Which better for overall performance and battery life-IBM x41 or IBM x60s?not tablets

I want to buy old refurbished IBM ultraportable laptop...I would like it to have around 5-6 hours battery life and decent performance when it comes to light Web surfing and Word processing...Just to mention, I will buy new battery for the laptop...Old ones won't hold longer than 1 hour before the unit shut down..
I have Lenovo ThinkPad R61e and it is great...I just need something smaller and also want to have something with IBM logo-it is a piece of history, right? So as long as it works, I plan to
put it do some good, light use...Yeah, I am nostalgic...

 

Why not get an x200 and slap a IBM sticker on it? Nostalgia is great for cars, not so great for computers.

With that said, the x60 would be the most powerful and efficient out of the two notebooks. You should be able to squeeze 5-6 hours out of the 8-cell battery.

 

The slow hard drive on the X4x is an absolute performance killer. I wrote the review of the X61s for NBR. It went about 6.5 hours with the eight-cell when the battery was new. As I recall the regular X61 went about five.

 

ZaZ is right. The 4200RPM 1.8" ZIF drive on the x41 is brutal on performance (the x60s uses standard 2.5" drives at 5400 or 7200RPM).

The x41 is very nice because it's so thin and light, but the x60s will offer substantially more performance.

Battery life should be comparable, but I would think the x41 would get very slightly better battery life than the x60s (both are good though).

 

Thanks, guys, for your replies...However, I've done some research and found out that x60s and x60, as well as x61 and x61s models had/have some heat issue, located under right palmrest...Since I am buying a refurbished unit, I don't want something with potential disaster ahead, as heat never made laptops live longer, but only shortened their lifespan...There have also been some issues with the screen, caused not by hardware, but by a driver...
As I have said before, I don't need this laptop to be a powerhouse, but only to be reliable for a year, or so; I am ONLY going to use it to take notes in the library and SOMETIMES do some light Web browsing and check my email...I don't think x41's (non-tablet!) 4200 RPM HD would be such a problem for word input and reading Word documents...Still, these days I plan to do some research on x31-everywhere I have checked it says it was one of the best ThinkPads, no heat issues, great battery life, and having 1GB with XP Pro should run nicely for basic computing needs I have...This is one offer I have found on one of UK's sites for X31

http://www.thelaptopcentre.com/used-laptops-refurbished-laptops-cheap-laptops/IBM_x31.html

And this one for x41 and x60s

http://www.sterlingxs.co.uk/scpages/ibmtoshibalaptops.html

One more problem I have with the x60s above is that the company won't give me a typical 3, or 6 months RTB warranty, the one third party usually provides for refurbished units of big brands...So, if x60s goes busted after 01.09. this year, I would basically have had the laptop leased for 2 months for a charge of 200£/300$ A MONTH!!! So far, I am very much closer to buying the X31 with 6 months RTB warranty, and with good performance record of the whole unit lineup, then taking newer machine, with 2 months warranty left and 2, or 3 significant issues hovering over its future performance...If anybody has any information I could use to solve my dilemma, please don't hesitate to type few letters for a man in need...
These are the links for the problems with x60s

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/...s&thread.id=872&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=X_Series_Thinkpads&thread.id=3388

As for cloud_nine

I have to say that while I do like x200, I like x301 more...I would actually prefer 13.1.inch...Also, all these new Lenovo models have some issue, so I will wait for a year, maybe two, for Windows 7 to settle down on the market and on the drivers stage, and by then some more stable systems should come out, as they won't be putting quad core into ultraportables anytime soon...Nowadays, big brand race the weight and power of small laptops, and miss when it comes to producing sturdy machines like ThinkPads of the past...That is why I want to have an old IBM laptop-so be able to compare it in 10 years, or so, with 2019. modern ultraportables and laptops in general...Besides, I don't drive yet, so my nostalgia has to go somewhere...But, thanks for good intentions...

 

The x31 is a fine option. It was actually offered and updated for quite a while after the x40 and x41 had been available (the x60 obsoleted both models).

The main advantage of the x41 over the x31 is a slightly thinner and lighter system. If this is not a concern then the x31 is a great option and a solid workhorse.

While the x60s may have had some heat issues, I am unfamiliar with any heat problems on the x200/x301. My x200 Tablet NEVER gets even remotely hot, nor did the x200 I used for a while.

 

I'd take a X31 over a X41 every time.

 

Hi cmick25

I believe the heat issue on the X61 is over-exaggerated. I've owned an X60 before and am a current owner of an X61. I face absolutely no heat issue on both thus far.

You may want to consider shelling out a bit more and get an X60/61 with a remaining warranty (those with 3/4 year warranties would be good) to give you some peace of mind.

Unless you decide on the SSD route, I'd say go for machines that use the 2.5" HDD form factor like the X30 or X60 series, for the simple reason that HDD are mechanical devices that have a finite life. So when the HDD reaches the MTBF or 3 years (whichever is earlier) it's high time to replace it with a brand new one or you'll be risking a HDD crash and the agony of lost, unrecoverable data.

2.5" HDD are more plentifully available (and thus more affordable - basic market mechanism of supply and demand), with better performance (7,200/5,400 rpm vs 4,200 rpm) and greater capacities (up to 500GB vs 40GB) of a 1.8".

Go with Jon's or ZaZ's recommendations and you won't go wrong.

 

X41 is solo core
X60's Duo Core
U can't not compare them, they r at different level.
I've a X61 7675, I've experience no over heating issue at all FYI.

 

Yes, I do know both x31 and x41 are solo cores, but with Windows XP and 1.5 GB of memory, they have performed beautifully 5 years ago, and I don't see why that should be a problem for me today...I won't be having any need to run multiple applications at once, keep multiple windows open, or scan the system every day for viruses and other trash...When using ultraportable, you are supposed to accept the bare minimum a laptop can provide, which is basic computing, ie. Word, Excell, and Internet access (mostly for email)...If I wanted a beast in a 12.1 or 13.1 inch range I would have taken Dell Studio XPS 13, which not only has wonderful processing power,

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/hom...px?refid=laptop-studio-xps-13&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

but wild cat graphics (for its size!) as well...Don't stone me yet, I am not a Dell fan, and probably won't be for some time...I was planning to buy Studio XPS 13, but then I read about the bad heat issue a)nd short battery life ( just over 2 hours )and while it is a nice and sleek laptop, I hope the design team got fired for the fact that when you open the lid on the laptop, you automatically block the vents!!!

I am still largely a Lenovo fan, even though it's been playing up a little in the last 2 years, but they try to solve the problems and keep up the quality of IBM manufacturing...
Both x31 and x41 are at least 1.4 GHz, and knowing that IBM had machines with Pentium III running under 800 MHz, and performing decently (we talk about business user-Word, spreadsheets, email...) under XP Pro, with 512 MB RAM, I think x31 and x41 will not be as bad as you think...Of course, I do not deny the fact that x60 and x61 series are way better...How soon do you think we will be able to buy ultraportable or even 13" laptop with a quad core ? That wll be interesting...especially to see how battery performs....

 

Well, after hours of expert and user reviews reading, I have decided to go with x60s...It is a newer machine, it is easier to upgrade HD than on x31, and especially x41...Besides, I managed to get 6 months RRB warranty with the retailer...I know that these series had heat issues, but apparently not all of them, and those that did, were not having their performance affected...It was more a thing of, well, taste...I hope I will be abe to survive the temperatures ...I will report as soon as I get it, and give you my description of how hot my unit gets after 2 hours, or so... Apparently, it is issue with the wireless card that causes it, and since 95% of the time I won't be needing wireless, I will turn it off...and see if that helps...Otherwise, I might try and do some research on how to install second fan, or copper heat plate/sink...Ohhhh, and I thought women were complicated...

 

Try this: http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=X_Series_Thinkpads&message.id=4274

 

Thanks a lot "ThinkPad Forever" person! It looks interesting, but I wonder how does it work...By the looks of it, it seems to be blowing air where I usually keep my mouse and right hand...Let me check the link you gave me....Ok, I get it-it gets actually attached to the exhaust vent of a laptop and then is sucks the air out of the laptop...Alright, that should probably lower the temperature for some 10-15 degrees Celsius inside... Here is the link for UK

http://cgi.ebay.com/Evercool-NB-MA1-Notebook-Cooling-Air-Extracting-LED-Fan_W0QQitemZ150327312184QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item230034bf38&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

http://www.shinyhardware.co.uk/prods/showprod.asp?pid=1184

I'll see, when I get the X60s, how hot it gets and then probably buy this little thing...Later on, maybe after a year I might experiment with some custom made copper plate heat dissipator-I have a neighbour who works in a metal factory...But after a little reading it would seem only non-low voltage proccesors were heating up, while low-voltage ones didn't, but there was only heat on right side of the laptop where the wireless card is located...But, obviously, the regular CPU were getting toast-everybody says there was/is plenty of bloatware from Lenovo...When it comes to bloatware, Dell Vostro's are virgins, as only OS is installed and that is it...

 

I believe the exhaust vent on the x60s is on the left hand side. Therefore, as long as you keep your mouse on the right side you should be fine.

 

Of course. I commented on the picture of laptop used to illustrate how the cooler fits onto a laptop...Besides, I mostly use track point, as I got used to it on my R61e...But then again, what if I am left handed? I am not, just kidding ...Just read somewhere here on NBR that sometimes this specific cooler can cause your laptop to overheat even more, in case it works slower than your system fan...Which makes sense, since it is mounted onto/into your exhaust...

 

I think u made a good choice. I chose X61 over X60s coz I perfer performance over battery life but agian it's my perference. It serves me well since than Very good little machine, absolutely love it.

 

Yeah, u right, X32 or X41 with 1g memory chip will do well with XP . But it's easier to upgrade to Vista or 7 with Duo Core system than solo ones.

 

In addition, X32 / X41 would struggle with today's true HD / Blu-Ray content.

And how would I know? My gadget geek buddy has an X41 among his revolving collection of lappys. We place our X series side-by-side (his X41 and my X61) and played the same Blu-Ray concert video using the same media player.

The video frames on the X41 would drop, freeze, stutter or not even play.

 

As an X31 owner you are smart to go with something newer. I will probably have to up grade soon.

 

x31 has/had 16MB RADEON ATI Mobility video chipset,
x41 has/had 16MB Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 video chipset
and x60s features Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950...
However, x61 uses x3100, which is something much better than the best of these three before...True, x60s's Core Duo should help as well...
I wonder how will my x60s work in this field, although it will be just for testing...As long as it can open my email, load some news websites and work flawlessly through office applications, I will be as happy as a little piglet..Oink!

 

The x60s will do all those things fine. In addition, you are giving the x3100 too much credit. Intel GPUs have improved, but they still aren't great for anything beyond productivity apps and video playback (I think the Radeon 7000 in the x31 has better gaming performance than the GMA950, and not too far behind the x3100 despite being almost six years old). However, they are superbly energy efficient and that's what makes them useful.

 

I got my x60s...Pretty much nice machine, works just fine...The right palmrest DOES get warm(er), but nothing catastrophic... But, after 3rd time, when I restarted because I was installing antivirus, it doesn't go into Windows, but I have a message from some ThinkPad utility, which says, "Checking the status of the embeddec security chip..." "Please wait..." It has been like this for hours now, and I don't know what to do....Any advice?

 

Hi cmick25,

Did you do a "restore to factory state" from the recovery partition? Hit the blue ThinkVantage button before it loads Windows during boot. (Do back up any of your data files first please).

You may want to update your drivers via the ThinkVantage blue button after restoring to factory state.

Perhaps this may help?

 

Since it is a newly acquired laptop, I don't have anything to back up...But, I did try to do a restore to factory state, but it says I don't have the password configured to do such thing...However, after 2 hours of Internet searching, I found a solution in the form of hitting the F8 button while booting and going to bios, which gave a choice of loading into "last configuration that worked" fine...So, I managed to get to Windows just by typing in my password and then later on I disabled the security chip software in Client Security...So, now I still get that message, but only for 4-6 secs, and then a "warning" that my security level is lower because this allows anybody to log in using the password...I don't really need this type of security...Actually, I probably don't need a password to log in...I don't carry any sensitive information on this laptop, or any other, for that matter...
Guys, thanks a lot for all the help and advice, I really appreciate it...NBR is a great site! I'll be reporting more about my x60s in 2 days...

 

You should be able to disable the TPM in BIOS (and also clear private data). Press F1 before boot and look around for options labeled TPM, embedded security, or CSS.

 

cmick25,
How do you like the screen? Is it too dim to be comfortable? I read that the X6 series of laptops had very low nit rating for the screen and were hard to see.

 

I did that as well-I read about on Lenovo forums...But I got to the point where I had to make the chip *active, *inactive, or *disabled...I tried all three, but none solved the problem of that same message being there for hours...In the end, as I've mentioned above, I booted into the last working configuration, which, by the way, left my newly installed antivirus and antispyware untouched, and then I went to ThinkPad utilities and into Client security and unchecked it from startup. Now, I still get the message during the startup, but only for 4-6 secs and then I log in buy using a password...Piece of cake, a cheese cake...
Later on, I will try to update drivers, or something, but as much as I can see, none of the guys who had the same problem reported solving the issue AND being able to use fingerprint security software again...I just need to be able to use my x60s...

 

Just replying to The Fire Snake regarding my judgement on the quality and brightness of x60s screen...Screen is very good, I have tried all different levels of brightness, and in different light/dark enviroments...For an average business and student user it is bright enough. Acctually I put it down to 85% of total brightness and it was just fine in a shade under the tree during midday, or in a room sheltered from direct sunlight...But, using it, say, on a bench in the middle of recreation field, or park, a meadow, will prove catastrophic...Even if you position the laptop so that sunlight doesn't hit the display directly, but rather to let the lid face the Sun, puting the screen in a shade, you will be on a shaky ground and eye strain after 3 hours is almost guaranteed...But, here I talk about regular sunny day, no gathering clouds, etc.It is just that too much of sunlight reflection from the ground and laptop's surrounding occupies like 95-93 % of the spectre of our perception, and then the display, which is great indoors, proves insufficient outside...A BIG PLUS lies in a matte screen...
For anbody using it indoors, in an office, dorm room, library, in a park under trees is more than appropriate... But keep in mind that if you pick SOME power options, when running on battery power only, your level of brightness will decrease immidiatelly in order to increase...That is why everybody should play with settings first before making a critique and throwing a stone...

 

Hi cmick25

1. Yup. Matt screen rocks in a brightly lit room by softening reflections and aids in viewing comfort.

2. X60/X61 series screens go up to 150 nits only, so outdoor viewing is not recommended. But for room use, it's bright enough. Remember, brighter = more power consumption, too. There's always a tradeoff.

3. Screen brightness level can be set from the BIOS so that it does not drop when on battery power. However, your battery endurance will be lowered. Just hit the blue ThinkVantage button on boot before Windows launches to get to your BIOS.

4. Could the previous owner have store his password in the TPM? Since you have no data to back up, it's good to restore to factory state and clear all the junk, so to speak. And THEN configure the laptop just the way you like. Unless I am mistaken, you need to clear the TMP module to re-enroll your fingerprint reader.

tl;dr - just restore your lappy to factory state and see how it goes. Get any password from the previous owner to unlock it if necessary.

If it works fine after restoration, good. Otherwise, just selectively update selected necessary drivers.

Set your own password for some security, and re-enroll your fingerprints for ease of log-in.

Good luck.

 

Thanks a lot for your reply. Looks like you tried it in a variety of light conditions. I am thinking of getting the X61 and would mainly use it indoors but would also like to use it outside on my porch. From what you say it looks like the porch should be fine(mine is a covered porch). Overall how do you like the machine? Are you excited?

 

Hi Fire Snake,

Pardon me for cutting in, but let me assure you the the X61 is one lil' swell beauty and is worth every penny even at full retail when bought new.

If you can find one in mint/near-mint condition with existing warranty at pre-owned prices - it even sweeter!

Just remember, it tops out at 150 nits full brightness and the CCFL ages over time. It works better in cool shade or room without bright lights.

 

Definitely go for x61...I really like the x60s because it is LV, and has great battery life...Even though it is a refurbished unit, I tested battery (8-cell) twice and it lasted between 7:30 to 7:45 HOURS before coming down to 10% charge left...Performance wise it is also great....Even though LV processors (in this case Intel Core Duo Low Voltage L2400 1.67Ghz processor, 2048 L2 cache, 667MHZ FSB) have energy efficiency set as their strongest feature, I can tell you that x60s works works without any lag whatsoever...I have been comparing it with my R61e, which has T8100, with 3 MB cache and 2.1 GHz...
Performance of this ultraportable machine is absolutely perfect for average business, or student user...
The afforementioned issue of right palmrest overheating is present, but it is not that burning hot as some people say...If you take x61 and not x61s, you might have more problems with the temperatures inside the machine, as LV processors really keep their temps down...I found that when I manually switch the wireless off, the temperature goes down by 30-40 %...
Build of the laptop is satisfactory, but not perfect...Keyboard keys area is perfect, with no flex present at all...But as you move to area within 1 inch from the edge of the laptop (where you usually find function buttons, volume, thinkvantage, etc..), there is a significant flex varying between 3-5 millimetres...Luckily, I don't go there that often, so it is not an issue for me...But, had I bought a new laptop like that, it would go back the same day... I am planning to buy Lenovo 13" laptop in 2-3 years, and then I plan to be picky...
I love the exterior of my x60s, seems to be scratch resistant...It is very easy to carry around and not only weight wise- it is not slippery, or anything at all like that-you feel really safe, without worrying for it...
I have installed Avast antivirus, Spybot S&D antispyware program and Online Armor Personal Firewall...I disabled them to run at startup, and I will update them only when I plan to on the Internet...With all these programs running, and all the normal programs like Firefox, Windows explorer, etc, my LV processor never goes above70-80%, and average is 30-40%, plus average usage of memory is around 550 KB, and maximum it reaches (with 7 Firefox tabs open, Windows Explorer searching and copying, all antivirus, antispyware etc. performing their scans, and video playback-not DVD, but from the hard disk) is 1120 KB, and I have 2000 KB installed, and uprade is poossible, but at the moment unnecessary...As I have mentioned, I downloaded and installed some of the software I think will help my laptops security and help me personally...Firefox, Open office, all anticrap programs, maybe some screen capture software later on...
Although there is that heat issue, I rarely hear the fan...It is probably spinning, but it is very quiet...
Overall, x60s is a great little machine, and I would recommend it to anybody, for any other purpose, but gaming, hardcore programing, etc...For normal people/users who appreciate being mobile, IBM/Lenovo x series are the way to go...
And one smalll PLUS-even though Lenovo produced this laptop, there is no Lenovo on it at all, it just says x60s at the bottom of the screen bezel, and IBM ThinkPad in the corner of the right palmrest, same on the upper right corner of the lid...Now, I just need to order that IBM sleeve for x60s from the Ebay...

 

Well, I got this from a company that gets the laptops refurbished from big names like IBM/Lenovo and Dell...I doubt I could trace the last personal owner of this particular laptop...For now, everything works the way I want, and I can't be really bothered to change anything...Instead of swiping my finger, I just press CTRL+ALT+DEL, and type in my password...I mean, really, 3 seconds will not cause such a big loss ...
But, what I DO plan to do is to swap a hard drive for an SSD, 120 GB, make those 7 recovery discs, just to be on the safe side, erase the recovery partition, and copy my system on SSD..I want to do that so I could install Ubuntu, see how it works and then later on, when there is no support for XP in 2011, use only Ubuntu on x60s...Oh, yeah, not to mention trying Window 7 on it!!!