good old T61 is still the best

Not sure about others' experience, but I have come to realize how wrong I was to have taken for granted the quality build of my 2 year old T61, after encountering various problems with both of my newly bought ultraportable thinkpads, including a defective screen, a screen not installed properly, severe bleeding screens, BSODs, etc.. Why is that I didn't appreciate the fact that my T61, in the 2 years serving me, has had NO issue whatsoever, perfect no-bleeding screen, plus not even the slightest gap between screen and the plastic chassis, no erratic power behaviors, and I think only one BSOD which happened not long after I bought it and never again.

How are your experiences? I'm just wondering if this is a representative case or not. By the way, of the T61 and X61s, which one was manufactured first? The other new machine of mine is an X200s, sure, new techniques, but worse quality, less reliable. It's been back and forth to the depot several times already.

 

I think the T61 was released prior to the X61s....Regarding quality issues, if you get a lemon it sours the entire experience.... similarly someone whom had a bad experience with a T61 and have a good experience with the X200s would say that the T61 is the worst and the X200s is the best.

I find that the X200s and the T61 are good machines if they don't die on me.

 

My T61 wasn't a bad unit, but its LCD brightness was poor compared to my T400, and its keyboard, while decent, wasn't as good. Also, I had issues with the system just halting during startup (I think it had something to do with the HDD drivers or ThinkVantage Protection) that took two OS reloads to fix --at one point I thought there might be a hardware issue.

I've just found my T400 to be an overall better unit --the only thing I can wish was that Lenovo had the LED-backlit WXGA+ display available at the time I bought mine, I'd have paid the extra few dollars for it. The one thing I liked better about the T61 was having the headphone/mic jacks on the side. Not very significant in the greater scheme of things, though.

 

Yeah, that is probably the main thing I like about the T61 that my T500 does not have.

 

T61 14.1 inch widescreen has the earphone/mic on the front...... while the T61 14.1 inch standard screen and 15.4 inch widescreen all has it on the sides.

 

Yep, that's correct. I hate the front placement on most newer Thinkpads. I don't know if the T500 have the jack at the side too like the T61 15.4".
The only 'solution' I would see is to buy an ExpressCard sound card and plug the earphones there, but why invest more money on that.

BTW, I love my T61. It certainly does not have a 'superb' LED display, but I have no money and I've always worshipped Thinkpads, in the past because they were 'unattainable' AKA. so expensive.

 

T61 is an excellent machine the only thing it lacks is a digital video out like the displayport on the T500 and R500... but not too worry since Lenovo have released a USB2DVI with WUXGA support....

@t30power my daily machine is a T61 and a X60, which i carry everywhere... and both of them are battered.

 

DIY ViDock can give you HDMI video and audio out, and desktop graphics performance on a mPCIe/expresscard equipped system (inc T61). Works well if you're happy to hook it up to an external LCD.

 

I would say the T61 is the best notebook still. But that's only because my T61 has the 14.1" SXGA+ non-widescreen display. I wouldn't give it up for anything... This baby will only be replaced if it breaks beyond repair og dies on me...

 

Yes Nando4 i have seen your post on this card, which is a great idea for a big boost on laptop's paltry graphic card performance. But it is not entirely suitable for me to use at work, where portability and robustness are a major concern.

 

"I would say the T61 is the best notebook still. But that's only because my T61 has the 14.1" SXGA+ non-widescreen display."

I have a couple of things to say. Yes, as far as I'm concerned, the t61p is the best thinkpad ever for me. I agree with Lonewolf in that it does not have the brighttest screen on a think pad.I have one futher complaint which is since I have become an invalid, the t61p have become very heavy.

It's dimmer than I remember it. Does anyone know if the Thinkpad software works to help this? I have Windows 7 with a clean install on it.

I'd also say that the only reason I'd have a notebook is for the 15 inch screen.

Renee

 

14.1" SXGA+ Thinkpad T61p FTW!! 1400x1050 rules!

 

T61 rules! Happy Birthday to my T61! It's exactly 2 years old now and it's 95% new, no scratches or wear at all.

 

I got an one year old T61... externally it is really battered... i dropped it four time already.... like several 2 metres fall on hard surface and even rocks.

 

wow! i feel sorry for your T61! HA HA ....
could have reported you to the Department of Social Services for Thinkpads if there was one LOL

 

yes my baby is extremely abused by me.... i should go to low level security prison for thinkpad abuser...

 

I haven't looked back at my 15.4" T61p since I got the W500. I'd rather have the headphone/mic jacks on the side, but the changing out of the 4965N for the 5350 and the switchable graphics, not to mention proper SATA 300 speeds for my SSD, make the upgrade a very happy one. The keyboard sucked, but I called in a replacement on the T61p's keyboard and a swap-out fixed that issue.

 

I like that the AC plugs in the back of the T61, as opposed to the left (x200s) or right (x61s) side, which takes more room. The two USB ports on the right side of x61s are too close.

 

It depends on who you ask..... i do appreciate the side on power plug as it allows the laptop to be used in some tight spots.... but it really depends on where you use it.