Who likes ThinkVantage, whats disposable?

With my Dell tower I did a clean install and have basically nothing more than utorrent, VLC player and a couple other small programs installed. I just got my T61 and actually like the ThinkVantage software.

There's just so much of it though! The installed programs list is half full of TV stuff. I removed the fingerprint scanner, what else in the software could I remove without noticing? I like the maitenence stuff, I want to keep this PC healthy. But some of this installed stuff I don't think I've even used yet, like EasyEject or Client Security Solution. What did you keep?

 

I personally only use the Power Manager, Drive Protection and Ultranav.

 

I use Access Connection, System Update, and Power Manager
If you use a normal HDD, you might want to have Harddrive Protection as well.

 

i uninstalled access connection. i had trouble connecting to my school's wireless with it. and it takes too long to pick up new connections. i use the windows manager

 

I only use power manager and Active Protection System. Even Ultranav is not necessary.

 

i keep: power manager, active protection, ultranav, system update and presentation manager

 

I use Power Manager, System Update a System Restore. I uninstalled all the other things

 

Same here.

 

Power Manager is all I need.

 

I use most of them and find them useful for me.

Power Manager - variety of profiles and lots of options is useful. I also think it is able to get system wattage lower than the included Windows power manager. You can also use this to adjust battery charge thresholds to reduce cycles (I use start at 60% stop at 95%) and maximize long term life.

Access Connections - different settings [IP, Firewall, DNS, Printer, homepage] for home, work, road, etc. Can also turn off radios individually (only need Wi-Fi most of the time) to save power.

Presentation director - quickly manage mirroring, extended desktops, different monitors/projectors, and run a presentation in extended mode [Fn+Space moves and maximizes a window to a second monitor/projector].

System Update - easy way to get updates to Lenovo software, but it's not always the most efficient program (can't do incremental updates and some [e.g. Vista Update module KB941137 64bit] don't install correctly some times) plus it's a giant ad for Lenovo accessories.

CSS/Fingerprint - Manage windows login, passwords for outlook, websites (IE only unfortunately), and other applications.

Productivity Center - Access help files and also quickly launch most of the other ThinkVantage utilities and system settings.

Tablet Input Panel - invaluable for accessing system settings (e.g. brightness) that would otherwise be impossible to adjust while in slate mode.

UltraNav/Trackpoint - Allows you to adjust TrackPoint Sensitivity (I prefer one notch short of lightest touch, and standard scrolling). Some versions (particularly the one that shipped with the T40) also allow you to configure advanced touchpad actions (scrolling zones, tap zones to launch programs, palm check, etc.).

On screen display - visual feedback for volume and brightness adjustments (I like this, but it can be bad if you run full screen games or similiar programs).

Easy Eject - this one is not that great. It is just a replacement for the built in Windows one and often fails to eject my USB drives/SD cards effectively. The one advantage is you can have it disconnect several devices in sequence (good if you use a dock and connect a lot of things).

I agree that the suite is a little bloated but I think most of these applications do have value. However, their usefulness is highly dependent on your usage pattern. If you only use your ThinkPad in one or two locations, don't give presentations, are usually plugged in, don't have a tablet/fingerprint reader, etc. then you may be better served by the built in Windows equivalents. Conversely, I do a lot of things with my ThinkPad and the ThinkVantage tools help me do it better and faster.