Super TFT" back in 1996 when Hitachi developed it.

 

You're right, I never really did understand how the In-Plane Switching works, I just thought I had read somewhere that it is not the same technology as TFT based panels. That was why I included that little disclaimer of sorts, to basically say that this should be researched and definitely NOT chiseled in stone (based on what I said). I do own an IPS display on my older A31, and I DO know that if you can get a genuine IPS panel, it is worth it.

I did not realize that IPS is just a type of TFT. I will have to go and read some more stuff and try to figure out where I thought I read that they are different altogether. If you are right though, then thanks for bringing that to my attention

Also, I do have the 15.4" WSXGA+ 1680x1050 Glossy LG/Philips panel in my T61p and it is a very nice screen. I think it looks almost as good as the IPS display on my A31. The colors are actually more vibrant on the glossy 15.4" one, but the IPS one on my A31 has a very sharp viewing angle as in you can rotate the screen almost flat and still see everything in the picture perfectly. That is where the IPS shines. The blues and the whites are not as white and vibrant though, but that could be a product of the old ATI video card in that A31. The T61p has a nice Nvidia card in it and with the glossy panel, as it plays HD material very nice with hardware acceleration on. I did not like the factory matte panel it had before. The glossy one I bought on eBay about a week after buying the laptop, and although they were both LG/Philips panels, the glossy coating does not diffuse all the light that the matte one did, and viewing angles are much better and it is much brighter than that matte display, not to mention the colors are more vibrant. I posted pics of what it looks like if you do an advanced search for posts my username made here. But what I'm getting at, is if you cannot get a good laptop with an IPS screen, then you might consider going with something that you can find a glossy panel replacement option, because it rocks. It made a huge difference. I was thoroughly disappointed with the matte one it had, and now I am thoroughly pleased with the glossy one I got, even though as far as I can tell, the panels are identical except for the finish coating.