Which of the three?

Can't decide between T60WS, Z61m, Z61p

Has anyone used all three that can offer insights and comparisons?
Are there any apparent reasons to avoid one or two?
Is one going to be supported more in the future?
Is there a link to a site that puts all three side by side with features?

I feel like I'm at the ice cream store and can't decide between three flavors.

 

First of all, what will you be doing on that notebook? The FAQ will help.

The differences between the z61 m and z61 p are the professional video card and WUXGA resolution available for the "p" version.

As for avoiding, the screen of the T60ws may not be great but I haven't seen it yet.

Otherwise, there are some diffences in the features, size and weight between T and Z (more multimedia oriented, heavier, thicker... even bulky) series.

 

I had a T60 with the 15.4" widescreen, and it should be arriving back at Lenovo today. The screen leaks light all over the place, but it was worse towards the bottom of the panel.

I don't know what I was thinking, though. The 15.4" was too big to be easily portable, so now I'm waiting on a configured 14.1" T60. Keep in mind that a bigger screen = a bigger drain on your battery too.

 

mjacob: The return policy seems to be: you can't look at it if you want to return it. How did the return go exactly?

 

That's true...unless there is something wrong with it. The problem with mine was the screen, so I got an RMA and I won't be paying the restocking fee.

 

I can only help you with the Z61m (945036U) and T60ws (874149U) ... (I own both)

I ordered the Z back in Oct from Lenovo and the T new off of eBay last month.

Biggest Con:

Both have the same LCD which as you might have read performs poorly. But I bought the second notebook knowing that, so I can obviously live with that. But for some, this may be a deal breaker.

As far as the rest goes they are basically the same, just depends what you are looking for. The size specs are very accurate from Lenovo. The t60ws is lighter and thinner. My t60 has the ALPS keyboard which is far better IMO than my Z61 Chicony. My z61 on the left side of the keyboard has a layout of the inputs/outputs which makes it nice when you are trying to search for headphone jack etc. I love them both...

A general comparison would be: Do I want memory card reader, webcam, and firewire, or something that is a little lighter with bluetooth? I prefer the latter.


Chad

 

Well, the Z6Xm series is nearly perfect for what it's designed for -- desktop replacement. That's way I've bought mine, actually.

Also, mine has a nearly excellent screen (and others that I've seen too), and if it hadn't, then it would have been sent back to Lenovo a long time ago, although some of the models may happen to have the "famous" Samsung screen (T60ws and Latitude D820).

General questions should be:

1) How will I be using the notebook?
If you need portability, then the z61m is not for you, considering that it's a brick...

2) Do I need a good screen?
Different people can/can't live with different things.

Honestly, I personally would not pay for a ThinkPad if I had to say: "it's not that bad"...

 

Odd. I love my T60 screen, it is better than my old Acer 8204. Not only that, the 14.1 screen is NOTORIOUSLY poor quality compared to the other lines. Not a "bad" screen, but not stellar by any means. Read some threads on thinkpads.com

 

Many, if not all 14" screens, have bad viewing angles.

Even my 4 yr old Compaq Nx7000 w/ 15.4" screen has better viewing angles than my 14" T60.

But the T60 has a screen protector over it and makes it look more crystal clear feel and less pixelly even on low res.